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Making your own Herbal recipes
Healing Ointments You need to use a base that will be solid at room temperature, but liquid when heated, Vaseline is great for this. Gently heat 1 cup of Vaseline over low heat until it has liquefied. Make sure that it doesn't burn. Add ¼ cup of your herbal mixture (From dried crushed herbs of your choice - look in the listing of herbs for healing), mix with a wooden spoon. Continue stirring over a very low heat for a few minutes. Strain, and pour into a heatproof container (such as a canning jar). Add ¼ teaspoon of benzoin tincture as a natural preservative. Label the jar - listing herbs used. Store in the refrigerator. Do not apply to broken skin. Lip Balm This recipe makes a very thick balm, so you might like to add more to the recipe if you would like it to be softer. Place equal parts of grated Beeswax and oil into a double boiler (Or a ceramic bowl in a pan of water). You can use any oil, Apricot kernel for a light balm (cosmetic), Avocado for a heavy balm (for very dry skin) olive, hazelnut, sesame or some other vegetable oil. Stir until the wax has melted. Remove from the heat and let cool very slightly, until it has just begun to thicken. (This is so that the hot wax won't evaporate the oils.) Now add the Essential oils to the wax (Sandalwood is great for dry or oily skin - it balances). Stir thoroughly with a wooden spoon and pour into a heatproof container. Store in the fridge. Tinctures Take a jar with about 1 cup of herbal mixture in the bottom. Pour in Vodka or isopropyl alcohol to cover the herbs, plus another 2 cm. Leave this for 2 weeks, shaking often. Strain off the herbs, and you will have a Tincture. Do not ingest this. You can use tinctures like anointing oils. Benzoin tincture has another property, it will help stop oils going rancid, so it is useful to add a few drops of Benzoin tincture to all essential oil blends, and any ointments etc. to help preserve them. Myrrh tincture
apparently helps set a scent, and helps prevent the scent fading over time.
Magickal inks Some people like to write their spells or write in their BOS with special inks. These can be purchased or you can make them. (You’ll need a nib pen or something similar) To make a Magickal ink you crush the herbs you are going to use and place them in a jar (You don’t have to use exact measurements), add red wine or Vodka to cover the herbs plus 1cm. Red Wine will help to add to the colour of the ink, and I like to add coffee and tea to help give colour. Leave this for 2 weeks. You can add food colouring to make coloured inks, and rose/Lavender or other floral water to make scented ink if you wish. The following are ingredients I use for the 3 most common inks:
Of course the “Bat’s Blood” etc. names are just names, the ink doesn’t contain blood at all. Having said that, some religions (like Voodoo) do use blood as ink. But from a Wiccan point of view this is wrong, as you are killing animals, which many Pagans believe is as wrong as killing a person. When I make
ink I don’t use exact quantities, but I’ll estimate the amounts I use.
I use a big jar with a sealable lid. To this I add 1 bottle of cheap
red wine (The quality doesn’t matter for ink making). This leave
a wine smell, which you can cover up with Rose water or another floral
water if you wish. But it also adds a red colour, which I like.
Some people use Vodka instead of wine, so that they don’t make a reddish
ink (If they want to make green or something) and it doesn’t leave a red
wine smell. I put about ¼ cup of coffee grounds and about
¼ of tea leaves in to help add colour. These will give a brown
colour and also add to the smell. I then put about 5 crushed cinnamon
sticks, about ¼ cup of cloves, about 1 tablespoon of turmeric (For
a yellow colour), about a teaspoon of frankincense granules, about a teaspoon
of dragon’s blood powder, about 1/8 cup of cracked black pepper (I love
the stuff) and any other herbs I feel like adding. I then leave this
for about a week, stirring occasionally. I strain it into smaller
jars and add different food colours to each jar. As much as I think
it needs to make a good ink. I keep this in the fridge, to
help preserve it.
Perfume Some people like to make a special perfume to wear when in rituals, or a specific perfume to use when invoking specific Gods and Goddesses. You can do this by adding essential oils to a carrier oil – which will make an oily perfume. Or you can add them to vodka or isopropyl alcohol. As I mentioned above, you might like to add some Benzoin tincture to the mix, to preserve it. When I did this my perfume went white and cloudy… I am not sure if I put too much benzoin in it or not (I did use quite a bit more than a few drops) Try making blends using oils for the Goddesses and God and wearing them in ritual when you invoke them. Essential Oils/Perfume #2
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