Preparing Oils for Magical Use

There are several ways of preparing herbs for magical oils. The best oil isn’t always the most complex oil to produce, and so it really does take trial and error to create an oil that works well with you and your objectives.

General Tips

• If using a water method, it’s important that you don’t boil the herbs in the water. You should always bring the water to a boil and then pour the water over the herbs. The reason being is that it causes a breakdown of the vitamins and minerals in the herbs.
• Never use any metal when doing ANY herbal remedies.

 

Making An Infusion

This is the easiest method. An infusion is basically a strong tea. This process draws the properties you want out of the herb.

The normal mixture is 1 pint of water to 1 ounce of herb. It takes experience to learn how long each herb needs to steep, some take longer than others, the average length of time is an hour but with practice, you’ll learn which take longer and which take less time.

Making A Decoction

This is much the same as an infusion (tea) except you are working with a much more solid herb such as thick pieces of root or bark which can’t be ground up or the remedy calls for a much stronger dose.

This is the one case where you should BOIL THE HERB. In fact, that’s the whole process. Make sure that no steam escapes or the vital oils will go away with it.

If you will have more than one ingredient in the decoction begin by boiling the toughest then work down. Start with cold water and after boiling for what you consider long enough to allow it to steep usually for at least 30 minutes.

Making A Poultice

This is used when you need to apply the herbs externally such as for a burn or for acne. Yes, it’s messy but often essential for healing.

As a child, I would often climb up wooden fences and end up with very large splinters in my skin. My mother would always make a poultice of pure soap, sugar, and salt, mashing the mix together with a little warm water. She would place it over my skin, ceiling it with some type of Band-Aid. We would leave it overnight. By the next morning, the splinter would be at some level of leaving my skin. Even the longest splinters will be easily able to be pulled out at this point. Highly recommended.

If you want to create a poultice with herbs, here is a suggested method. Pour boiling water over the herbs using just enough to dampen them or evenly cover the plant matter, you’re not trying to extract anything from the herb only to moisten it.

When it is all evenly wet remove it with a strainer and place between 2 pieces of gauze (cheesecloth also works well if folded several times). You then apply the gauze with the herbs inside to the affected part and allow the moisture with the herb essence to pass within the person.

Making An Ointment

Note – This is the same procedure used to make salves.

This method involves mixing the herb(s) with a fixative such as petroleum jelly or vegetable fat. This is done by heating the fixative until it is quite warm and adding the ground herbs to it. Once mixed up the mixture can be heated more than once and allowed to cool.

Once you are satisfied that all the goody has been removed from the herb the whole mixture should be strained and
put into a storage container then allowed to cool.

Making A Wash

Same as an infusion (tea) except you use it externally.

Making A Tincture

These are used when long-term storage is required. It requires alcohol of at least a 75% grade which can be safely ingested. This process is best begun on the new moon and completed on the full.

Place the following in a jar that can be tightly sealed.

• 1-4 ounces of the herb
• 8 ounces of alcohol (drinkable!)
• 4 ounces of water

Seal the jar and keep it safely out of the light for 2 weeks. Each day at least once, check it and make sure that you loosed the mass of herb inside the jar by swirling it about. Continue this process until at the end of the 2 weeks the alcohol has extracted all the constituents without the need of heat.

I hope you enjoy making your own oils. I certainly do enjoy making oils for myself and of course for all of you who enjoy our Black Witch Coven oils!