The most prevalent ingredient of magick spells are processed herbs, especially dried plants and oils. Drying plants preserves them for extended use, allowing you to work with plants out of season and those that cannot be grown in your personal region. Dried herbs from all over the world, representing many magical traditions, may be purchased from herbal suppliers.
Dried herbs are frequently sold already chopped up, cut or powdered. As this frequently needs to be done before spellcasting purchasing herbs in this form can be a real-time and effort saver–with one caveat. Leaves and blossoms, even chopped, other remain easily distinguishable. Peppermint doesn’t smell like vervain or hibiscus, for instance. Roots on the other hand, other the most magickally potent part of a plant, once chopped or powdered, are fairly indistinguishable from each other. It is not uncommon for unethical or ignorant vendors to substitute one root for another. If you are looking for a distinct root, say High John the Conqueror, for whom this is a common problem, buy the whole root and ground and powder it yourself, even though this can be difficult. It is the only way to guarantee that you are receiving what you want, the only way to maintain control over what may be a pivotal ingredient. Familiarize yourself with herbs. Know what they should look like and what they should smell like, and you will be less likely to be fooled.
If you grow plants or have access to fresh plants, it’s extremely easy, virtually child’s play, to dry them yourself.
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