Plant: Gaillardia “Indian Blanket”
Harvest time: June
Material: Fresh flowers, leaves, stems
Vessel: Enamel or granite
Boil 1 pound of fresh material in 5 gallons of water for 2 hours. Strain; add 1/4 cup of raw alum to the water. Allow to dissolve by boiling 10 minutes before adding 1 pound of wet yarn. Mix well and boil the yarn for 2 hours. Steep overnight before rinsing several times.
Now that Spring is here, we will be having fresh vegetables and herbs shortly. Knowing how to use the herbs properly will give a new taste sensation to your meals. You can use tried and true recipes or make-up your own. Either way when you cook with herbs, you will have a fantastic meal the whole family will enjoy.
Hints for Using Herbs
Serving Rule: Two teaspoons of minced, fresh herbs will flavor four servings One teaspoon dried herbs or seeds serves four. Delicately flavored herbs, like marjoram can be use more liberally.
For soups and stews, add fresh herbs during the last twenty minutes.
To develop the flavor of freshly dried herbs, soak them for ten minutes in lemon juice, stock or oil before cooking.
Before cooking rub fresh herbs between clean hands to release their unique flavor in the volatile oils. This will accelerate flavoring as your entrée cooks.
Firmly press herbs into the flesh of meats, fish, or poultry before cooking to enhance aroma and taste. No sauce or further preparation will be necessary.
Flavor salad dressing by soaking herbs in it for thirty minutes to an hour before serving. Use one teaspoon of herbs to one cup of dressing.
Microwave: Whenever possible, saute herbal blends in a small amount of liquid, stock, butter or oil before adding to a microwave dish to assure flavor.
Sugar can be flavored by layering twelve to fifteen rose geranium or lemon rose geranium leaves on top of one pound of sugar. Any flavor of geranium leaves will do. Keep it covered until ready to use. Flavored sugar adds a delicate flavor to biscuits, cookies and muffins,
A substitute for lemon peel in baked goods is finely chopped lemon balm, lemon thyme or lemon vervain.
Next, prepare and apply a cool mint pack for a refreshing interlude.
1 cup fresh mint leaves
1 cup cold water
In a blender blend mint leaves in cold water for 1 minute. Refrigerate for 10 minutes. Pour onto a clean hand towel. Lie down and relax while applying the pack to your face up for 10 minutes.
After the herbal wash, prepare an herbal facial steam and get ready to relax.
8 tablespoons of a combination of any of the following herbs: mint leaves, chamomile flowers, rose petals, scented geranium leaves, lemon verbena, lemon balm, lemon grass, thyme, sage eucalyptus, bergamot, jasmine, gardenia or honeysuckle flowers.
1 quart boiling water
Simmer herbs in a covered glass quart of water. After 10 minutes, uncover your herbal facial and cover your head with a towel to catch the steam. Steam your face and 5 minutes to remove any impurities.
The scarecrow normally conjures up harvests, autumn skies and pumpkins plump for the carving, yet its empowerment and placement were always part of spring rites and an intricate piece of garden magick. Like many vehicles from the old country, these were specific rules on how to prepare and handle one’s garden guardian. A protective and good fortune device, the scarecrow didn’t secure just the garden, it protected the prosperity and welfare of the entire family. Here are the rules, if you would like to make your own scarecrow.
When building your scarecrow, always use natural fibers and old clothes–never use clothes from an enemy to dress your scarecrow.
Sew or stuff protective charms in the arms and sleeves of the device. From runic sigils to specially bless charms, trinkets, and dried herbs, each choice should be associated with your true desires.
Like it or not, the energy of the scarecrow is often used to create protection through humor–think of it as the light of laughter.
A healer’s scarecrow should contain both comfrey and horehound.
It is bad luck to erect your scarecrow before Easter.
It is bad luck to erect your scarecrow on May Day.
Never, ever wear any items that has been worn by a scarecrow–this is thought to bring death to the household
Your scarecrow must be given shade on the longest day of the year to ensure luck and prosperity.
Finally, and most importantly, your scarecrow must be burned before November 1, preferably on Halloween Night of October 31. Easy single part of the scarecrow must be fired–the clothing, the charms, even the pole he rests on. If this is not done, bad luck will plague the entire family.
Vervain, sometimes called verbena, and lemon verbena are often and easily consued. The two can each other: lemon verbena provides purification while vervain offers magickal protection.
Make a strong infusion by pouring boiling water over the combinec herbs. Add the water to your bath, together with a splash of vinegar and slices of lemon.
Health is a product of internal harmony and the expression of vitality. Our well-being should be pursued with cautious patience. Tonics are gentle and have been proven effective for thousands of years. They are highly nutritious foods requiring special preparation and application. We should approach these tonics with respect, never abusing their benefits carelessly. Too much of a good thing is still too much! Give your body time to appreciate these new foods, just as you would nurture a child.
Tonic herbs have several properties and may also be indicated when disease is not present. They are excellent choices for preventative measures. Be sure to use them in moderation and observe how your body reacts to the energy. Allow tonic herbs to keep you young and beautiful like Mother Nature herself.
Magick spells are cast by burning herbs (incense), thus releasing their magick power into the atmosphere (fumigation).
One of the most ancient methods of casting spells is consciously, carefully and deliberately burning herbs. This method incorporates all four primal elements into one spell. By applying the power of fire, herbal power (which has been nourished by Earth and by water), is transformed into smoke (air) and dispersed into the atmosphere to provide magickal solutions and fulfill magickal desires. If you burn incense on a metal pan or burner, then you incorporate what many consider to be the fifth element, metal, into your spell as well.
Modern incense frequently taken the form of sticks and cones, which require a little technical know=how. However, incense is an ancient, ancient art. If cave people had the technology to create fine, viable incense, of course you do, too. The material original incense was loose dried herbal material, ground and powdered. Most magick spells assume incense will be in this form.
Mortars and pestles are ancient magickal, medical and culinary tools. They may be used to break down and blend herbal material. Once upon a time, incense was created by repeated grinding with a mortar and pestle, and then sifting with a sieve (also an ancient magick tool). However, if you desire the fine powder that many spells specify, a coffee or spice grinder, particularly an old-fashioned manual one, can make life easier.
If you prefer stick incense, blanks may be purchased and doctored to your taste.
Hang herbs upside down in small bunches, so that they are not too crowded. Professional herb dryers, resembling horizontal ladders, can be used, or attach bunches to a wire hanger. Allow herbs to hang in a well-ventilated area away from direct sunlight until dry.
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.
If you regularly use the same part of your home for your Magickal work then hang this sachet in that area to retain the Magickal integrity and positive energies created whilst working. Just before starting any Magickal act take the sachet down and carry it around your working space three times to release those Magickal energies. Use a violet cloth tied with a silver and gold cord.
2 parts jasmine
2 parts rose petals
2 parts rosemary
1 part bay
1 part cinnamon (either use 1 stick or 1 part powdered)
Herb sachets are used to fragrance the house, as wards of protection and defence and can even be carried on the person, in addition to herbs, flowers, spices, leaves, and so on, they may also contain stones, charms or crystals, all imbued with Magickal energies. Some people even create totem bags which also contain pictures of their loved ones, a lock of hair or many other things which link them to those they care about. Herb sachets make excellent gifts or ways of working Magick for others. Much of the work of the Witch is for other people. I sincerely the posts in this section will inspire you to do a little “Magick” today!
Sachets can be made from almost any natural fabric; it does not have to be specially bought for the purpose. Whilst silk squares look very attractive, you can recycle old clothes or cloths, or anything else you have to hand.
Make sure the fabric is thoroughly washed and if you have any doubts about is psychic cleanliness then hang it overnight in the light of the Full Moon before use. The easiest shape to use is a circle, but a square also looks quite attractive. Place your ingredients in the centre and tie up all the ends to create a bundle. To tie your sachet you can use thread cord, ribbon or even twine or string.
If giving sachets away, it is a good idea to make them reasonably discreet – not everyone wants their home to look as though a Witch lives there. Alternatively, you can make the highly decorative in their own right perhaps by placing several sachets onto a strip of attractive ribbon which can then be hung on the wall. Remember whilst making up your sachet to keep your Magickal goals clearly in mind and to imbue it with Magickal power.
If you want the sachet to look decorative then you do not have to stick to single colour fabric, but try to choose something where the right colour for your intention is fairly dominant Alternatively, you can cover the sachet twice, once for the Magickal intent and once with an overlay which is in keeping with the decor of the area it is intended for.
Herbal healing remedies are becoming increasingly popular in the modern world as it is discovered that some hold the key to curing modern ills; generally too they are gentler and less toxic than drugs created artificially. This knowledge has been around in some cases for hundreds or even thousands of years, but became disregarded or forgotten and is now being incorporated further into modern medicine.
Herb magick is an equally ancient tradition, one that does not need elaborate tools or complex rituals. However, there is a great overlap between herb healing and magick, for herb rituals too can trigger the body’s own self-healing system because of their abundant life force.
Though herb magick is simple, it is also very potent. As well as using spells, you can draw on their strengths in a number of ways in your daily life.
But it cannot be said enough, do not use herbal medicine in the place of actual doctor’s care. You might think you can diagnosis yourself but you can. In situation such as this seek medical attention. Never take a chance with your life.
If you feel concerned about negative influences or thoughts coming your way, hang a small sachet of this in each window (you can hide them behind the curtains if you wish) and above each external door.
3 parts rosemary
2 parts fennel seed
1 part juniper
1 part dill seed
1 dried chili pepper
1 part the outer skin of garlic
1 part coarse salt (rock salt)
Place in a red cloth tied with a black cord. If you think you know who might be harbouring negative thoughts about you, then you can also place a small mirror facing outwards in the window which most closely points in their direction. This will reflect back any negativity.
Witches Of The Craft® 
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