{"id":5701,"date":"2011-09-01T01:10:34","date_gmt":"2011-09-01T06:10:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=5843"},"modified":"2011-08-20T18:43:11","modified_gmt":"2011-08-20T23:43:11","slug":"witchcrafts-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2011\/09\/01\/witchcrafts-5\/","title":{"rendered":"WitchCrafts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I love herbs, as most witches do.\u00a0 They give so much and ask so little, and under the right circumstances, can these bad boys pack a wallop!\u00a0 In this type of venue our readers can be beginners, or seasoned veterans so it’s a challenge to write something that will hopefully have something for everyone.<\/p>\n

There are different methods of working with herbs, but before you begin trying different uses I cannot emphasize safety enough!\u00a0 If you don’t already have one, invest in a good herbal reference book.\u00a0 There are 2 by Scott Cunningham, Magical Herbalism, and Cunninghams Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs.\u00a0 The Rodale Illustrated Encyclopedia of herbs is a good one and it is a true enclyopedia.\u00a0 Check around and find one that appeals to you.<\/p>\n

Methods of working with Herbs<\/p>\n

Infusion: <\/strong>An infusion, or potion is basically soaking herbs in hot water to be drunk, put into a bath, wiped on surfaces, sprinkled around, and applied to the body.\u00a0 If you have an old coffee maker that you won’t be making coffee in, the paper filter does a great job of straining the herbs, and heats the water quickly.<\/p>\n

* For every one cup of water, use one teaspoon of herb.<\/p>\n

*\u00a0 Cover the infusion so no steam evaporates and let it stand about 10 minutes<\/p>\n

NOTE: <\/strong>Be absolutely certain that any herbs used in this manner are safe!!!<\/p>\n

Bath: <\/strong>Bathing in herbs is a simple way to utilize their power.\u00a0 Either use a cheesecloth sachet, (half to one cup of herb) or a strained infusion to put into the bath.<\/p>\n

Ointment<\/strong>:\u00a0 An ointment is made by using lard or vegetable shortening, which smells way better than lard.\u00a0 I have experimented and used coconut oil, it is solid contrary to the name, and have used vaseline.\u00a0 Wander the cosmetic aisles and I’m sure the possibilities are endless.\u00a0 Apply the ointment to the body, usually to the pulse points.<\/p>\n

Sachet<\/strong>:\u00a0 Also known as charm bags, mojo bags, or gris-gris bags.\u00a0 You can either carry them personally or place them in a particular location.\u00a0 You can use either a small pouch or bag and add the appropriate herb, or mixture of herbs, or you can simply lay the herbs in the center of a piece of cloth, or handkerchief and tie it closed.\u00a0 Usually a tablespoon of herbs is sufficient<\/p>\n

This brings us to herbal incense which is burned on a charcoal block.\u00a0 Just as the coffemaker is a tool of convenience, if you grind a lot of herbs, a coffee grinder works well.\u00a0 I recently received a helpful tip from my niece however, if you’ll be using it alot make sure to get one with multiple speeds, the simple on\/off variety can’t take the strain.<\/p>\n

The simplest way to use herb power is to light a candle of your choice and sprinkle\u00a0 the herbs around the base.<\/p>\n

Be brave, use blends that appeal to you, see what kind of wild herbs you have in your area, be certain they’re safe then add them.\u00a0 If you’re lucky enough to live where you can get lily of the valley flowers and mint mix it with coconut oil and you’ll have a skin cream that blows the high dollar brands out of the water!!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I love herbs, as most witches do.\u00a0 They give so much and ask so little, and under the right circumstances, can these bad boys pack a wallop!\u00a0 In this type of venue our readers can be beginners, or seasoned veterans so it’s a challenge to write something that will hopefully have something for everyone. There are different methods of working with herbs, but before you begin trying different uses I cannot emphasize safety enough!\u00a0 If you don’t already have one, invest in a good herbal reference book.\u00a0 There are 2 by Scott Cunningham, Magical Herbalism, and Cunninghams Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs.\u00a0 The Rodale Illustrated Encyclopedia of herbs is a good one and it is a true enclyopedia.\u00a0 Check around and find one that appeals to you. Methods of working with Herbs Infusion: An infusion, or potion is basically soaking herbs in hot water to be drunk, put into a bath, wiped on surfaces, sprinkled around, and applied to the body.\u00a0 If you have an old coffee maker that you won’t be making coffee in, the paper filter does a great job of straining the herbs, and heats the water quickly. * For every one cup of water, use one teaspoon of herb. *\u00a0 Cover the infusion so no steam evaporates and let it stand about 10 minutes NOTE: Be absolutely certain that any herbs used in this manner are safe!!! Bath: Bathing in herbs is a simple way to utilize their power.\u00a0 Either use a cheesecloth sachet, (half to one cup of herb) or a strained infusion to put into the bath. Ointment:\u00a0 An ointment is made by using lard or vegetable shortening, which smells way better than lard.\u00a0 I have experimented and used coconut oil, it is solid contrary to the name, and have used vaseline.\u00a0 Wander the cosmetic aisles and I’m sure the possibilities are endless.\u00a0 Apply the ointment to the body, usually to the pulse points. Sachet:\u00a0 Also known as charm bags, mojo bags, or gris-gris bags.\u00a0 You can either carry them personally or place them in a particular location.\u00a0 You can use either a small pouch or bag and add the appropriate herb, or mixture of herbs, or you can simply lay the herbs in the center of a piece of cloth, or handkerchief and tie it closed.\u00a0 Usually a tablespoon of herbs is sufficient This brings us to herbal incense which is burned on a charcoal block.\u00a0 Just as the coffemaker is a tool of convenience, if you grind a lot of herbs, a coffee grinder works well.\u00a0 I recently received a helpful tip from my niece however, if you’ll be using it alot make sure to get one with multiple speeds, the simple on\/off variety can’t take the strain. The simplest way to use herb power is to light a candle of your choice and sprinkle\u00a0 the herbs around the base. Be brave, use blends that appeal to you, see what kind of wild herbs you have in your area, be certain they’re safe then add them.\u00a0 If you’re lucky enough to live where you can get lily of the valley flowers and mint mix it with coconut oil and you’ll have a skin cream that blows the high dollar brands out of the water!!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":111,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/111"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5701\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}