Carrier Oils

A carrier oil is a vegetable oil that is used to dilute essential oils without diminishing the effect of the essence. It ensures that essential oils used topically are comfortable on the skin. Each essence carries specific vibrations that hold much curative power. These base oils support other ingredients including essential oils and can also be agents for healing in themselves.

Apricot kernel oil, with its warmth and resilience, is especially good for women. Apricot protects love and nurtures women at every age and stage of life.

Avocado is thick, dense, and earthy, a powerful element in any love potion. It also is excellent for drawing forth money and is helpful in business and financial matters.

Borage oil brings a connection with the higher mind, as well as courage, a sense of honor, and the ability to cope with whatever life sends your way. It is said to encourage truth and resolution in legal and relationship problems. If you feel you are being deceived, turn to borage.

Evening primrose oil abets clairvoyance and paranormal gifts. It will help you to see clearly.

Grapeseed oil is regarded by some as the “food of the gods” because of the way it augments spiritual growth. This should be one of the oils that you turn to for anointing yourself or any statuary of gods and goddess before rituals.

Jojoba oil absorbs extremely well into the skin, bearing anything with which it is mixed along with it. It is also a remarkable anointing oil. It should be used in recipes that help to deal with depression and support perseverance in hardship.

Olive oil was named “liquid gold” by the ancient Greek poet Homer, and rightly so: it is about vitality, money, success, and joyfulness.

Sunflower oil, permeated with the energy of our sun, is powerful and life-giving. Use it when you desire rapid growth and amplification of positive energy.

Sweet almond is a gentle, all-purpose oil ready to increase the energy of other ingredients.

Aromatherapeutic Quality Control

Essential oils are highly concentrated extracts of flowers, herbs, root, or resins, sometimes diluted in a neutral base oil. Try to ensure you are using natural oils instead of manufactured, chemical-filled perfume oil; the synthetics lack any real energy. Also, approach oils with caution and don’t get them in your eyes. Clean cotton gloves are a good idea to keep in your kitchen for handling sensitive materials. You can avoid any mess and protect your magical tools by using oil droppers. While you are learning and studying, find a trusted herbalist or the wise sage at your local metaphysical shop; usually their years of experience offer much in the way of useful knowledge you can use to your advantage. I have included as much as I can in this at-a-glance guide to oils:

These essential oils are excellent choices for anointing lamps as well as yourself:

• Cinnamon is energetic, spicy, and warm. It stimulates the mind as well as the body.
• Ginger is vigorous and revitalizing and heightens desire and comfort.
• Jasmine sparks sensuality and inspires feelings of positivity, confidence, and pure bliss.
• Lavender is soothing, calming, nurturing, and relaxing.
• Orange is a light, citrusy oil that restores balance and lifts moods while enhancing playful emotions.
• Rose brings youthfulness, enhances self-esteem, aids circulation, and relieves tension.
• Sandalwood is a woody aroma that relieves tension and relaxes tense muscles.
• Ylang-ylang’s sweet floral aroma is used as an aphrodisiac; it is relaxing and reduces worry and anxiety.

How to Use Essential Oils

Most of the home remedies I personally prefer are either essential oil massage treatments or essential oils diffused into the bath or air. The best base oils for essential oils are cold-pressed vegetable and seed or nut oils. The most affordable are sunflower, safflower, corn, and grapeseed. Add essential oils to base oil at a ratio of one drop per five milliliters. Twenty drops of an essential oil come out to approximately one milliliter, so add twenty drops to a hundred milliliters of base oil.

A few drops of an essential oil from a dropper in the bath is sufficient for therapeutic use, and a few drops in water in a diffuser will fill a room with healing molecules. A drop on a cotton ball wiped on a light bulb or on a radiator will also gently diffuse the oil into the air. Here’s another helpful tip: try a few drops in a small bowl of very hot water. Shut the doors and windows, and the essence will permeate a room in five minutes. This is a particularly easy way to create a nice ambience in a room with soothingly scented air.

My sister suffers from osteoarthritis in her shoulder. She takes baths with synergistic blends of fourteen essential oils: fennel, cypress, juniper, cedarwood, sandalwood, petitgrain, pine, ginger, lavender, rosemary, black pepper, birch, nutmeg, and marjoram. These, combined with sea salt and Epsom salts, have turned her into a true believer in the amazing therapeutic effects of essential oils!

There are hundreds of essential oils used by herbalists, but for general therapeutic use in the home, these are my recommendations as far as what you need to have at the ready.

Craft Your Own Cough Drops: Candied Herbs

• 1 cup vodka
• 1 cup simple syrup
• 1 cup honey
• 2 cups dried herb (of your choice)
• 1 large sheet waxed paper

One of the byproducts of making herbal honeys, liqueurs, and oxymel is the candied herbs, which can also be made especially for snacks and for use in sweetcakes and cookies. To make a batch, stir the liquids together in a big pot and heat slowly, stirring every few minutes. Upon reaching boiling point, add the herbs until well mixed. Turn the heat down and slowly simmer until the liquid is very thick and sticky. Spoon the herbs out and place on wax paper to crystallize. Good herbs for this are hyssop, ginger root, lavender, lemon balm, fennel seed, mint, angelica stems, and thyme as well as small slivers of orange, lime, and lemon. The gift of homemade candy is a marvelous way to signal a crush.

Healing Secrets of the Ancients

Oxymel is a very old-fashioned tonic that dates back to ancient times but has fallen out of fashion. It remains a favorite used by herbal healers and it is made of two seemingly opposing ingredients—honey and vinegar. Herbs can be added to great effect, and when you see honey menthol cough drops on the pharmacy shelf, note their origin in traditions that began over two thousand years ago. Oxymels are supremely effective for respiratory issues. The recipe is simplicity itself: equal parts honey and vinegar poured over herbs in a canning jar. Store in a dark cupboard and give the sealed jar a good shake every day. After two weeks, strain out the herbs with cheesecloth and store your oxymel in the fridge.

Recommended oxymel herbs: oregano, elder flower, sage, balm, mint, lemon peel, thyme, lavender, rose petals, hyssop, and fennel.

DIY Detoxing

Herbal Decoctions

To make a tea from the root, bark, or stems of plants, you will need to make a decoction; add approximately two tablespoons of the herb to one cup of water and gently simmer covered on a very low flame for half an hour.

Dandy Sassafras Ginger Detox

When I was little and living on the family farm, I accompanied my dad to the woods looking for sassafras roots to make tea. I loved the taste; it was delightful and gave me more energy. After apprenticing with my part-Cherokee dad for a few years, he allowed me to go out alone to gather the source of my dearly beloved beverage. Years later, I discovered sassafras was highly prized by Native Americans who used it for medicine and were extremely knowledgeable about combining herbs to amplify their power.

“This morning medicinal is inspired by a shamanic Native healing recipe using sassafras, dandelion root, and wild ginger root. For a wonderfully medicinal decoction, take a half cup of each and boil them in spring water. After simmering for twelve minutes, stir in honey and enjoy. It is pleasantly surprising how good the detox tastes and even more amazing how the herbs combine to eliminate toxins from the body, chiefly the kidney and liver. During the holidays or at pagan feast times, we all may tend to imbibe and enjoy rich foods, good wine, and sugary desserts. This purifying herbal blend will cleanse the organs that cleanse your body, thus aiding wellness. This detox should be used seasonally and is not intended for daily use due to its great power.

Decoctions 101

Infusion as a method doesn’t work well with roots, barks, and herbs with tough stems and seeds. Decocting is bringing the pot nearly to a boil and then reducing by simmering slowly to produce the most concentrated liquid, which is excellent in medicines. Use a well-cleaned coffee grinder for roots and small pieces of bark and stems to make quick work of these. I recommend the decoction method for the roots of willow, sarsaparilla, wild cherry, yohimbe, yucca, licorice, parsley, dandelion, angelica, and cohosh.

Longevity Elixir: Homemade Pear Potion

Pears have long been prized in Asia as a lucky fruit that also nourishes a long and prosperous life. The great magical teacher Scott Cunningham advocated for their use in love spells. This pear liqueur is a special brew indeed. You will need this to make it:

• 3 large ripe pears
• 2 pods of cardamom
• Lemon peel of half a lemon
• Vodka, 1 quart
• 1 clean and sterilized 1-quart Mason jar with lid (preferably dark-colored glass)

Start by crushing the cardamom pods, then set aside. Peel the pears and cut into thin slices. Gently place the pear slices into the jar. Put the crushed cardamom and lemon peel on top of the pears. Cover all with the vodka. Close the jar and tighten the lid, then gently shake twice. Store the jar full of pears in a dark, cool cupboard for ten days. After the ten days, remove the jar from the cupboard. Pour the contents of the jar into a mixing bowl and mash thoroughly using the back of a fork. Strain the mixture into another bowl, using a colander that has been lined with a coffee filter or cheesecloth. Repeat this process twice, then pour the pear liqueur into the Mason jar. (The strained-out pear slices can be consumed or used in cookery, but remember that they may be quite potent!) If you are feeling fancy, you can store your pear liqueur in a pretty bottle. Live long and prosper!