Dreams and Faith: Bell, Book, and Candle: Herbs

   The section Bell, Book, and Candle is for giving information of the magickal uses of various herbs and stones, and offer good spells and rituals for a certain time or season.
   Herbs will feature information on herbs (and recipes for herbs) that you can find (hopefully) in your own environment or local grocery store.
   In the future, we will also feature information given by our own Domani.

Preparations of Herbal Remedies

There are many ways to prepare herbal remedies. The easiest and most widely used is a simple, which is a tea made from a single ingredient.

To make a simple, take one heaping tablespoon of the herb and steep it in 8 ounces of boiling water for 4-10 minutes, depending on how strong you like your tea. If you desire sweetener, always use honey. Drink one cup up to three times daily.

A little note on using honey - if you suffer from seasonal hayfever caused by local wildflowers, try to find a honey made from these flowers. Ingesting the pollen from plants that cause your allergies to flare up will help ease your hayfever symptoms.

Another way to make a simple herbal remedies is a tincture. This process is a little more time consuming and take a little more effort, than making a simple, but some herbs react better to this process.

To make a tincture, take one ounce of dried herb and add it to the bottom of a clean, dark glass jar that has a tightly fitting lid.

Pour 100 proof vodka (80 proof will do nicely too) over the top of the herb until there is two inches more vodka than there is herb.

Shake the bottle well and keep it in a cool, dark place for up to three months.

When the tincture is ready, pour the tincture into another glass jar through a funnel that's been covered with cheesecloth. When all of the liquid has been poured out, wad the cheesecloth up into tight ball and squeeze the excess liquid out of the dried herbs.

Discard the cheesecloth, put the lid on the liquid and label your tincture. Store in a cool dark place for up to two years. The standard dose is one teaspoon, three times daily.

Another way I dispense herbal remedies for external use is by making a solar-infused oil.

Take about two ounces of clean, fresh herbs and add them to the bottom of a clear, clean glass jar with a tightly fitting lid.

Bruise the herbs lightly by poking them with a fork. Add a light carrier oil, such as sweet almond oil or jojoba oil and cap your jar tightly.

Leave this in the sun for two days. Strain the oil into a clean dark glass jar and store in a cool dry place for up to a month.

This oil can be added to beeswax and a nut butter (such as mango or shea) for a luxurious crème or rubbed directly onto the body.