MAGICKAL OILS These oils can be used for anointing, candle dressing, baths, charm bags or any other magickal purpose. Please use only pure essential oils rather than 'scented' or 'fragrance' oils, which are often made from artificial ingredients and have no therapeutic or magickal benefits. You can also make your own oils for anointing and candle dressing by the kitchen witch school of enfleurage. Fill a glass bottle with the herb in question, pour a carrier oil over it, leave somewhere warm until the oil is saturated with the scent of the herb, changing the herbs when they lose their color. As essential oil blends generally have to be diluted with a carrier oil anyway, I figure oils made in this way will still be very effective, and in this way I have made oils from herbs whose essential oils are either prohibitively expensive or almost impossible to purchase, including vervain, lemon verbena, yarrow and mugwort. The carrier oil is a matter of personal choice; olive is traditional, sweet almond is a good light oil, hazelnut and macadamia are also light and lovely. Please note that these recipes are proportional, so that you can make up the quantity you want. Just add the essential oils in these proportions, drop by drop, until you achieve the desired strength of scent. Love Oil 15 parts dilute Rose Otto (3 percent rose otto absolute in a jojoba oil base) 15 parts dilute Jasmine (3 percent jasmine absolute in a jojoba oil base) 2 parts Lavender Oil Add a 1-inch piece of vanilla bean and a little sprig of Yarrow to the bottle. General Anointing Oil 5 parts Frankincense 5 parts Cedarwood 4 parts Sandalwood 2 parts Myrrh Add a tiny Amethyst crystal to the bottle Full Moon Oil 6 parts dilute Jasmine (3 percent jasmine absolute in a jojoba oil base) 3 parts dilute Rose Otto ( (3 percent rose otto absolute in a jojoba oil base) 3 parts Sandalwood 3 parts Lemon Add a moonstone to the bottle Money Oil 7 parts Patchouli 5 parts Cedarwood 1 part Basil 1 part Clove Add a length of cinnamon stick, and a tiger's eye, or a bloodstone or green aventurine, to the bottle. Spring and Summer Oil The inspiration for this oil came to me one very warm spring day. Anoint yourself and candles with it during Ostara, Beltane or Midsummer rituals - it's beautiful and connects you to your natural surroundings if you use blossoms from your own area. Make the oil at the beginning of spring. Go for a walk somewhere where there are flowering fruit trees. Collect blossoms from as many kinds of fruit tree as possible, preferably scented ones (apple, cherry, peach and apricot, etc). Fill a small bottle with the blossoms and cover with a light carrier oil such as almond. Leave in the sun until the oil has become impregnated with blossom scent, strain, but add one fresh spring blossom to the bottle. Storage of Oils Store all oils in dark or opaque glass bottles, and in a cupboard away from light and heat. WITCHY RECIPES Infuse every aspect of your life with magick by using these recipes. Empower as you make them. Love Sugar By the light of a pink candle, fill a glass jar with fine white sugar and add one vanilla bean and either a cinnamon stick or a bit of lemon peel. As you fill the jar, gaze into it and empower it with feelings of love, friendship and acceptance. Use the sugar while baking and decorating cakes and cookies which you will share with friends and loved ones; as you bake, fill the cakes with love and joy. Rosemary Wine Chop some green sprigs of rosemary, and put into a bottle of white wine with a few borage leaves. Steep the herbs in the wine for two weeks and strain. Take a wineglassful now and again for low spirits, nervous depression and when you need courage. Love Tea To bring love into your life, make this tea every Friday and sip slowly by the light of a pink candle while projecting your readiness for love to the universe. Rose petals, lemon balm, jasmine flowers, with a pinch of cinnamon, ginger and coriander. Sweeten with honey. RITUAL SOAPS This section is for those people who love to take baths in preparation for rituals and spellwork but who (like me) find themselves temporarily or permanently lacking a bathtub. It's still possible to feel cleansed under the shower with the aid of liquid soap and essential oils. I use liquid castile soap for these soaps, and put them in small plastic bottles (the kind you get from places like the Body Shop, with removable squeeze-tops since the liquid soap blend is very runny). Castile soap is made from olive and (sometimes) coconut oils, and is very pure, mild and cleansing. Basic Ritual Soap: Mix equal parts castile soap and water and then add essential oils in the following proportions, drop by drop and mixing gently, until you reach the required strength of scent. This dilution of the soap is purely to make it last longer; use it full strength if you prefer. Full Moon Soap: 3 parts sandalwood, 3 parts jasmine, 1 part lemon, 1 part rose. Sabbat Soap: 3 parts frankincense, 3 parts sandalwood, 1 part myrrh, 1 part patchouli, 1 part rose. Purification Soap: 3 parts frankincense, 2 parts rosemary, 1 part basil.