All those dried herbs?....

Somehow, somewhere my world has changed from the "norm". Yada, yada, blah, blah, and here I am with a wonderful box full of dried herbs that I bought from an eBay seller. It came with all kinds of goodies, and smells like a dream! However, the more I study and researched my new-found (well, not so new anymore) interest, I realize that I'm not so sure what to do with them! Most cannot be internally consumed, I understand that part.

But that's where my question stems from. I'm not exactly into witchcraft, although I find some of it fascinating, but I like the idea of candles, incense, meditation, affirmations, etc., being used to promote the positive influences that we want/need in our lives.

Based on that, I have this wonderful box of about 50ish very commonly used herbs in the witchery world. But how exactly are they used? I mean, if you can't do the obvious burn a sage bundle to cleanse the house/room/etc - what do you do with them otherwise?

Are they put into a fireproof dish/bowl/cauldrin/etc., and burned from a dried state while an affirmation is being recited? Or are they just sprinkled over, say for example, a handwritten affirmation and then buried in the backyard? Or are they simply put inside a common/everyday potpourri bowl and left there to sit and fragrence the room all by themselves?

Would love any input about their usage - I have a dreamy smelling box full of herbs and don't know what I can or can't do with them!

XO~

LP

which herbs have you got?

jue xx

Well, two things. First, unless you tell us what you have, we really can't offer any advice. Second, until we do find out what you have, all I can do is suggest you head to the library or the bookstore and check out some books on the subject, particulary "Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs." Scott Cunningham is my primary source for herbal and crystal magick information. Another neat new book I have recently discovered is Susan Wittig Albert's "China Bayles' Book of Days: 365 Celebrations of the Mystery, Myth, and Magic of Herbs from the World of Pecan Springs." Hope this helps.

You can get some special charcoals in new age/witchcraft shops made especially for burning herbs. You put the charcoal on top of sand or pebbles in a fire safe bowl. Light the charcoal and add the herbs.

I usually just look up the herb meaning in a book (Scott Cunningham is a good one) to select which ones I need..or I'll burn them as incense with whatever smells good.

I love frankincense tears. I also use lavender and mugwort a lot.

A bundle of herbs...sounds fun!

Gosh, I forgot all about this thread....LOL! Sorry about that Here's a list of what I received. They all say what they're used FOR but not HOW to use them.

Alfalfa

Cinnamon (sticks)
Copal (looks like a tiny stone?)
Chamomile

Echinacea
Elder seeds

Fennel seeds
Feverfew
Frankincense (another tiny stone?)

Ginger
Goldenrod

Horehound

Jasmine
Juniper seeds

Lavender
Lemongrass

Mandrake
Meadowsweet
Mugwort
MulleinParsley (no description for purpose)
Myrrh Gum (looks like a tiny stone) This has no description for purpose

Papaya
Passion Flower
Pennyroyal

Rasberry
Rose
Rose Hips (look like dried berries)
Rosemary

Sage (like a powder)
Sandlewood
Spearmint
St. Johns Wort

Valerian

White Broadleaf Sage
Wintergreen

do you just have tiny bags of them or at least an oz or two of the herbs?

If you only have a little bit of herb, then you could wear them in a pouch with stones. If you have an oz or more you could make tea or infused oil or tincture.

You can also combine herbs, regardless of amount, to make your own incense. An ounce of dried mugwort would probably last me a couple of months, because the only time I use mugwort alone is for tea or for dream pillows, which I make quite small. But combining it with other herbs you have, such as lavendar and pennyroyal, makes a lovely smelling incense you can burn for purification, love and/or enhancement of psychic ability. You mix some of each together in a bowl, and then grind with a mortar and pestle.

The "stones" you refer to are the resins of those herbs. They can be ground or burned as they are on a charcoal block in a censer. A censer doesn't have to be fancy or expensive. A thick glass ashtray with some sand (1/2 inch or so) in the bottom of it makes a very good burner using charcoal blocks. You can't carry that very well around a circle (due to the heat), but I sense that's not your purpose anyway.

By the way, if you grind the resins, they make dust. They burn very well that way, but in mixing them with leafy herbs, I usually then "fix" the resultiing very dusty mixture with a few drops of an appropriate essential oil.

The book referenced earlier in the thread is an essential for herbalists, in my opinion.

sharp chick,

do you usually grind resins in a coffee grinder or by hand?

viking goddess said:

sharp chick,

do you usually grind resins in a coffee grinder or by hand?

Click to expand...

By hand in a little crockery mortar and pestle. I have a larger one for the dried herbs, and a wooden bowl I mix everything in. Using metal for working with the herbs just doesn't feel right to me.

I notice mandrake is on there. Has anyone worked with mandrake?