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Oils and Scents (taken from Natural Magic by J.M. Greer)
Since ancient Egyptian times, if not before, sacred oils, ointments, and perfumes have been used to consecrate and bless, and they have a dizzying range of roles in magic, religion, and mythology. It's worth remembering, for example, that the title "Christ" and its Hebrew equivalent, "Messiah," both literally mean "anointed with oil."
Oils and scents have many of the same magical qualities as potions. Like potions, they are made of one or more magically effective substances dissolved in a liquid—a menstruum, to use the traditional term—that serves as carrier and basis. Oil, alcohol, and water all have different capacities to dissolve the various scented substances, and these differences have potent effects on the ways in which each carrier can be put to work. In particular, many strongly scented compounds dissolve much more effectively in oil or alcohol than in water. In ancient times, accordingly, most perfumes had an oil base; nowadays, alcohol and various artificial compounds fill the same role. The recipes covered here include oil and alcohol preparations, since the ingredients needed for both are relatively easy to obtain.
Scents can range from the simple to the wildly complex, and perfumery is among the most subtle and personal of all magical arts. For ordinary magical use, a palette of readily available essential oils or herbal extracts can provide all the tools you need, but if the art of magical perfumery interests you there are many more possibilities. Just to start with, there are some 4,000 natural plant-based scents currently used in perfumery, and according to the theory of natural magic every one of them should have some magical effect to offer.
Oil or Alcohol Maceration
Maceration, one of the simplest way to make your own magical oils and scents, is also one of the best. The technique is the same as that for water macerations, which was given under Potions above; only the liquid involved is different. W7at You>ll Need
The requirements are simply a glass jar with an airtight lid, a piece of cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer, the herbs or other substances you intend to use, and enough of the menstruum to fill the jar mostly full. The lid of the jar should have no bare metal exposed to the inside; if it does, put a layer of plastic wrap over the mouth of the jar before you put on the lid, so that the metal does not react with the menstruum.
If you intend to use oil, extra-virgin olive oil, sweet almond oil, or any other natural oil with a mild scent can be used. If you plan on making an alcohol maceration, pure grain alcohol is best if you can get it, and strong vodka is almost as good; denatured alcohol, which is mixed with small amounts of various poisonous substances, should be avoided in any natural magic application.
How It’s Done
Put the herbs or other substances into the jar, pour in the menstruum, cover, and leave in a cool dark place for anywhere from a few hours to a month or more, depending on the strength of the substance and the intensity of the fragrance you want. Shake up the maceration at intervals to help the fragrance diffuse throughout the oil. Once the maceration has reached the strength desired, strain the herbs or other substances out using the cheesecloth or mesh strainer, and put the result to use.
Incense
There are few things more definitely connected with magic than incense, and for good reason. For thousands of years people have been burning various substances in the fire to scent the air and open up the path to magical states of experience. Some of the materials that have been used for this purpose are drugs, pure and simple, but there are better ways to shape consciousness than the brute-force methods of drug use. Here, as elsewhere in the magical arts, subtlety is the key.
There are several different forms of incense in common use these days, and all of them have their value to the practitioner of natural magic. The oldest, and still the most important for the practicing magician, is loose incense, which is simply dried plant material of various kinds. Unlike most other varieties, loose incense has to be put on lit charcoal in order to burn. This may be an inconvenience, but it also allows precise control of how much incense is burning at any given point, and it's also far and away the easiest of all incenses to make.
Pebble incense is one of those Victorian crafts that has been very nearly forgotten at present, but is well worth reviving in magical circles. As the name implies, this takes the form of small, hard balls of incense, and must be burnt on charcoal like the loose variety.
Stick incense is the kind most people think of first when incense is mentioned. It's usually made of a paste of herbs, wood powder, glue, and water, formed around thin pieces of bamboo into long slender sticks. A simpler kind of stick incense can be made by taking unscented sticks and "painting" them with essential oils.
Cone incense and cylinder incense are made of the same kind of mixture as stick incense, but are shaped into different forms. These are harder to find unless you live in an area with good import shops or herb stores.
Making stick, cone, or cylinder incense is well within the abilities of most people, but—as with making your own soap—it requires a good deal of information and detailed instructions, and will not be covered here. (Those who want to explore the art of making these kinds of incense will find references on the subject in the Bibliography.) Loose incense, pebble incense, and the kind of stick incense made by applying essential oils to unscented wood-powder sticks are another matter, as these are much less complex to make.
Loose Incense
This is simply a collection of herbs and other scented substances that is put on glowing charcoal to burn and give off smoke. It's often a good idea to try any incense blend first as loose incense in small batches, since this allows you to adjust proportions and experiment freely.
What You'll Need
A censer or heatproof bowl; some self-starting charcoal (available wherever bulk incense is sold, or from mail order houses); a mixing bowl; a mortar and pestle for grinding; and airtight jars for the final results are the only pieces of equipment needed. The ingredients are entirely a matter of your preferences and purposes.
How It's Done
Start by testing the ingredients you have in mind to make sure they will work together (or at all!) as incense. The scent of fresh or dried plant material is not necessarily a guide here; mint, for example, smells awful when burnt. The only effective way is to light your charcoal, put it in the censer or heatproof bowl, wait until it's hot, and drop a small amount of the ingredient you have in mind right on the charcoal. Wait until it has stopped giving off smoke, and then try a pinch of the next ingredient on the list. Once you've made sure that all of them work well as incenses (or have set aside the ones that don't), try mixing together a pinch of each ingredient into a blend and burning that. Adjust the ingredients, testing each mix, until you've found one that works for you. Then note down the proportions, make a slightly larger batch in the mixing bowl, stir up thoroughly, and try a pinch on the charcoal. (Most self-lighting charcoal will burn for an hour or more, so you can afford to take your time.) When you've finally got the blend right, mix it up. Large pieces of bark, leaf, and so on should be ground up in the mortar and pestle, and if you prefer incense with a relatively smooth, even texture and scent it may be a good idea to grind all of it to powder. Once you've finished, put the incense in an airtight jar and leave it some place where it will not be exposed to direct sunlight or temperature extremes.
Pebble Incense
Once upon a time, pebble incense was one of the things that nearly every young woman in the English-speaking world knew how to make before she left her parents' home. Like many of the forgotten crafts of our great-grandparents' time, it's well worth reviving.
What You'll Need
A mortar and pestle, a mixing bowl and spoon, and a flat surface covered with wax paper are all the equipment that you'll need. Ingredients consist of the herbs, flowers, and other scented material you intend to use in the incense, the essential oil or oils, and the whites of one or more eggs, depending on the quantity you want to make.
How It's Done
Grind up the solid ingredients thoroughly in the mortar, then pour the powder into the mixing bowl and add the essential oil a drop at a time, stirring between drops to disperse the oil. When the mixture smells right, begin stirring in the egg white a little at a time until the mixture is moistened all the way through, but not yet sloppy. On the wax paper, roll small amounts of the mixture into little balls one-third to one-half inch across. Dry these until hard; if you live in a humid climate, drying them in an oven set on "warm" may be a good idea. Put one or two of the resulting pebbles on hot charcoal to release the scent.
Stick Incense from Essential Oils
This is another form of incense that is simple to make and very useful for the practicing magician.
What You'll Need
The requirements here are plain, unscented incense-style sticks, which can be purchased from aromatherapy supply shops and a surprising number of other stores; a small paintbrush with natural bristles, which can be found in any art supply store; and the essential oils you intend to use. A large lump of modeling clay or a piece of wood with several very small holes drilled into it, a small wide-mouthed jar for mixing essential oils, and a collection of airtight jars for the finished product will also be needed.
How Its Done
Take the essential oils and make a blend that fits your purpose and your aesthetic sense, using the little jar as a mixing container. When the blend is right, stick the bamboo ends of several of the incense sticks into the modeling clay or the holes in the wood, so the sticks stand upright. Using the brush, "paint" the incense sticks with the essential oil blend, just as though you were coating them with a layer of paint. As soon as the sticks look relatively dry—depending on the dryness of the wood powder, this may happen immediately—put them into the airtight bottle or jar where they will be stored; this will minimize the amount of essential oil that is lost. Set up more sticks, paint them, and continue until you've done as many as you wish. If there's any essential oil blend left over afterwards, take an eyedropper and put a drop or two into the jar with the freshly made incense sticks.
Purification Incense
For works of cleansing, purification, and banishing, take equal parts angelica root and myrrh and burn over charcoal alternatively, grind up the angelica root, mix with powdered myrrh and a few drops of bay laurel essential oil, and make into pebble incense.
Love Incense
For the more erotic kinds of love magic, make stick incense with an essential oil blend of six parts rose and one part each of ginger, jasmine, and patchouli. For the more spiritual kinds, replace the last three ingredients with lily and yarrow.
Visionary Incense
A good blend to burn when scrying, crystal gazing, or performing other kinds of visionary work may be made by taking equal parts of mugwort, hops, and vervain and adding a pinch of nutmeg. Use sparingly; a little of this mix goes a long way.
Church Incense
This is the classic blend used in Roman Catholic churches, and borrowed (with good reason) by many practitioners of ceremonial magic for general ritual use. Take ten parts of frankincense, four parts of benzoin, and one part of styrax; grind up finely and mix thoroughly.
Kyphi Incense
Finally, for traditionalists, here is the most famous of all incenses, the classic blend of ancient Egypt. There are many different recipes for kyphi, even in documents dating from the time of the pharaohs. The following version is based on two of the surviving accounts from Egyptian papyri.
Take two parts each of juniper berries, galangal root, calamus root, frankincense, and pine resin; one part each of orris root, broom flowers, myrrh, and styrax; three parts each honey and raisins; and enough red wine to moisten the final result. Pound the raisins into a paste, and mix with the honey; grind all the other ingredients (except the wine, of course) together in a mortar, and mix the result into the honey and raisin mixture, moistening with the wine as needed to produce a paste. Roll the result into little balls, and let dry thoroughly before storing.
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