Herbal Preparations: Incense

If you need is to release the scent of herbs, incense is a time-honored way to do so. Incenses, in one form or another, have been used as long as spirituality has existed. There are two basic forms of incense: self-igniting and non-self-igniting. Both have their benefits, though one definitely has more drawbacks than the other.

The best and most effective incense will always be the non-self-igniting type. This kind of incense is most easily prepared by simply grinding the herbs you need in a mortar and pestle. After mixing the herbs in accordance with your needs and perhaps the recipe you're following, you simply burn the resulting mixture on charcoal disks. This is the most effective type of incense and is certainly worth a little time grinding up herbs. Charcoal disks are fairly inexpensive, so this method can be cost effective as well.

You can, if you like, use a pure wood powder as a base and add essential oils and other extractions. This works much like the non-self-igniting incense in that it has to be burned atop charcoal disks. I don't generally recommend this type of incense because it is much harder to prepare, but it is certainly an option.

Self-igniting incense is another story entirely. Fair warning: I really do not like self-igniting incense. Most of it is little better than scented sawdust and saltpeter. It burns all right, but because it uses very little actual herb, it has no real medicinal or magickal value. Even if you can manage to create an incense that is mostly herb and saltpeter, the saltpeter interferes with the scent of the herbs, thereby making it less effective than non-self-igniting incense. And most certainly you should not use self-igniting incense you find in stores. Smells great, yes, but it's worthless. If you want self-igniting incense, experiment with saltpeter and herbs until you find a mixture you like.

Then we come to the matter of incense sticks. Though sticks are convenient, NEVER buy them from a store. Almost without exception these sticks are made of resin and fragrance oils (at least in North America and most of Europe). Since fragrance oils do not have the properties of essential oils (which comes from the natural herb), they are useless for your magickal or medicinal work. Now if they made them from essential oils...but this is rarely done because the cost would be astronomical. If you can buy the incense sticks for a quarter a piece, they're certainly made with fragrance oils no matter what the sales person says.

So what about making them yourself? Well, it's possible. I have had some success dipping my own incense sticks in a mixture of resin and essential oils. I've used both wooden sticks and charcoal sticks, and both have their benefits. The wooden sticks are cleaner, but the charcoal sticks produce a superior scent (but they do make a mess). So you can certainly make your own stick incense that will work for your purposes, but be aware that this is a time consuming process. Finished sticks will have to dry for a few days (don't try to quicken this process in an oven) so you won't be able to use them immediately. Still, the process can be a fun craft if you're in to that sort of thing.

The best way to make incense is simply to grind the herbs and burn them (even by throwing them into a fire instead of using charcoal disks). There are other methods, obviously, but in this case, simple is best. Experiment, if you like, but don't skip over the easiest and most effective method for preparing incense.

Herbal Preparations: Candles

Candles are a safe and easy way to use herbs in your own home, but its only a viable option if you only need the pure scent of the herb. If you need other properties, you're best off using another preparation method. Still, making your own candles can be fun and you can customize them for your own needs. Just remember that candles, like all forms of herbal preparations, have their limitations.

To create candles that will be effective in magickal or medicinal work, you must use either essential oils or powdered herbs to scent your candles. Synthetic oils, while cheap, are not at all useful. If all you want is a scented candle, fine, use synthetic. If you want a more magickal candle, however, you'll have to purchase quality supplies.

Powdered herbs are certainly the easiest way to make herbal candles. Just add powdered herbs to the melted wax, pour, and there you go. Sort of. If you aren't careful, a candle that includes powdered herbs can actually light on fire, and I don't mean just the wick. When you're powdering your herbs, they need to be really fine. I mean so fine they could float. Otherwise they can actually catch on fire, acting as a second wick and really ruining your day. And never, ever, put herbs on the top of your candle, even if you think it looks really pretty. You'll light the wick and suddenly everything will be on fire. No good.

The other thing to watch out for is concentration. If the herbs are too concentrated, you'll end up with a fire no matter how fine the herbs are. This means you can't add too much of the powdered herbs to your wax. Add no more than a single tablespoon of herbs to a full pound of wax. Seriously. And make sure the herbs are evenly disturbed throughout the wax. This should help you avoid any unexpected fires.

Essential oils are another problem altogether. You might think you can just add them to the wax, and you can, but heat breaks down the essential so it's really not the easy. There's a reason most commercial candles are made with synthetic oils. But you're not using synthetic oils, are you? Are you?

No? Good. To effectively use essential oils to scent your candles, you need to use a low temperature to melt your wax. If it takes you an hour to melt that pound of wax, that's great. Good temperature. Keep it low and do not add hardeners to your wax. Just don't. It won't work out well.

As for how much to add, well, I find that no more than 2 ounces for a pound of wax is best. 1 ½ ounces is even better. If you're trying to convert an herbal recipe (that uses essential oils) into a candle recipe, see the 'drops' used in most recipes as 'parts' and you should be fine, as long as your total oil doesn't exceed 2 ounces. Also, don't add a base oil when crafting candles. They really don't need it. It only takes away from the small amount of oil you can add to your wax without creating a problem.

Once final warning, add your herbs or oils right before you pour the wax. Heat breaks things down no matter how low the temperature. So add colors and such before you add herbs and oils. Make sure your herbs and oils are distributed evenly, then pour your wax immediately.

Candles may not be the most common herbal preparation, but they are at least easy to make and use. Take advantage of them when you can.

Herbal Preparations: Baths and Soaks

There are many different ways to use herbs for healing and other purposes, but the most benign (and certainly the easiest) is probably using herbs to create a bath or soak. The difference between these two terms is slight, but it is important. In general, if you immerse your entire body (not counting the head), you've created a bath. If you only immerse a single part of the body (such as the hand or the foot), you've created a soak.

The easiest way to create a bath or soak is to use a bit of cheesecloth to completely enclose the plant material. Make sure not a bit of it escapes. You can also use an organza bag if you like. I prefer the bags because I can clean them and reuse them, but you might like the cheesecloth. You could, of course, just leave the herbs loose, but they cling to your body or the tub or they may even clog your drain. Do yourself a favor and contain those herbs before they cause a problem.

Don't use powdered herbs. They don't stay in the bags and they can irritate the more sensitive areas of the body. Use herbs that are large enough to stay inside the bag you use.

Once you have your bag or packet prepared, it's time to draw the water. Don't use warm or lukewarm water for the bath. Instead, drop the herb packet in the bottom of the tub (or container if preparing a soak) and draw the water as hot as possible. Close to boiling is best. Allow the herbs to steep as the water cools to a tolerable temperature. This may take a while, especially if you're using an entire bathtub of water, so be patient. You may have to wait up to sixty minutes to be able to use the water, but allowing the herbs to fully take effect is worth it.

Once the water has cooled to a tolerable temperature, sink into the water (or immerse the body part that needs to be immersed) and relax. Most recipes for baths and soaks will indicate how long you should stay in the water. If this information is not given, assume that you should stay in the water until the fingers or toes begin to wrinkle. You might want to light candles or incense to compliment the purpose of the herbal bath.

Baths and soaks are a popular way to utilize the magickal and healing properties of many herbs. Not all of them, however, are water soluble and some are toxic, so do your research before preparing an herbal bath or soak.

Herbology: Extraction Methods

There are several methods by which you can extract the herbal properties you're looking for. Which herbal preparation you choose depends on the herb and the purpose for which you'll be using it. Because of this, different methods can and will be used for the same herb. An herbal infusion will have different properties than an herbal tincture, even if the same herb is used in both. So be aware of the different methods as you continue your study of herbology.

Infusion

This method is absolutely the most common in herbology. It is simple, typically quick (in term of effort, not necessarily time), and doesn't require much in the way of equipment. Do you have a glass jar and some water? You can make an herbal infusion. Feel free to do so in your own home with the materials you have on hand.

The infusion may be either hot or cold. In a hot water infusion, the water is boiled, then taken off the heat until its not boiling, and poured over the herbs while still hot. Because boiling water can destroy some of the medicinal properties of herbs, waiting until the boiling stops is essential. Cold water infusions are done when the water is no longer hot at all.

Hot water infusions are faster because they extract the medicinal properties of herbs faster. They are not, however, always the best choice. Some of the more delicate herbs are better done in a cold water infusion, even if you have to set the infusion in the sun for a week before using it. Always consider the particular herb before choosing an infusion method.

Decoction

Though this term can be used to refer to any preparation created by using boiling water, it is typically used in herbology when the extraction made is to be boiled into a concentration. Though you might call the non-concentrated liquid a "tea", this liquid has little medicinal value. It is simply not concentrate enough, so the decoction is almost always boiled down. This method is easy enough to do at home.

Bear in mind that boiling an herb often destroys some of its more subtle medicinal properties, so it's not ideal in most cases. Still, there are decoctions that are highly effective, so keep this extraction method in your back pocket until you need it.

Tincture

Tinctures are basically infusions made with something other than water. Grain alcohols are the most common, but you can also make them with vinegar and wine (which is not grain-based). Like infusions, this one is simple to do at home. Since you don't generally heat the alcohol, tinctures typically take at least a few hours to prepare. Luckily this method also allows you to ignore the tincture for a while, so you're not actually having to tend it all day.

Maceration

There's a lot of confusion surrounding this term, so I'll be very clear. A maceration involves soaking plant material in liquid for so long it becomes a pulp. The liquid can be anything from water to alcohol to vinegar. This method take a long time and is quite irritating (because sometimes it all starts to ferment on you and you have to start all over again). Luckily, macerations aren't all that common in modern herbology.

Expression

This one should be easy enough to remember because to make an expression you "express" the liquid directly from the plant material. Note that you are not adding any of the plant material to your preparation. There should be no pulp in your expression. Think of it like making orange juice. You can squeeze the orange to get a pulp-free expression or you can twist the orange on a juicer to get a pulp-juice mix. With expressions you are after just the juice, not the pulp.

Expressions are not easy to make at home unless you have the right equipment. If you want to make your own expressions, invest in professional-grade equipment to assist you.

Percolation

If you've ever made percolated coffee, then you already know how to make a percolation. This extraction method can be done at home. You're better off buying professional equipment, but you can make due if you have to. To make an herbal percolation you'll need the following materials:

• a large pot
• a screen suspended in the vertical center of your pot
• a domed lid for the pot that does not have a handle

Once you have all these items, place the herbs on the screen, right in the middle. Fill the pot with water until it is about an inch or two below the screen (the herbs should not be in the water). Put the lid of the pot on, but upside down. Looks a little silly, but trust me.

Now you can either make a cold water percolation or a warm water percolation. Fair warning: cold water percolations take a LONG time. Days. Many, many days. If you warm the water gently, the entire process happens faster (though still not fast). Either way, you should see water condense on the lid as it evaporates, roll down to the tip of the dome, and drip onto the herbs. You can speed up the process by putting ice on the inverted lid, but it will still take a while. This is not a method I recommend at home because of the frustrations involved.

Reflux

I'd rather eat glass than make a reflux at home, so do yourself a favor and leave the refluxing to the professionals. Refluxes are basically percolations using something other than water. Alcohol is the most common. Since alcohol tends to ignite on the stove, you absolutely must have professional equipment for this method. And hopefully a professional to show you how to do it. Don't do this at home.

As you can see, some of these methods are easier to pull off at home than others. Most recipes you will encounter will either be tinctures or infusions (or may just use the whole herb instead), so you don't really need complicated equipment. Just space to store your creations.