Two
Tools Needed for
Working with
This Herbal
In our fantasies, we would have a separate room filled with tools and equipment mentioned by the ancient apothecaries. However, this isn’t necessary—times have changed, and it is far easier to purchase small amounts of herbs and oils from reliable suppliers than it is to acquire tillable land, plant, grow, and harvest herbs, many of which can only be grown in special climates. The distillation of herbs into oils is a complicated process that requires a great amount of time, something most of us no longer have.
Whatever you decide to use as tools, it is best to keep them separate from your everyday household ones. A small ceramic or stone mortar and pestle can be used to powder herbs, as can a small electric coffee bean grinder. Just don’t use the same grinder for both purposes; you don’t want fragments of herbs tainting your coffee or vice versa. Intent concentration on the reasons for preparing the herbs is the same no matter the method you use.
The same principle of keeping your tools separate applies to the rest of your equipment: wooden stirring spoons, a small stainless steel bowl for blending, ground herbs, and any measuring spoons. If you plan to make a mixture large enough to least several times, you will need small glass containers with tight-fitting lids and labels for each container. Never fail to label jars—I guarantee you will not remember what you made and the quantities used at a later date.
Clean your herbal equipment carefully after each use. This ensures that there is no cross-contamination of purposes or contents when you use them again.
According to the traditions of Ireland and Scotland, using an iron kettle or equipment is an insult to the Fae, or fairy folk. However, this is according to ancient legends and may not apply to all the fairy folk any longer.
The most important—and least expensive—addition to your magickal equipment will be the power of your intent, purpose of will, and your belief that you can influence the matter for which you are working. Do not work spells to influence people. The only person you can change is yourself. Even if you influence someone for a short period of time to do or be what you want, they can easily repel that control, and the final outcome will be karma to pay. It is fine, however, to work for someone’s health, financial problems, or protection. The depth of your concentration and determination during any mixing formula will determine how much power is put behind your desire. Reciting certain verses is a further verbal enhancement of that power, as is the burning of certain colored candles.
To fine-tune your power and intent, you may also want to time your efforts according to the moon phases (waxing moon is increasing, waning moon is decreasing), and the weekday ruled by a specific planet. The more specific things you use, do, say, and believe, the more you amplify your intent and purpose.
It is a good habit to copy ingredients of each spell you do, the time it took to manifest, and end results into your own magickal journal. In this way you can decide which ingredients might need to be changed, even how your intent and purpose may have affected the spell.
A warning about the uses of all herbs and oils: Unless you are well acquainted with an herb, such as peppermint, never ingest any herbs or oils unless you have been told it is safe to do so. Test for sensitivity or allergies to an herb or oil by rubbing the herb or putting a small drop of oil on the inside bend of your elbow. I discovered through touch that
I am allergic to comfrey: each time I touched it, my hands got a rash; the final confirmation came when I used an herbal lip balm for chapped lips and got the same reaction: rough, blistered lips.
Do not burn herbs within an enclosed space or near anything flammable. Certain herbs cause nausea or mental disorientation when burned, and a few are deadly. Although listed in this book, some herbs should not be used or burned at all. They are in this book simply for their informational value.
In fact, it is much safer to burn herbs or candles inside a small cast-iron cauldron. Cast iron does not transfer much heat from the bottom, especially if it has small legs underneath. If still in doubt about safety, set the cauldron or metal bowl on another metal surface, such as a tray or the stove.