Candlelight Spells: The Modern Witch's Book of Spellcasting, Feasting, and Healing - Gerina Dunwich 2000
Good Old-Fashioned Witches’ Remedies for Whatever Ails Ye
Herbs
To prepare herbal teas for medicinal purposes, always use one teaspoon of herb to one cup of boiling water. Crush the leaves of fresh or dried herbs and place them in an earthenware teapot. Fill with boiling water and steep for five minutes. (Teas made from roots or seeds must be boiled for 10—15 minutes in order to extract the full flavor of the herb.) After the tea has steeped, strain it through a cheesecloth and then add honey or sugar if a sweetener is desired.
(IMPORTANT: Herbal preparations should never be boiled in aluminum vessels! Use only copper, earthenware or Pyrex to avoid contamination of the medicines. Please follow all directions carefully!)
ANIMAL BITES (MINOR WOUNDS)
The powdered root of angelica (gathered when the moon is in Leo, preferably) mixed with a bit of pitch and laid on the biting of dogs, or any other creature, helps to cleanse the open wound and makes it heal more quickly.
ANXIETY
A tea made from catnip, chamomile or scullcap helps to relieve anxiety and nervousness.
ARTERIOSCLEROSIS (HARDENING OF THE ARTERIES)
Combine one pint of grain alcohol with one ounce of powdered dried hawthorne berries. This tincture should be given in doses ranging from one to 15 drops. (NOTE: Although hawthorne is non-toxic, it can produce dizziness if taken in large doses.)
ASTHMA
Place the soft fuzzy leaves of the mullein plant in a teapot with hot water and inhale the steam through the spout to relieve the symptoms. Another preventative against mild attacks calls for one tablespoon of sunflower oil taken at night before going to bed. A brew of skunk cabbage, garlic, onion and honey was favored by many witches as a remedy for bronchial asthma. A very old asthma remedy used by the American Indians calls for the smoking of ground red clover blossoms. The leaves of the California gum plant combined with those of the stramonium were also smoked.
ATHLETE’S FOOT
Rub onion juice between the toes two or three times daily until the condition disappears.
BACKACHE
A tea of nettle or rosinweed is recommended for aching backs by many witches.
BEE OR HORNET STING
Wash the sting with a strong tea of juniper berries and hot water or apply a fresh poultice made of mashed garlic plant three times daily. Another old-fashioned pagan home remedy for bee stings is as follows: heat bruised plantain leaves with a match until they are wilted. Do not burn them. Squeeze out the juice and apply it to the insect bite or sting.
BURNS (MINOR)
Rub the juice from the following plants directly on the burned area: aloe vera leaves, hound’s tongue leaves, plantain leaves, houseleeks or quince seeds. To make a healing herbal salve, mix together in a large enamel baking pot one lb. of lard, four ounces of beeswax and one ounce of any of the following herbs: all-heal, fleabane, Irish moss or lady’s bedstraw. (Fresh, finely cut-up herbs are the best to use, but dried herbs may also be used if fresh ones cannot be obtained.) Heat the mixture in a 200 degree oven for 3½ to four hours and then strain through a cheesecloth into a clean, heat-proof container. Allow the salve to cool to room temperature before applying to the burn.
COLDS
An ancient gypsy cold remedy recommends the drinking of a syrup made from one ounce of fresh, chopped horseradish root, one pint of boiling water and honey. Another cold remedy is blessed thistle or elder flowers brewed as a tea with a bit of honey or sugar as a sweetener.
COLDS AND FEVER
To break colds and fevers, pour one pint of boiling water over one ounce of yarrow. Add one teaspoon of honey and three drops of tabasco sauce. Let stand approximately 10 minutes, and drink while still warm. This old witches’ remedy will open up the pores and cause profuse sweating to purify the blood of toxins.
CONSTIPATION
A strong tea made from powdered licorice root and castor oil will produce a powerful laxative effect. Other herbal teas recommended include: bunchberry, horehound and red mulberry.
COUGHS
Witches’ Syrup #1: Cover three-quarter ounce of fresh Coltsfoot leaves and one-quarter ounce of Irish moss with one pint of water and boil down until only one cup remains. Strain and add honey, bringing the syrup to a boil. Remove from heat, let the syrup cool and then bottle it. Take as needed in tablespoon doses.
Witches’ Syrup #2: Boil down two or three ounces of sunflower seeds in one quart of water. Add a bit of gin and honey and take three times daily.
DANDRUFF
Steep one ounce of rosemary in a pint of boiling water. Cool and then massage into the scalp after washing and rinsing the hair.
DEPRESSION
Meditation with saffron tea is recommended.
DIARRHEA
Put one ounce of St. John’s wort into a pint of boiling blackberry brandy. Cool and then take in wineglass doses. The following herb teas are also recommended: crowfoot, peppermint, red raspberry and slippery elm.
ECZEMA AND PSORIASIS
Brew a strong potion of powdered Goldenseal root, comfrey root, witch hazel bark, white oak bark and pure mountain spring water. Allow potion to cool, then soak a clean white cloth in it and apply it directly to the skin. (For external use only.)
EYE AILMENTS
Put one ounce of eyebright herb in a pint of boiling water. After it has cooled, bathe the eyes with the infusion.
FATIGUE
According to a 16th century prescription: “Seethe much rosemary herbe and bathe therein to make thee lusty, lively, joyfull, likeing and youngly.”
FEVER
Boil two tablespoons of cayenne pepper in one cup of water. Cool and then add two tablespoons of sugar or honey and a bit of orange juice. Drink often until the fever subsides. Lemon balm tea is also highly recommended to reduce fever: Pour one pint of boiling water over one ounce of lemon balm. Infuse for 15—20 minutes, cool, strain and then drink. Honey, lemon peel or sugar may be added to sweeten the flavor, if desired.
GOUT
Brew a tea from strawberry leaves and flowers of the broom plant. Add cherry juice to sweeten and drink often.
GUM IRRITATION
Add one-half teaspoon of myrrh to one-third glass of lukewarm water and use as a mouthwash. Repeat as often as needed.
HALITOSIS (BAD BREATH)
Place one-third teaspoon each of rosemary, anise and mint in a cup of boiling water. Steep for ten minutes and then strain. After cooling use as a mouthwash.
HEADACHE
Peppermint, rosemary, catnip and sage teas are excellent for treating the pain of headaches. Tea brewed from the bark of the willow tree is another effective headache remedy. Willow tree bark contains salicin, a substance which changes in the human system to salicylic acid—the active ingredient of common aspirin.
IMPOTENCY
Brew a tea from ginseng root and juniper berries and drink it when the moon is in Scorpio to help stimulate the sex organs and increase sexual drive.
INSOMNIA
Add one-quarter teaspoon of valerian root, one-quarter teaspoon of skullcap, and one-quarter teaspoon of lady’s slipper to one cup of boiling water. (Never boil valerian root!) Add some honey or sugar to sweeten the tea and allow it to cool before drinking. (Do not drink more than one cup per day.) Other herbs valued for overcoming insomnia are teas of basil, catnip, chamomile, hops, lemon verbena, passionflower and violet leaves.
KIDNEY STONES
Add one ounce of trailing arbutus leaves to one pint of boiling water. Drink this several times daily.
MENOPAUSE
Brew a tea from the life root (also known as the female regulator) and squaw weed. Drink once a day before going to bed.
MENSTRUAL PAIN
Boil squaw weed and motherwort herb in a pot of water. Let it cool. Add a bit of brandy and then let it stand for a few days before drinking. The following herb teas are also recommended for menstrual cramps and discomfort: catnip, chamomile, ginger, pennyroyal and sweet cicely.
MUSCLE ACHES AND PAINS
Boil arborvitae leaves in lard to make a healing herbal salve. Apply externally to the painful area.
POISON IVY
Rub the infected area with the juice of jimsonweed. Use externally only! Jimsonweed is poisonous when taken internally.
RHEUMATISM
Pound two cloves of garlic with honey and take for three consecutive nights. (NOTE: The garlic plant was worshipped for many centuries by the gypsies for its remarkable medicinal powers and for its unique ability to scare away vampires!)
RINGWORMS
Mix one ounce of powdered bloodroot root and three ounces of lard. Bring the mixture to a boil, simmer for a short period of time and then strain. Apply this ointment to the affected area. (For external use only.)
SORE FEET
Make a soothing foot bath by brewing a strong tea of fresh alder leaves and soak the feet in it. The fresh leaves of the alder when applied directly to the bare feet also offer excellent relief for burning and soreness.
SORE THROAT
Mix one ounce of dried agrimony with one pint of boiling water. Sweeten with honey and drink warm. Another old sore throat remedy is as follows: Boil one-half ounce of bruised sassafras root, one ounce of anise seeds and two ounces of honey in one quart of water for 25—30 minutes and then add one-half pint of spirits of wine. Take as often as needed. In addition to herbal syrups, many witches recommend gargling with sage tea to soothe minor sore throat irritation.
SPLINTERS
Fill a widemouthed bottle with a mixture of aloe vera, sea salt and boiling water. Place the injured area over the mouth of the bottle and push down tightly. The heat and pressure should draw out the splinter or loosen it for easy removal.
TOOTHACHE
Rub oil of cloves or juice of angelica directly on the toothache to help numb the pain. The herbs of grindelia, raw cow parsnip, sweet cicely and yarrow also reduce toothache pain when placed directly into a cavity. For baby’s teething pain, a tea made of hops is quite effective.
ULCERS OF THE STOMACH
Simmer the fresh root of the dogtooth violet or the adder’s tongue in milk and drink.
UPSET STOMACH
Make a sauce by beating sorrel leaves into a mash and adding a bit of sugar and vinegar. Drink to help relieve stomach pain and gas. A broth made from rosemary and the leaves of the western gun plant also offers good relief from an upset stomach or indigestion. The following herbal teas are also highly recommended: chamomile, marigold leaves, mint, peppermint, slippery elm, valerian and yarrow.
WARTS
Rub the warts with milkweed juice three times daily until they disappear.