The House Witch: Your Complete Guide to Creating a Magical Space with Rituals and Spells for Hearth and Home - Arin Murphy-Hiscock 2018
Other Magical Recipes
Spells and Rituals
Here’s a collection of home-themed powders, oils, and incenses that can have various applications as you engage in spiritual activity in your home.
Carpet and Floor Purifying Powder
This powder features ingredients that clear negative energy as well as having the practical bonus of absorbing bad odors and refreshing your physical environment. You can also sprinkle it on fabric-covered furniture. It’s nontoxic, so it’s safe around pets.
Purifying Powder
You will need:
✵ 1/2 cup salt
✵ 2 tablespoons mint
✵ 1 tablespoon dried lemon peel
✵ 1 tablespoon lavender
✵ 1 tablespoon rosemary
✵ 1 teaspoon ground cloves
✵ Mortar and pestle or coffee grinder
✵ 1 cup baking soda
1. Grind the salt, mint, lemon peel, lavender, rosemary, and cloves with a mortar and pestle or in a coffee grinder reserved for arts and crafts use.
2. Combine the resulting powder with the baking soda.
3. Sprinkle the mixture over carpets and floors and allow it to rest for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.
4. Vacuum or sweep it up. Discard the contents of the bag or dustpan outside.
Oil Blends
This book hasn’t really addressed blending your own essential oils, because not everyone has the necessary ingredients at home. If you like to work with them or would like to try, here are some recipes for home-themed blends. Oil blends require a base or carrier oil such as grapeseed, sweet almond, jojoba, or other light oil. In a pinch light olive oil is fine. If you’re sensitive to a particular oil, don’t use it; substitute something else.
Try the recipes that follow. Tweak them as necessary to reflect the results you’re looking for. Put a few drops of a blend on a vacuum bag when you put it in the vacuum. It makes the air smell great after a vacuuming session! The oils can also be rubbed on candles, used as anointing oil on objects or doorframes or even on yourself if you’re in need of a pick-me-up.
Hearth Oil
This is a blend designed to represent the energy of an idealized hearth. It contains cinnamon oil, which can irritate, so be careful when blending it.
✵ 1 drop cinnamon oil
✵ 2 drops sandalwood oil
✵ 4 drops lavender oil
✵ 1 drop jasmine oil
✵ 1 drop rose oil
✵ 2 drops frankincense oil
✵ 1 drop pine oil
✵ 1 tablespoon carrier oil
Blend and bottle. Label with the ingredients and date.
Clean and Bright Oil
This oil has loads of cleansing energy. Add a few drops to the wash water when you’re mopping the floor, or on a damp cloth when you wipe down the counters.
✵ 5 drops lemon oil
✵ 5 drops orange oil
✵ 2 drops peppermint oil
✵ 3 drops lavender oil
✵ 1 tablespoon carrier oil
Blend and bottle. Label with the ingredients and date.
Purification Oil
Use this oil to anoint objects in need of purification, or use it to cleanse stones or items you’ve been using to help maintain or balance the energy of a room. You can also put a drop or two on your wrists when you perform the Personal Purification Ritual (see earlier in this chapter).
✵ 5 drops frankincense oil
✵ 3 drops sandalwood oil
✵ 2 drops lemon oil
✵ 2 drops lavender oil
✵ 2 drops rose oil
✵ 1 tablespoon carrier oil
Blend and bottle. Label with the ingredients and date.
Blessing Oil
Use this oil to anoint objects when you want to bring a bit of positive Divine or spiritual hearth energy to them. This blend can be used in place of plain oil for the Ritual for Recognizing the Sanctity of the Hearth in Chapter 3.
✵ 4 drops sandalwood oil
✵ 4 drops rose oil
✵ 4 drops frankincense oil
✵ 1 tablespoon carrier oil
Blend and bottle. Label with the ingredients and date.
Sealing Oil
Use this oil to close off and protect areas or items. It’s also used in the Threshold Protection Ritual in Chapter 7.
✵ 1 tablespoon carrier oil
✵ 3 pinches salt
✵ 1 whole clove
✵ 1 sage leaf
1. Combine all the ingredients in a bottle. Label with the ingredients, purpose, and date. Allow to sit in a sunny spot and infuse for at least 9 days before using.
2. To use, dip your finger in the oil and draw a line across or along the area you are sealing (around a doorframe or window frame, along a wall, across a threshold, etc.).
Incense Blends
Here are several recipes for various incense blends. Blend them according to the instructions in Chapter 7 (Loose Incense, Purifying Incense) and Chapter 10 (Herb and Resin Incense, Incense Balls).
Purification
Here’s an alternate recipe to create a loose purification incense. I haven’t provided exact measurements because beyond balancing one part of resin with one part dried plant matter, the proportions are up to you.
✵ Rosemary
✵ Sage
✵ Clove
✵ Frankincense resin
✵ Myrrh resin
Blend and bottle according to the directions in Chapter 7 (Loose Incense, Purifying Incense).
Ancestor Incense
Good for honoring the ancestors or appealing to them for aid and support.
✵ Rosemary
✵ Sage
✵ Myrrh resin
Blend and bottle according to the directions in Chapter 7 (Loose Incense, Purifying Incense).