Information and short videos on how to .....
Dress a candle
Blend an incense
Dry your own herbs
What does it mean to dress a candle? This is a pretty basic question. Essentially, it means to add stuff (oils, herbs, etc.) to the candle. We do this to supplement our meditations, spells and rituals. For a bare candle, you simply rub a light coating of oil (vegetable, olive, essential, etc) on the candle. You can stop there or you can supplement with herbs. For example, for a candle used in a money spell, you would rub oil on a green candle and then roll the candle in appropriate herbs. I might use mint, patchouli or honeysuckle. If you are using a jar candle, the oils and/or herbs can be sprinkled on the top of the candle. Just go easy on the use of oils in a jar candle! You don't want to burn the house down!.
Blending your own herb mixtures is a very satisfy task whether your blend is for meditation, ritual or spell work. Anything you can do to put your own energy into your workings is a plus. First, let me say, you don't have to have more than one herb in a blend. If you are happy burning only sandalwood as you meditate, for example, stick with it. We use multiple herbs to enhance or tweak the effect we desire in our workings. So, if I was mediating to achieve more peace in my life, I might add lavender or passionflower to my sandalwood. The herbs should be broken down into small pieces to burn effectively. As you do this, you should focus about your goal. In other words, blend your peace incense while in a peaceful state. Usually, we don't use more than 5-7 herbs per blend. Too many herbs can confuse the energy. Once blended, store the herbs in a closed container. Unused herb blends should be replaced at the end of 12 months for freshness and efficacy.
Drying your own herbs is another one of those ways to really get into your magickal work. The more personal energy you put into the materials you use, the more effective your work will be. That's why a lot of the old schools used to insist that members make their own tools. It's all about invested energy. You can grow your own materials and harvest them at the appropriate time. You can also take advantage of the material Mother Nature has provided for you in your own landscape. Even apartment complexes have plants like hollies (protection), oaks (prosperity, honoring male deities) and plantain (health, travel) growing around them. Because this is such a broad topic, I would like to refer you to my book, A Witch's Guide to Wildcraft, available at Llewellyn.com and most pagan stores that carry books. Or, you can just follow this link to Amazon Books. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=a+witch%27s+guide+to+wildcraft&i=stripbooks&crid=3AAGW6GO96GRO&sprefix=A+Witch%27s+guide+to+wil%2Cstripbooks%2C126&ref=nb_sb_ss_fb_1_22