Beauty, Bath and Medicine Cabinet

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Beauty, Bath & Medicine Cabinet

Rosewater Facial Astringent

I originally made this for myself, loving the way it made my skin feel and how it seemed to keep wrinkles at bay. Then, when my daughter's face exploded with puberty, we tried it on her. The results were wonderful (although, if I were making this for her today, I would also add tea tree oil!)

 

 

 

Combine in a glass jar: 1 cup red rose petals, 1/3 cup elder flowers, 1/3 cup water , 1/2 cup cider vinegar. Loosely cap the jar and set it in some water in a crock pot, put the lid on the crock pot and turn it on low for 24 hours. Then let it cool; strain (a coffee filter is good for this) and add: 2 Tablespoons Honey and 6 drops of Tea Rose oil. Let this sit for a week, shaking the jar often. Then bottle for use and apply with a cotton ball. (If the mixture is too strong for you, it may be diluted with some water)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To Make hair shiny, healthy and smell good, put a just a dab of rosemary oil in the palm of your hand then rub it over the bristles of your brush before using it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cologne: this is a formula that my ex-husband created. An intriguing combination of fragrances that is mysterious and very sexy - and works equally well for men and women! It consists of equal parts patchouli and orange oil. That's it! But so intoxicating! Wear a dab of the oil or, to make into a cologne: mix the oils with some unscented alcohol like Everclear (vodka will work if you have nothing else...) and some purified water - and if you have some glycerin, add a bit of that too. Shake well before using.

Granny's Cold Oil Bath Salts

Combine equal parts Lavender, Wintergreen, and Rosemary oils to make about a quarter of an ounce. Stir this into a handful of kosher salt and add to a bath that is as warm as you can take it. Be sure there is no draft in the room. If there is a shower curtain you can draw around the tub, then pull it tight shut to keep the scent and heat in. Immerse yourself in the water up to your chin and just relax and breath. In about 10 minutes you will suddenly feel quite warm. At this point, hop out, dry off, bundle up so you don't get chilled and pack yourself off to bed (perhaps with some mulled red wine or a cup of Granny's Cold Tea:

Cold Tea: equal parts: Coltsfoot, Peppermint, Licorice, and Ephedra (Ma Huang) with a chunk of Ginger root thrown in.

Charm for a Burn

Lay your right hand very softly over the burn, then repeat three times over unto yourself, giving a gentle blow each time from your mouth on the place that is burned:

Old clod beneath the clay

Burn away, burn away,

In the name of God, be thou healed.

From Ancient Cures, Charms and Usages of Ireland by Jane Wilde, 1890

(It wouldn't hurt to apply fresh aloe vera either!)

 

Incantation for Banishing Sickness:

Ofano, Oblamo, Ospergo.

Hola, Noa Massa.

Light, Beff, Cletemati, Adonai,

Cleona, florit.

Pax Sax Sarax.

Afa Afca Nostra.

Cerum, Heaium, Lada Fium.

Albertus Magnus (1206 - 1280)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For Conception

 

Eighteen years ago, when my husband and I got together, we very much wanted a child. The problem was that tests run by his doctor revealed that he had a sperm count of almost zero. When we were handfasted, we took the problem to my High Priestess who was an herbalist. She made up a tea for each of us to drink every morning.

I don't know if it was the tea or the magic of the handfasting (remember a handfasting lasts for a year and a day at which point the couple decides whether to walk away or remain together forever). At any rate, exactly one year and one day later, my husband and I delivered a beautiful baby daughter.

 

 

 

 

Tea for the Man

Sarsaparilla

Cherry bark

Ginseng

Licorice rt.

Sassafras

Juniper berries

Saw Palmetto

 

Tea for the Woman

Damiana

Don Qui

Motherwort

Squaw vine

Raspberry leaves

Hibiscus

We were also told to avoid coffee, black tea, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom and, for my husband - tight underwear!

BooBoo Ointment

At one point, while living in the mountains, I dated a guy who was a roofer. Up there in the dry wind, handling rough materials all day, his hands would become so dry and rough they would actually crack and bleed. I made this ointment and it worked so well that soon his boss and roofer buddies were using it too. It's antiseptic, anesthetic, and speeds healing.

In a jar, combine 1 part Comfrey leaves, 1 part Calendula petals and half part powdered Golden Seal with Vaseline and a little baby oil. (If I were doing this now, I would add lanoline instead of the baby oil, but I'm giving you the recipe exactly as I recorded it then)

Lightly put the cap on the jar and put the jar in a crock pot with about 3 inches of water. Put the lid on the crock pot and cook on low for 2 days. (add water as needed to keep the level constant) Strain and use.

I would use a regular strainer to get out the big stuff at first, then coffee filters to remove the finer particles.

Stinging Nettle Cure

Again while living in the mountains, behind our cabin there was a lovely little stream which happened to nurture a veritable field of stinging nettle. My daughter would play with several little girls that lived around us and, somehow, they never learned to stay out of the nettle. When they found themselves covered with itching, burning rashes they would come running to me and I would have them pop into the tub with this concoction. Within minutes the itching stopped and the rash went away. They would dry off, get dressed and go out to do it again in a few days. (Yes, the other parents had all given me their permission and approval!) Without the treatment, the rash seemed to last about 32 hours.

Instructions

Put victim immediately in a tub of warm water with a handful of salt added. Boil some water and add a good handful of oatmeal (Quaker oats, for instance) about 1/4 cup of cinnamon, and a handful of calendula. Remove from heat, cover and let sit a few minutes.

Then dump the mush into a square of cheesecloth or, even better, the foot of an old, clean! Knee-high nylon stocking. Secure the open end with a rubber band and toss into the tub along with any liquid that has drained out. Squish it and swoosh it around in the water and then lay the bag on the affected parts, gently dabbing/scrubbing at the bumps and sores.

Hecate Bath Salts

(I created this recipe to use as part of the meditative/cleansing prior to my Croning Ritual ... little suspecting that this WOULD be the Croning Ritual! Yes, they were that effective!)

Equal parts cedar, myrrh, patchouli, lemongrass, and gardenia and a half part of vetivert. When the moon is dark, mix the oils with sea salt or fine rock salt. Add 1/2 as much Borax as you have salts and a few drops of blue & red food coloring. Toss a generous handful or two in the tub and light a purple candle. Sip a glass of red wine as you soak and meditate.