Magical Simmering Potpourri

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Magical Simmering Potpourri

As early as 1662, and perhaps long before that, herbs were deliberately simmered to produce pleasant fragrances in the home. This custom has continued to the present day in the form of the use of simmering potpourri.Scent has an undeniable effect on humans. It can cheer us, calm us, promote hunger and thoughts of bygone days. Unexpectedly smelling a perfume or cologne may make us recall memories of loved ones.Magicians have always known that scents can produce magical changes as well. Incense has long been smoldered to release energy during magical rites. Fragrant oils are still rubbed onto the body as part and parcel of a thousand-and-one spells. Aromatic herbs are also strewn, brewed, carried, or used in innumerable other magical ways.Simmering potpourri are currently available in a wide variety of formulas. Fancy porcelain pots are also being marketed to be used with these mixtures. Unfortunately, nearly all potpourri mixtures offered for sale today receive little or no scent from true herbs, roots, seeds, and flowers. Many are composed of wood chips heavily doused with synthetic oils. A few dried flowers or spices may be added to improve the potpourri's visual appeal.The ingredients of "strawberry" potpourri never grew in a field. Even such simple mixtures as lavender and rose usually have their origins far from the sun-drenched fields of France and Bulgaria. These potpourri have no magical effects, and often emit plasticky, vulgar scents.It's possible, however, to use simmering potpourri in your home to effect magical changes. How? Simply make them yourself. The ingredients are generally inexpensive and readily available. The rituals used with these mixtures may seem simple, but the powers that waft through the house on the wings of scent are potent and cause both immediate and more long-lasting magical changes.The following recipes yield approximately enough for one use. These may be doubled or tripled and the magical potpourri kept in tight containers for later use.To use these mixtures, fill a pot with at least two cups water. Add the mixture. Simmer over low heat for one-half hour or longer. If you'll be simmering for longer than a half hour, add more water. If you wish, use a potholder to carry the simmering pan around your house to further spread its energies. (A simmering potpourri pot can also be used.) As the scent rises, the power that you've placed into the potpourri is automatically released.Never simmer such mixtures simply for fun, or to deodorize your home. To do so wastes their energies. Reserve your simmering potpourri for magical purposes and create general mixtures for deodorizing purposes.Here's some of the magic of scent...Love Simmering PotpourriTo expand, boraden, or to introduce love into your life, simmer this mixture of herbs. (This can also be used to strengthen a long-standing relationship, or to bring your own family closer together. Love begins within. Love yourself, then seek another with whom to share love.)Ingredients:3 tablespoons rose petals 2 tablespoons camomile1 tablespoon coriander 1 tablespoon lavender1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 vanilla beanDirections:Mix in a small bowl and charge with loving energies. Simmer while saying:Love awakensin these rooms;come by the powerof these blooms!Use every day.Money Simmering PotpourriIf money is a problem rather than a pleasure, when you're faced with unexpected financial obligations, when the money you earn doesn't seem to come in fast enough, brew up one of these and set money-attracting energies into motion.Ingredients:2 cinnamon sticks, broken into pieces ~ 4 tablespoons whole cardamom seeds2 tablespoons whole cloves ~ 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg (or 2 whole nutmegs)1 teaspoon ground gingerDirections:With your fingers, mix these ingredients in a small bowl, while visualizing increased prosperity. As you mix them, say these or similar words:Money simmer in the air;money shimmer everywhere!To use, simmer according to the instructions above.Protective Simmering PotpourriSimmer this mixture at regular intervals (once a week or so) to drench your home with protective energy. This safeguards it from outside influences of all kinds--if it's performed with the proper intent.Ingredients:4 tablespoons rosemary (whole) ~ 3 bay leaves (whole)1 tablespoon basil (whole) ~ 1 tablespoon sage (whole)1 tablespoon fennel (whole) ~ 1 teaspoon dill seed (whole)1 teaspoon juniper berries (whole) ~ A pinch of dried garlic (may be omitted)Directions:Mix in a small bowl with hands, visualizing your home as a protected place. Charge the herbs with protective energies. Add simmering water.When the scented steam rises, chant the following or similar words:Air and water, work my willto guard this house with power bold;earth and fire, work to stillall dangers both untold and told.Purification Simmering PotpourriWhile spring cleaning or at any time you wish to clear away the cobwebs of useless energies that exist within all homes, after household arguments, when a roommate moves out, whenever tension is in the air, simmer this mixture with at least one window open. (During winter or rain, open the fireplace's damper, crack a winder an inch, or otherwise ensure that there's a clear and easy path out of your home for the duration of the ritual.)Ingredients:6 tablespoons peppermint ~ 1 tablespoon spearmint1 tablespoon rosemary ~ 1 tablespoon dried lemon peel1 tablespoon dried lime peelDirections:Mix, charge, and simmer as you say these or similar words:Scented breeze, blow pure and clearunwanted power far from here.Source~ "Spell Crafts: Creating Magical Objects", by Scott Cunningham and David Harrington. ©1993 Llewellyn Publications.