DISCLAIMER:

If you are on any pharmaceutical medications or have a serious medical
condition, are pregnant or nursing, consult your health care provider
before ingesting anything that you do not normally ingest, including
herbs and over the counter medications.

Dosages given are for *adults*. Unless specific dosage is labeled "for
Children", *do not give to Children*.

When you choose to self medicate, *you* are responsible for what you put
in your body. If you show any symptom after ingesting an herb or any
other substance that you do not normally ingest, stop taking the herb,
etc., immediately. The symptom may or may not have something to do with
the herb, etc., but you can always try again later, after the symptom
has disappeared, to test if it was the herb, etc.

Witch Sabbat Balm
Here's what you'll need:

10g skullcap
25g jasmine flowers
10g witch grass rhizome
25g lavender flowers
15g hawthorn berries - crushed
5g mistletoe
5g mugwort
10g rue
250 mL sweet almond oil
75g beeswax

First, place the herbs in the bottom of a large bottle - 500mL or bigger.
The more finely chopped the herbs are for this recipe, the better however
they should not be powdered. Now, over these herbs pour the 250mL of sweet
almost oil and give it a bit of a shake. The oil is used as a type of
releasing agaent - a solvent which extracts the medicinal properteries from
the herbs and provides a healing base or carrier for the oils. Essential
oils are an excellent short cut but for magical recipes, it is always best
to do more rather than less work as this helps you put more work and
magickal intent into your work.

Now you'll need to strain the oil using cheese cloth or a fine mesh
strainer. Add this oil blend to the beeswas and heat the oil to and beeswax
together over very low heat in a double boiler until wax is completely
melted. You can, once the wax is melted, check the firmness of your mix by
placing a tablespoon of your mixture into in the freezer for a minute or
two. Thisis a method used in beeswax candle making to get the candle to
firm up more quickly as well as extending the life of beeswax candles by
freezing them first. Check the firmness of your mix and you may now wish to
add more oil for a softer blend or more wax for a firmer blend.

Once you have achieved the desired consistancy, remove the salve from heat
and pour into heatproof jars of an appropriate size. Air and organic matter
promote decay in your mix so to get it to last for months or years, careful
preparation and storage is necessary.

Some people like to add natural preservatives to their mixtures such as
tinture of benzoin. This was a measure popularized in certain pagan books
and is not particularly necessary although you can trace the origin of the
inspiration of a recipe by the addition of this preservative. Salves kept
in direct sunlight lose their healing properties after only a short length
of time. You will notice the colour of the salve will have faded and your
mix may smell rancid.

Some sources:
"An ABC of Witchcraft Past and Present" by Doreen Valiente
"Magical Aromatherapy" and "Incense, Oils and Brews" both by S Cunningham
"The Encyclopaedia of Essential Oils" By Julia Lawless


This recipe was contributed by Straif Blackthorn, a professional
aromatherapist and witch of over 15 years. She has combined her knowledge
of plants and essential oils plus her techniques for making pure skin care
products to bring you this recipe. The books sited above represent only a
small number of those which were referred to in order to create this
recipe. You may copy this to your website provided all the information is
left in tact and a link to the originating website is maintained.
http://www.newmoon.uk.com/spells/207.htm