There are a number of herbal preparations that do not fall into any of the other catagories, or for which I have only a few recipes, not enough to make a whole catagory. This is the place for all of these odds and ends.

Herbal Sleep Pillows

These are small pillows filled with herbal mixtures to help you fall asleep, or to help you to have pleasant or prophetic dreams.

Basic Sleep Pillow
Make a small pillow following the directions given in the sachet section. Stuff the pillow with two parts dried hops flowers, one part chamomile flowers, and one part lavender flowers. Place atop your regular pillow when going to bed.

Aspergers

These are used for sprinkling consecrated water to purify an area of negative vibrations and energies.

Herbal Asperger
For this you will need fresh herbs. These should be available in the produce section of your supermarket if you don't have them in your garden. You will need one or two sprigs about six inches long each of the following herbs: Rosemary, Sage, Mint. Bind their stems together at the top with white thread to make a bundle. Dip into the consecrated water and sprinkle it throughout the area to be purified.

Ointments

These are recipes for several ointments, a flying ointment that won't kill you, a great ointment for skin problems for your familar or yourself, a couple of herbal ointments for healing and several other miscellaneous ones. None of these ointments are meant to substitute for seeking the care of a Doctor or Vet for serious injury or illness. Also, it is possible to be allergic to some of the ingredients so test the ointment on a small patch of skin before you use it for the first time.

Yellow Dock Ointment
This ointment is great for annoying skin problems your pet may pick up such as ringworm on cats or mange type diseases in dogs. It will work on you too, for any sort of itchy or rashy things. To make this recipe, you need flowers of sulfur, available at the pharmacy, a small jar of vaseline, a bottle of apple cider vinegar and the roots. You will need to gather about 6 or 8 yellow dock roots. They are long yellow tap roots, and difficult to dig up. Look for plants growing in moist ground, it's a bit easier to dig them there. Dice up your roots and place them into a small saucepan. Pour in enough apple cider vinegar to just cover them and simmer over low to medium heat until the roots are soft. Put the roots through the blender or a sieve to mash them thoroughly. Scrape the vaseline out of the jar into a bowl and add the mashed roots. Add 1 teaspoon of the flowers of sulfur. Stir to mix completely. You can put the blend back into the vaseline jar. To use just apply to the affected area twice a day for about a week, or less if it goes away sooner.

Violet Ointment
For this you will need two bars of cocoa butter, violet leaves and a bit of lanolin. Melt the cocoa butter in the top of a double boiler. Add as many violet leaves as you can mash down into the cocoa butter and cook till the leaves wilt. Add as many more leaves as you can mash into the cocoa butter and wilt again. Do not boil, but simmer over the hot water for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and add two teaspoons of lanolin. Stir, then pour through a sieve into a glass jar. If the ointment is too hard, remelt in a water bath and stir in a bit more lanolin. This ointment is good for any minor scrapes and cuts you might get. It helps them heal faster and keeps them from getting infected.

Flying Ointment
This ointment will not make you fly. Witches never could fly. I hope that doesn't disillusion you too much, but they were getting high, not flying. The old Flying Ointments had all sorts of poisonous plant alkaloids in them and if they didn't kill you, they certainly got you loaded. The goal was not to fly, it was to astral project. The flying thing came in because ignorant peasants couldn't understand the concept of astral projection. This ointment contains herbs that are known for aiding astral projection. It is made exactly like the violet ointment above except the following herbs are substituted for the violet leaves. Dittany of Crete, Cinquefoil, Mugwort, and Parsley in equal parts. Chop up the fresh herbs and simmer in the cocoa butter as above. Add the lanolin and strain into a jar. As above, if the ointment hardens too much remelt in a water bath and add more lanolin to give it a creamy texture. Rub the ointment on to help you to astrally project.

Calendula Ointment
For this ointment you will need about a cup of calendula flowers, also called pot marigold. You will also need a jar of vaseline, a double boiler and a strainer. Scoop the vaseline out of the jar into the top of the double boiler. Put water in the bottom and place on a medium heat to melt the vaseline. When the vaseline is liquid, add the flowers and simmer for about 30 minutes, but don't boil. Allow to cool a bit then strain the mixture to remove the spent flowers and pour the vaseline back into the jar. This ointment is good for skin irritations, small cuts and scrapes and the like.

Basic Herbal Ointment
This is a basic ointment that you can make with any herb you want to use for a magical purpose. Just choose the herb you want by consulting the correspondences and add it as directed. You'll need 1 ounce of lanolin or cocoa butter and 1/2 oz of beeswax, 3-4 ounces of apricot kernal oil, 1 ounce of strong herb infusion of your choice, and 5 drops of essential oil of your choice. You can match the infusion and essential oil or use different herbs. Melt the lanolin or cocoa butter and the beeswax in the top of a double boiler. When completely melted begin adding the oil, pouring a very stream into the pan while stirring constantly until all the oil is added. Turn off the heat and slowly add the herb infusion stiring constantly until the cream has cooled. Add the essential oil and stir in completely. Spoon or pour the cream into an opaque white jar or clear jar covered with paper. You may add 6-8 drops of tincture of benzoin to the mixture when you add the essential oil as a preservative if desired.

Magical Soaps

A couple of simple recipes for soap to use for ritual cleansing and purification. These are based upon purchased castile soap which you can get at health food stores. I learned this method from one of Scott Cunningham's books, "The Complete Book of Incense, Oils and Brews". You will need one bar for each recipe. Either put the soap through the food processor on grate or grate it by hand. Put the grated soap in a bowl. To the grated soap you will add a bit, between 1/4 and 1/2 cup of hot water to soften the soap. Allow the soap and water to sit for a few minutes and then try working it like dough with your hands. If it is still too hard add a bit more water and let it sit a bit longer. Now add the essential oils to give it scent and the powers of the herbs. You will need to add a fair lot of oil to overcome the existing smell of the soap. Try about 1/2 teaspoon and add more if need be. Mix throughly and then mold with your hands into rough rounds. Wrap each round with cheesecloth and tie up tightly. Suspend in a warm dry room for several days to dry.

Purification Soaps
1. Use a 50/50 blend of Lemon and Lemon Verbena oils. 2. Use Lavender oil straight. 3. Use Peppermint oil straight. 4. Use Tincture of Benzoin, about 1 T.

Psychic Power Soap
Use Honeysuckle, Rose, and Lemongrass. Aids development of psychic powers.

Bath Salts and Herbal Bath Mixtures

Blends of herbs in cheesecloth bags you can use like giant tea bags to produce beautifying and purifying baths, and bath salts for purification and a number of other magical purposes.

Purification Bath
Use dried herbs for this herbal blend. Place the herbs in a square of cheese cloth 3-4 layers thick and about 7 inches square. Place into center of square 1 T Rosemary, 1 T Sage, 1 T Mint. Bring the edges of the cheesecloth together into a bundle and tie with a piece of string. (see diagram below) To use, place under faucet as bath fills and allow to steep a bit to release the herbs essences into the water before you get in. Immerse yourself completely in the water at least once.

Citrus Purification Bath Use the same method as above with 1 T Orange Peel, 1 T Lemon Peel, 4 drops Orange Oil, and 1 T Lemon Verbena. Exorcism Bath Use the same method as above with 2 T Basil, 1 t Rue, and 1 t Yarrow. Protection Bath Use the same method as above with 2 T Rosemary, 2 Bay leaves, 1 T Angelica.

Psychic Power Bath
Use the same method as above with 2 T Lemongrass, 1 T Marigold Flowers, and 1 T Mugwort.

Exorcism Bath Salts
Blend 1 C Epsom Salts, and 1/2 C Rock Salt. To this base add the following essential oils in the proportion indicated Frankincense 2 parts, Rosemary 3 parts, Rose 3 parts. The amount of oil will depend upon your nose, keep adding until you like the scent.

Healing Bath Salts
Use the same method as the previous recipe to make the base. Add Eucalyptus 3 parts, Pine 1 part, and Wintergreen 1 part. Use food color to dye the bath salts blue or purple.

Love and Romance Bath Salts
Use the same method as the previous recipes to make the base. Add Rose 3 parts, Basil 1 part, Lavender 1 part. Use food color to dye the bath salts pink.

Purification Bath Oil
Combine 1/2 cup avocado oil, 1 cup apricot kernal oil, 1/2 ounce each Orange and Lemon oils in a bottle. Shake to blend before each use. Use 1-2 tablespoons per bath. Smells clean and citrusy.

Magical Inks

Inks you can blend yourself to use with a dip pen to write out amulets or your Book of Shadows. Actually, it's hardly worth doing when there are such wonderful prepared inks available at the art supply store, but for those who insist.... For the herbal ones you use the herb indicated steeped in 1 oz of hot water to disolve the pigment. You will need to add about 1/4 to 1/2 t of Gum Arabic or Gum Tragacanth in order to make the liquid thick enough to write with.

Red Inks
Use Dragon's Blood resin prepared as described above, or beet juice straight or with the gum added, but with no water.

Purple Inks
Use fresh juice from blackberries, poke berries or grape juice concentrate.

Dark Brown Ink
Use black walnut hulls, the green outer casing of the nut, boiled in a small amount of water.

Yellow Inks
Use saffron or tumeric boiled in a small amount of water.

Black Ink
This can be produced using lampblack, the black powder you get from holding a spoon over a burning candle, mixed with water. This is easier said than done however, the lampblack is very lightweight and floats on water. You must add a drop of water at a time to the lampblack and mix it thoroughly. Why not just buy some ink? You can put a quartz crystal into the bottle and consecrate it for magical use.

Sweet Smelling Sachets

These are several recipes for nice smelling pomanders and small sachets you can use to scent your dainties or ritual robes.

Citrus Pomander Ball
I'm sure you've seen these before, oranges studded with cloves. All you need is an orange, tangerine, or a lemon; about two cups of whole cloves, and a skewer. Remove the little hard button on the stem end of the fruit and any stickers that the store put on. Using the skewer, poke rows of holes through the skin of the fruit and insert the stem end of a clove into each one. They can be done in patterns or in rows. Place the cloves about 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch apart and cover the entire surface of the fruit. Then you dry them for about two weeks in a warm, dry place. Check them every few days to watch for signs of molding, if they start you will need to find a dryer place to put them. I dry mine a bit faster in my oven, turned to about 100^o. Those who have gas ovens won't even have to turn them on, the pilot light is enough. When the fruit is completely browned and dry they are ready to use.

Apple Cinnamon Sachets
For this recipe you will need a small jar of prepared applesauce and about 3 cups of powdered cinnamon. Buy the cinnamon in bulk or this is too expensive to do. Put the cinnamon into a bowl and add the applesauce in stages, mixing as you go until you have enough applesauce to moisten all the cinnamon and produce a dough. This dough can be rolled and cut out with cookie cutters if you are careful not to make it too thin, about 1/4 inch thick is right. If it is too thin, the 'cookies' will be too brittle. You can also roll balls of it and if you like, flatten them into patties. Once dried, these cinnamon 'cookies' keep for years and smell great.