So I wasn’t going to do a witch tip today because the Autumn Giveaway went live, but I had a few people message me about last night’s post. As I was typing a response I figured why not just make it an actual post and explanation?
So I made this based on my experiences with the ingredients, combinations and uses I grew up with. That’s the thing about folk medicine, the science parts catch up later, but if it works, it works. Keep in mind this isn’t meant as medical advice, just insight into my practice and culture.
Something else that I find deeply interesting is our relationship to plants and their folklore and history as medical treatments. They’re used by the common folk, and as science progresses, the magic changes to fact. Magic is just a process or phenomena that science hasn’t explained yet. As we move forward the mechanism of action is found out and able to be utilized to make stable medicines that don’t vary. With all that said, I decided to pull up some facts and figures from the science side of topical applications to give some credence to the balm.
This salve is for rashes, burns, bug it’s, minor cuts and abrasions.
Chamomile – when applied topically have a local anti-inflammatory effect. It has also been approved in some countries as an appropriate treatment for bacterial skin diseases. Has been used for treatment for respiratory tract inflammation, spasmolytic, and wound healing properties (Conplementary and Alternative Therapies and the Aging Population). From an aromatherapy point of view, calming effects without being overly perfumed. In witchcraft, chamomile is much the same as aromatherapy calling forth calming energy. Also has been used to cleanse spades and people of impurities, and inviting in tranquility and peace.
Lavender – has been credited with analgesic properties in reducing pain. Also a treatment for fungal infections and helping with anxiety. Useful for burns and bug bites, it has antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties that in a study by the Evidence-Based Conolementary and Alternatice Medicine journal showed evidence lavender had an accelerator effect on wound healing. Aroma therapy, calms, soothes and helps with sleep.
Osha/Bear Root/Mountain Lovage – used in Latinx and Native American cultures for respiratory issues when taken internally (flue, pneumonia, coughs etc). Topical application has been used to prevent infection of skin wounds as an anti-microbial and antiviral protease inhibitor (additional research is being done for efficacy). Has a scent similar to celery, and only the root is used.
Aloe Vera – Used topically to accelerate wound healing. Decreases scar tissue size and development, moderates inflammation and has been used as an effective treatment for burns both related to application of heat and sun related skin damaged. Antioxidant rich compounds help to inhibit growth of harmful bacteria eg. Infection. Research is on going for its uses in maintaining and repairing elasticity in skin that may be worn down due to age or mechanical injury.
So that’s some of the info on the herbal components. The process is a simple one, I infused the dried herbs* in oil at room temperature in a sanitized jar for a few days, then put it in a pot of water for about 2 hours to further extract plant properties in jojoba oil. Then added organic beeswax until it solidified to a consistency that seemed appropriate/to taste? You pick the amount.
*I used dried aloe Vera from my garden because using fresh doesn’t infuse well into an oil due to water content. Additionally, the presence of water in an oil based infusion can lead to it growing mold, spoiling or going rancid.
Last little secret tip for making balms and salves. The amount of beeswax can be hard to measure because it has to be heated to melt the wax which in turn turns clear. Once it’s all melted, a simple way to test is to take a few drops and put on a piece of foil, pop into the freezer for about 5 minutes then touch. If it looses its shape immediately on contact, it will be about the consistency of half hardened coconut oil. You want to be able to pick up the drops and apply to your skin with the bottom of the drops (the parts touching your skin, instead of the part touching your finger) melting instead of the top. You may need to add more wax, or more oil until you get the hang of it and a grasp for consistency.
Last bit, I infused in a 2 oz container. About a tablespoon of chamomile, tablespoon of lavender, 4 inch piece of osha broken up, and another 4 inches of dried aloe vera cut up. Each batch is slightly different, and if this wasn’t meant to be used by someone under 10, I would add a drop or two of clove essential oil, some helichrysum and frankincense essential oils as well. At most, it would be 15 drops of essential oil in the whole 2 oz.
Don’t leave out any hard of hearing children who come to your door this Halloween, take a minute out of your day to learn a few seasonal asl signs! These are two different variations of “Happy Halloween” Click here for my source.
halloween is for everyone!!!!!!
this is honestly the cutest thing ever 10/10 will do this year💗💗
And here are the British Sign Language versions. (I love the BLS sign for Halloween. It’s so cute.)
Deaf inclusion for every holiday!
Love this! I also posted a video the other day of different signs from about 90+ countries for “Happy Halloween” 🙂
By the description of him driving the moneylenders from the temple, we can also tell that he fit inside the temple, which gives us an upper bound as well as a lower bound on his size.
It’s been said that Jesus Christ was larger than a baby but smaller than a temple
“Don’t get into pointless arguments with jerks on the Internet” –the rabbis
Image transcript:
Just as it is a mitzvah, a commandment, to reprove someone who will heed the reproof, so too is it a mitzvah not to say what will not be heeded (Talmud, Yevamot 65b)
No, the reason they have a house to flip is because someone sold a shitty house rather than fixing it. The house flipper purchase a house knowing it’s a wreck, put in the effort to fix it, and then sell it again to people who want to buy a fixed house instead of a house with problems.
House flippers aren’t stealing shit from young people. The reason young people can’t buy houses is a lot to do with the government not finding ways to manage the appreciation in house prices (for example, only allowing citizens to buy to prevent speculation from overseas multi-millionaires, or having a first home owners programs that require a certain percentage of new estates to be sold to first home buyers), the stronger lending laws (or practices, where the laws have not changed) as a result of the 2008 recession, the wage stagnation that is decades long and a bunch of other things that have nothing to do with house flippers.
I know it’s easy to blame people who are within reach of you to attack (like small time landlords), but the real problem are the people who run the system and have multiple millions of dollars. Not some random house-flipper.
Please. Don’t out yourself as someone who knows nothing about the system but will just attack anyone within reach. Be angry at the right people or you will change fucking nothing about the system that fucks you over.
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