Category: Kitchen Witchery

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Herb of the Month – Basil

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When the summer heat is in full swing and I want something cool and wonderful for dinner I think of such things as Caprese Salads, Pesto Chicken, and a light marinara sauce. Magickally, I am looking to spice things up and bring in some added prosperity and good fortune. What do all of these things have in common? Our Herb of the Month – Basil.

Basil Plant (Photo from Pixabay)

Basil has long been associated with Witchcraft, hence the name “Witches Herb.” This versatile herb can be for any magickal purpose from increasing wealth, calming quarrels, to bringing the user love and harmony.

In Witchcraft, as well as cooking, Basil is used both fresh and dried. Stir it clockwise in soups, stews, and sauces to bring prosperity and good fortune. Place counterclockwise on your Caprese salad to dispel gossip and quarrels.

Latin Name: Ocimum Basilicu

Family: Lamiaceae

Folk Names: Albahaca, American Dittany, “Our Herb,” St. Joseph’s Wort, Sweet Basil, Witches Herb

Energy: Masculine

Elements: Air, Fire

Planet(s): Mars

Astrological Signs: Aries, Scorpio

Deities: Ares, Eleggua, Erzulie, Hemphu, Krishna, Lakshmi, Vishnu, Yemaya

Growing and Harvesting Basil

Basil is easy to grow, but it does like it’s soil toasty -don’t plant before the soil is 50 degrees, 70 is even better-making it perfect for warmer climates. Heat gives your Basil the start it needs, so plant your basil when the nights have warmed up as well. Without the heat, your basil will not flourish.

Basil prefers its “feet” a bit moist so well-draining soil is a must. Basil grows well in a greenhouse or even indoors with the proper light. It doesn’t require much fertilizer while growing, but a good starter fertilizer will give basil the boost it needs to thrive.

Plants can get quite large, reaching up to 24″ if you let them. However careful pruning and harvesting of the plants at around 8″ keeps your plants healthier, allowing them to bush more and send more energy to the leaves instead of the stalks.

One or two plants is usually sufficient for the average household. If you are like me and freeze and/or dry my basil in bulk I would suggest at least 5 plants.

Harvest your basil early in the morning by pinching off a few leaves on each plant. Your basil leaves will taste best before the plant flowers – flowering can make the leaves bitter. If you see flowers forming at the top of your plants, pinch or snip them off as soon as possible.

Magickal Uses of Basil:

Parts Used: Whole herb, leaves

  • Abundance
  • Astral Projection (flying)
  • Business
  • Dispel gossip
  • Divination
  • Exorcism
  • Happiness
  • Harmony
  • Love
  • Money
  • Peace
  • Protection
  • Safe Travel
  • Wealth

Ways to use Basil Magickally

  • Take dried basil and tie it in a drawstring bag with some pennies to draw luck to your money and business matters.
  • Plant basil near the threshold of your home to repel negative entities and welcome friendly spirits.
  • Take a bath with Basil before attempting astral projection to aid you in your journey.
  • Simmer cut lemon and fresh basil in water. When cooled and added to a spray bottle, it can be used to clean sacred objects, candles, altars, spaces, the work environment, etc.
  • To use for exorcism: Mix basil, rue, hyssop and myrrh and grind to a powder. Burn over a charcoal making sure you fumigated every corner of your home.
  • Giving a basil plant to a newly married couple is thought to ensure that their marriage status sweet and prosperous.
  • Use the essential oil in aromatherapy to dispel or banish sadness or depression.
  • Hang the leaves from your windshield or anoint yourself, an amulet, or your car to keep yourself safe during travel.

Culinary Uses for Basil

Image by Conger Design from Pixabay

Basil is a versatile herb. It can be used fresh, dried, chopped, and crushed. It adds zip to your pasta sauces, brightness to your salads, and its mildly spicy taste can be blended into butter for the perfect summer spread.

Your culinary adventure can start by preserving your basil harvest by drying the leaves in a dehydrator or on drying racks. You can also use a food processor to finely chop the fresh leaves and freeze in ice cube trays for fresh basil any time. Another great preserving idea is to create an infused vinegar or oil for use in cooking. Take fresh basil leaves, slightly crushed, place in a mason jar and cover with either white wine vinegar or olive oil. Allow the basil to sit in the vinegar or oil for a week or two, shaking once daily. Then strain the basil out of the liquid and place the liquid in a clean, decorative container or back into the mason jar. Both infusions will keep up to a year when kept out of direct sunlight and excessive heat.

Of course, we can’t talk about basil without bringing up pesto. Basil, in my opinion, makes the best pesto. Add whole basil leaves to a food processor, filling it to the top, and then pulse lightly. Add in some fresh minced garlic and drizzle in some olive oil. Pulse again and continue to drizzle in olive oil until you get the consistency you desire. You can add pine nuts or walnuts to the finished pesto to give it some added mouth feel.

Medicinal Uses of Basil

Note: The information noted in this blog post is intended solely for the general information for the reader. The contents of this post are not intended to offer personal medical advice, diagnose health problems, nor is it for treatment purposes. It is not a substitute for medical care provided by a licensed and qualified health professional. Please consult your health care provider for any advice on medications or before using and herbs or herbal supplements.

Medicinal Properties:

  • Alterative
  • Antipyretic
  • Carminative
  • Diuretic
  • Nervine
  • Stimulant

Used primarily in a tea, Basil has a long history of aiding such ailments as stomach spasms, loss of appetite, intestinal gas, kidney conditions, fluid retention, head colds, warts, and worm infections. It works well to ease constipation and lessen anxiety symptoms.

Basil is full of antioxidants, so including it in your diet will aid with the elimination of free radicals from your body. Basil, according to a 2019 study, may help to reduce high blood sugar levels.

Another type of basil is tulsi, or holy basil (Ocimum santum). This plant plays a therapeutic role in Tamil and Ayurvedic medicines, which are predominantly practiced in Southeast Asia. This is different from sweet basil we use most often in cooking. Tulsi has amazing medicinal and therapeutic qualities – too many to mention in this article.

Amazing Basil

I hope you’ve enjoyed our adventure with our Herb of the Month – Basil. May this post inspire you to try your hand at growing this amazing plant yourself.

Blessings!

Sources: The Way of Herbs, Tierra, Michael, Pocket Books 1998

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Cleaning Candle Holders with Dryer Sheets

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It is another beautiful Monday morning and time once again for a Triune Moon Magickal Moment. Today we will be discussing cleaning candle holders with dryer sheets.

I love the convenience of dryer sheets but hate that they are a “one use” item. So, I’ve been wracking my brains for ways to reuse them. I’ve tried using them to dust my house – it’s supposed to help keep the dust down – but wasn’t impressed. I knew there had to be a way to reuse them, I just hadn’t thought if it yet.

After our last ritual I was clearing the tools off the altar. As usual the candle holders had wax drippings all over them. Sighing, I carried the crystal holders to the sink, ready for another round of “scrape the wax”. Hearing the dryer chime, I placed the candle holders on the counter and ran to grab the laundry. Chucking the towels into the laundry basket, an errant dryer sheet floated to the floor. Bending over to pick it up the proverbial lightbulb went on. What if I could reuse the sheets to clean off the wax from my candle stick? Hmm? Could I clean candle holders with dryer sheets?

It turns out that cleaning candles holders of wax was simple and easy! Not only does the dryer sheet clean the wax off with little effort it gives both glass and ceramic holders a nice shine. A great side benefit is that the wax seems to slip of much easier the next time you are cleaning the candle holders.

I’ve added a short instructive video. Bear with me, it’s my first time on camera.

Additional Uses for Dryer Sheets

If you have wax that has dripped onto your table or altar cloths, you can use the dryer sheets to remove the surface wax as well. It won’t get rid of the embedded wax or any dye from the candles, but it will help get the majority of it removed.

When I come up with any additional uses for the dryer sheets I’ll be sure to share them with all of you.

Blessed Be!

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Dill- Herb of the Month

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Dill is a semi-hardy annual with erect, freely branching annual herb with finely dissected, lacy, blue-green foliage. Dill is best known for its use in the making of pickles but can be used both as a culinary and medicinal herb. Magickly, Dill – our herb of the month, is a powerful and potent plant ally.

Dill – Our Herb of Month

Plant: Dill

Latin Name: Anethum graveolens

Family:  Apeacia (a member of the parsley family)

Folk/Secret Names: Dilly, Dill Weed, Garden Dill, Meeting House Seed, Hairs of a Hamadryas Baboon, Semen of Hermes

Gender: Masculine

Elements: Fire

Planet: Mercury

Astrological Signs: Gemini

Deities: Anubis, Hermes, Janus, Khensu, Mercury

Magickal Uses of Dill

Parts Used: Leaves, flowers, and seeds

  • Attracting Money – Place dill seeds and leaves in a spell bag then place in your wallet or purse to attract money.
  • Attracting Romance – Add dill seed to a sachet and hang it on your showerhead or place in a bath to make you irresistible to your lover.
  • Breaking Jinxes (leaves)
  • Dispelling bad dreams – create a sachet and place under your bed or pillow.
  • Emotional and Mental Balance
  • Good Fortune in Court (seeds)
  • Good Fortune in love affairs (seeds)
  • Love
  • Luck
  • Lust
  • Protection -Hang dill in doorways to promote protection. Place a sprig of dill in a child’s crib for safety and peaceful sleep.

Substitutions: You can substitute Fennel in your spell work if you are out of Dill as it has similar correspondences.

Growing Dill

Dill, our herb of the month, does not transplant well, so sowing the seeds is recommended. Plant 12 to 15 inches apart in a weed-free, semi-rich, slightly acidic, well-drained soil in a sheltered sunny position. It takes well to pots and containers, just be sure that they drain well.

Plants may grow to 2 or 3 feet in height. Pinch off the flowers if you wish to increase the leaf production.

As soon as the plant has four to five leaves, you can start harvesting. Pinch off the leaves or cut them off with scissors.

Leaves can be used fresh or dried. Dry your harvested leaves by either hanging them upside down in bunches or spread on a mesh screen or muslin. Place in a warm – not hot – area out of the direct sunlight.  You may also dry in a dehydrator.

When growing for the seed try growing more than one plant, one or two for the leaves and one or two for the seed. Do not plant Dill next to Fennel as the plants will cross-pollinate. Keep them away from Carrot as well as the carrots will not grow well with Dill around.

Dill seeds in the late summer or early autumn. Flower can take up to 25 days for the seeds to germinate. The seeds should be collected when they are light brown and fully formed. Place a paper bag over the seed heads and cut, leaving a bit of the stem sticking out of the bag.  Tie the stems together and hang to dry for a 10 to 15 days. You will know that they are ready when you shake the bag and you hear the seeds fall.

Warning:  Mature dill seeds are toxic to birds! Harvest all seeds before they drop.

Culinary Uses of Dill

Dill Seeds

Add Dill – our Herb of the Month – to potatoes for a tangy treat.

Create a Dill infused vinegar for use on salads by adding Dill to white wine vinegar and infuse for 2 weeks.

Add some dill to scrambled eggs, omelets and frittatas for some zest.

A pinch of dill creamed into butter with some added garlic makes a great spread for toast, bread and biscuits.

Let’s not forget the pickles! Dill – our Herb of the Month- is essential in making a crisp and crunchy dill pickle.  Check out this great dill pickle recipe here

Medicinal Uses of Dill

The information provided below is for educational purposes only and is not to be used for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. More information on these disclaimers can be found here.

  • Antimicrobial
  • Bacteriostatic
  • Carminative
  • Digestive aid
  • Flatulence reducer
  • Helps to soothe colic in infants
  • Sleep Aid
  • Soothes a gassy stomach
  • Stimulant
  • Stress reliever
  • Dill helps relieve flatulence and a gassy stomach when taken as a tea or by chewing the seeds.
  • Use Dill to assist in relieving infant colic.
  • German health authorities have approved dill as a treatment for intestinal complaints related to bacteria.
  • Chew on the seeds of the Dill plant to dispel bad breath (Halitosis)
  • Taken as “dillwater” it aids in promoting the secretion of milk and, when taken regularly by nursing mothers, is said to help avoid colic in their babies.

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Lemon Magick for the Kitchen Witch

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A Triune Moon Magickal Moment

Lemons are not only delicious and healthy for you but they have amazing magickal attributes as well. Below I’ve added some ways in which you can create your own lemon magick.

Lemons are sacred to the moon so they work well in all your lunar magicks. Cut or score fresh lemons and place them on your Full Moon and New Moon altars where they can add their aromatic energies to your rites.

Lemon Peels in Magick

Lemon peels are an essential in your herbal cabinet as they have numerous magickal uses. For this type of lemon magick fresh or dried lemon peels can be used in several different ways in your spell work. Try adding finely ground dried lemon peels to an incense for clarity and personal purification.

Infuse water with fresh lemon peel by placing the peels into an 8 ounce container then covering it completely with water. Let this sit at least overnight but three day is best. Strain the water and discard the peels. Use the water to cleanse magickal tools of unwanted etheric energy. You can also place the water into a spray bottle and spray around your home or office to cleanse it of unwanted energies.

Fresh lemon peels are an essential in your magickal cabinet.

Create a practical and magickal cleanser for your home using fresh lemon peels. Add the peels of at least four lemons into a one gallon container. Add two sprigs of fresh rosemary and then cover with distilled white vinegar. Cover the top with plastic wrap or wax paper and then place on the cap or some aluminum foil. Place your hands over the container and send energy for a love, light and a happy home into the container. When done energizing, let the container sit for two to three weeks, swirling it a bit every day to mix the contents. After the allotted time, remove the lemon peel and rosemary. Strain the contents into a spray bottle and use to clean your home. This mixture is antibacterial, cuts grease and grime and makes your home smell wonderful!

Practical and Magickal Lemon Cleanser

Using Lemon Oils

The essential and/or infused oil of the lemon have the power to uplift your spirits, clear your mind and, rejuvenate your body and refresh your soul. This type of lemon magick is easy and economical.

Dab a bit if the essential or infused oil onto your wrist or chest. The warmth of your body will allow the scent to heighten and fill your senses with their uplifting aroma.

Add the oil to an oil diffuser and allow the scent of lemons to cleanse and clear your sacred space or living area.

Include lemon oil in your purification bath. A few drops of the oil added to your usual purification herbs will boost their aura cleansing properties.

Making an infused lemon oil.

To make an infused oil, fill a small jar with fresh lemon peel. Add in a carrier oil, I usually use grapeseed or jojoba oil, until it completely covers the lemon peels. Cover and place in a warm, sunny spot for a week. Check the oil to see if the scent has been infused into the oil. If not, strain out the peel and add additional. Repeat until you have the desired scent in the oil. Remove the peel and strain. This oil will keep up to a year if placed in a cool, dark place.

Bright Sunny Lemons

If you want a quick reference to what I have here, check out the Triune Moon Magickal Moment at https://www.facebook.com/triunemoonproductions.

Have fun creating and using lemons in your own spell work, charms and magick!

Blessed Be!

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Creating Candy Cane Magick

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A Triune Moon Magickal Moment

Did you know that candy canes made with real peppermint have the same magickal properties as using the essential oil or herbs? Join us in creating your own candy cane magick this Yuletide season. Check out some ways to do so below.

This season add in some magick for good health and healing by empowering a candy cane with these properties. Swirl the candy cane clockwise in your cocoa or tea while envisioning good health and healing energies infusing your drink.

Use a candy cane to swirl in some healing magick into your cocoa.

Need some extra love added to your life? Peppermint’s association with the Goddess Venus makes it an excellent choice for love magick. This season wrap a red ribbon around a candy cane, chanting for love (romantic, self-love, or love in general) while tying the ribbon. Place on your tree or hang in your window to infuse the upcoming year with love.

Wrap a red ribbon around a candy cane to bring love into your new year.
https://www.facebook.com/triunemoonproductions

Feeling run down, tired and your magick feeling on the fritz? Need a power boost? Take peppermint essential oil and rub it on a candy cane. As you add a more potent and powerful scent to the candy cane, envision your own power gaining in strength and magnitude. Place the candy cane on your altar and inhale its scent several times a day until you feel your energy and strength have returned.

Use the scent of peppermint oil and candy cane magick to give yourself a magickal power boost.

Create your own Holiday Magick!

Have fun creating your own holiday magick while enjoying the taste of a delicious treat. Eating a candy cane is not only tasty but if you infuse it with peace, love and light, you will be ingesting those attributes as well.

Have a wonderful holiday season!

Blessed Be!

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Stirring in some Magick for the Holiday

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Thanksgiving doesn’t seem like a very magickal holiday.  We shop, clean cook, bake, and get our homes ready for the onslaught of family and friends.  While we are pitching ourselves into the holiday frenzy, let’s not forget that we can always add a little magick to this day. 

Food and family are the cornerstone of this holiday.  What a perfect time for a little Kitchen Witchery. While we may celebrate this day of thanks in a traditional sense with turkey and all the trimmings (sans pilgrims and Indians in this house) or perhaps choose to experiment with our meals, we can stir in some magick while making those mashed potatoes.  Below are a few suggestions you may want to incorporate into your preparations:

  • Use blessed utensils for cooking. – These could be simple wooden spoons or spoons that have been carved or engraved with runes or sigils.  Each clockwise stir will add the energies you desire to your food.
  • Add some magickly imbued spices into your food – Mix in some rosemary into the mashed potatoes for protection.  The sage added into your stuffing will bring prosperity and long life. A pinch or two of thyme in the gravy adds love and a positive outlook on life.
  • Cleanse and consecrate your stove and oven before cooking or baking- Fill it with the energies of love, good health and joy.  Anything that is cooked on or in it will in turn be filled with the same energy.
  • Create a chant to sing while you stir – Write a chant for peace, love, prosperity or even familial harmony.  Repeat the chant with each clockwise stir of your dish.  If there is something you wish to dissipate or be rid of, such as family squabbling or Uncle Harry’s dirty jokes, sing your chant while mixing counter clockwise.
  • Add sigils or runes to the bottom of your serving dishes and plates -Find or create a sigil or rune for such ideals as harmony, prosperity, peace, joy, etc.  Draw these runes or sigils on the bottom of the plate or dish – either with permanent marker or, if you wish them to be invisible to your guests – with consecrated salt water.  As you draw envision the rune/sigil being filled with the energies you desire.
Spoons with wood burned runes.

Decorating can have a definite magickal vibe as well.  The traditional horn of plenty seen on many a Thanksgiving table can be filled with magickal symbols.  Apples for love and healing, oranges for joy and inspiration, pears for fertility, almonds for prosperity. the list is endless. Pick and choose what works best for you. 

Candles used as part of the table decorations can add another element of magickal energy to your celebration.  Empower the candles with the energies you wish by coating them with a corresponding oil or sprinkling herbs in the candle holder.  Holding your celebration in a place where it is inappropriate to have an open flame?  No problem.  You can do the same with the battery operated tealights or tapers.  Just be careful not to place any oil directly on the battery opening.

Feeling really creative and crafty?  Make a magickal holiday wreath for your front door.  Use items that reflect the energy you wish to greet, and share with, your guests.  Rosemary sprigs wound around wire and tied with fall colored ribbons invites love, peace and protection to your home and guests.  Add some acorns for prosperity, and some oak leaves for stability and you’ve created a wonderful addition to your home. Not very crafty?  No problem.  I found the simplest acorn wreath at a local store, just perfect for adding a bit of fall color as well as luck and abundance to my entrance.

Welcoming all with my acorn wreath.

If you are fortunate enough to have a fireplace, not only will a cozy fire add ambiance to your gathering, the hearth can add its own magick to the festivities.  Decorate the mantel with seasonal swags, candles and nick knacks.  Strew fragrant, magickal herbs around the hearth and directly into the fire.  Before the party goers arrive, write a petition for harmony, love and a peaceful gathering  on a piece of parchment and burn in the fireplace, adding your wishes to the energy of the home and into the Universe through smoke up the chimney. Turn an ordinary hearth broom into a “witchy” accessory by adding a few ribbons, sigils or messages in Theban script on the handle. Same with the fireplace tools, minus the ribbons which would go up in smoke the first time you tried to rearrange a log or two.

These are just a few of the many things you can do to make your holiday a witchy, magickal one. Take some time to think of other ways you can add a bit of yourself and your Craft to this holiday.  Remember that our Craft is as unique and individual as we are. Use that to create the atmosphere, the magick, you want to share with your family and friends. 

Once the turkey has been consumed, the last of the happy guests have gone, the left-overs placed in the fridge, and the mess cleared away, you can finally sit back and relax.  As you put your tired, but happy, feet up, think back on the feeling of the day and how the magick you’ve stirred into your holiday manifested.  Hold onto that magick, knowing that you’ve shared a bit of yourself with those you love, whether they were aware of it or not. May the love and abundance of this season bless you and yours always. 

Blessed Be!