wishing-4-perfection:

Beauty-Tip #9 : HOME MADE BATHS

Here is an article for you about different sorts of home-made baths that you can make at home. Theses recipes will help you, your skin, your body… just choose the most appropriate one for yourself :)

1. Bath with sea salt
   Stir in water 350 gr. of natural sea salt and lay in this “sea” for about 15-20 minutes. This procedure stimulates your metabolism. A whole course (to really straighten your metabolism) consists of 10-12 baths that you take every two days. You skin becomes much smoother and more elastic. The temperature of your “sea” should not exceed 36-37C°.
2. Cleopatra Bath
   Take 1 litre of natural cow milk, add 200-300 grams of honey. Stir and pour into your bath. Now you can feel like a Cleopatra, your skin will become very smooth and silky.
3. Bath with henna and tea
   In a 3-litre jar put three tablespoons of black tea and 2 1/3 tablespoons of henna. Pour in boiling water. Infuse for 15 minutes. Strain this mix in order to eliminate the bits. After this, you can pour this brownish-green liquid in your bath. Your bath might be a little dirty afterwards, but it washes away easily with bathroom-detergent.
4. Bath with oil and orange oil against cellulite
   Dilute a few drops of orange oil in olive oil and pour it all into the tub. This mixture of oils gradually diminishes cellulite. While bathing, you will feel your skill pinch from time to time and this is good. However, you should stop the process if you feel pain or strong discomfort.
5. Bath with bay leaves
   Pour boiling water over 10-12 bay leaves and let in infuse for 20-30 minutes. Add this infusion to your bath. This will show a very calming effect not only on the state of mind, but also on your skin
6. Relaxing bath, muscle tension and muscle pain relief
   8 glasses of water, 1 cup of berries and pins of Juniper, a handful of eucalyptus leaves, 1/2 cup of lavender flowers and leaves, 2 cinnamon sticks, peel of 1 orange. Bring the resulting mixture to boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes. The strain and pour into a warm bath.
7. Bath “Mandarin Caprice”
   5 drops of essential oil of tangerine, 3 drops of lavender oil, 1 drop of pine oil, a handful of fresh tangerine peels, 1/2 tablespoon of jojoba oil (it’s fine if you don’t have any). Add this mixture to your bath. The smell of citrus lifts your spirits, refreshes and relieves fatigue. Tangerine oil is ideal to prevent acne, helps to heal scars and stretch marks
8. Body bath and steam bath for face on herbs
   Normal Skin : chamomile, geranium, lavender, yiang-yiang. Sensitive skin : camomile, lavender, rose, orange blossom, scented violet. Dry Skin : clary sage, sandalwood, marshmallow, rose. Oily Skin : calendula, lemon, basil, juniper and sage. Out of these herbs, you can make an infusion by brewing them in advance and then let infuse for 20-30 minute. Pour the infusion in your bath afterwards. To make a steam bath for the face, you need to pour boiling water over 1/4 cup dry herb mixture, cover your head with a towel and inhale the team of this infusion for 10 min
9. Bath for soft and silky skin
   For the skin to be soft and silky you need to take a shower in the evening and, on a clean and dry body (from feet to neck), rub in olive oil or any other vegetable oil. While rubbing in the oil, start preparing a bath with nice warm water. When your body is oily and your bath is ready, lay there for at least 15-20 minutes, massaging your skin and rubbing in the oil more and more. After the bath, you can wash off the oil with soap and water, but you can also simply use a wet towel. After this bath, it’s better to go straight to bed. Overnight, your skin will absorb the oil that you rubbed in and it will be baby smooth in the morning!
10. Starch Bath to smoothen skin
    Take 0.5 kg of potato starch or a litter of thick oatmeal broth. Mix it with 1 tablespoon of pine extract. After the bath, treat your body with some moisturising cream
11. Vinegar bag to smoothen skin
    Simply add 2-3 cups of apple vinegar to your bath
12. Bath for dry skin
    Add a glass of glycerol into your bath. Soak your body in this bath for 10 minutes maximum. Do not take this bath if you have a sunburn, as well as right after sunbathing!

(via rosencarousel)

Good basic definitions of terms you may encounter while using herbal recipes.

thewitchisin:

Compress
Soak a soft cloth in a hot infusion, decoction, or 5-20 ml tincture
in 500 ml hot water. Squeeze out excess water and hold pad against
affected area.

Creams
A mixture of fats and water that blends with the skin to strengthen
and smooth it. Use 30 g lanolin, 15 oz beeswax, 100 g….

I recently started exploring Witch Bottles and other house blessing/protection spells. 

I find the history of Witch Bottles fascinating. For those of you who don’t know, this tradition goes back hundreds of years. They were initially popular during the 1500s when people were very keen on witch hunts. People used them to protect against the malevolent powers of the “evil witches”. Modern use of them stems from a desire to capture negative energies targeting the bottle’s creator, their family, or their home. They are designed less to send negativity back to its source and more to disperse it and let it go without harming anyone. Some are intended to take negative energy and turn it into something positive before releasing it. And, of course, you can adjust them for specific purposes besides protection (financial gain, good health, etc.).

There are all sorts of things that one traditionally uses in a Witch Bottle: personal things (urine, blood, semen, hair), sharp and nasty things (nails, thorns, broken glass, mirror pieces), resins, sand, herbs, whole eggs, and more.

I decided I wanted to make a more kitchen-friendly bottle. There’s a whole variety of relatively common ingredients you can use that will work well for a Witch Bottle. Things like sea salt (or other kitchen salt, if you feel comfortable with the substitution) and red wine are easy to obtain and I felt comfortable working with next to food.

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Thanks! Glad to be back. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep this up consistently from here on out.

I’ve flipped through it in my local Barnes & Noble, but I’d like to hear others’ opinions on it first. I think I’ll be getting it come December though, unless I hear HORRIBLE things. Heh.

So I know it’s pretty dodgy of me to come back after so long and start off with a question, but I’d like to hear people’s opinions-

What do y’all think of the datebook Llewellyn puts out every year? Who uses it? What’s good/bad/etc about it?

Ask away! I’m still here; I’ve just been super busy, for which I apologize. I’ll be back full-force soon.

isaiah442:

The moon is out already this month (was there a blue moon sometime this year?) and most women are going to start menstruating soon (if they haven’t already), so what does that mean? Cramps. Ouch. Here’s a herbal tea for you if you want to avoid those pains:

1/4 teaspoon anise, crushed
1/4 teaspoon lavender
1/4 teaspoon fennel, dried
1/8 teaspoon ginger, powder or a small slice of raw ginger
1    teaspoon marjoram, dried
1    teaspoon basil leaf, dried
1    teaspoon chamomile
1    teaspoon raw honey (optional)

It’s enough for two steeps. Boil in hot water for five minutes, strain, pour into cup. You can wait for it to cool down, but make sure it’s hot enough or warm at least. Curl up on the couch under a blanket and watch the world outside.

Nutritional Info: 

Anise: Warms the abdomen, and when it’s mixed with basil it’s good for nausea and abdominal pains.

Chamomile: Great for menstrual cramps and actually, for pregnant women too. Fights anxiety, it’s great for stomach troubles (whether you’re menstruating or not), colds, muscle aches, sleeplessness. When it is combined with ginger, it’s super great for the stomach, intestines, circulation, cramps and nausea. 

Ginger: Combats nausea.

Fennel and Marjoram: Used to treat colics and cramps, it specifically targets nausea and cramps associated with menstruation, and severe cases of menstrual cramps.

-> Fennel: Other than the info above, fennel is good for your eyes, reduces bloating in digestive disorders, and since it contains anethole (a chemical, a type of aromatic compound that is found in nature, in essential oils), its polymers act as phytoestrogens (female sex hormones derived from plants).

-> Marjoram: A herb that is used in essential oils because of its fragrance. It can also be used as an oil for massage for muscle aches. It combats asthma attacks, headaches and soothes the stomach and digestive tract. It also loosens phlegm and is good to drink in a tea if you have a cold, the flu, bronchitis, menstrual cramps/pain, stress, nerves, sinusitis and sinus headaches.

Lavender: Helps to nourish the nervous system, and aid in the body’s relaxation process.

——————-

Enjoy.

(Source: here)

(Source: nightoftarot)

witchiemiisty:

My dream pantry. I will have this.

fuckyeahitchywitch:

Alder:
The “Battle Witch,” protection, truth, purification, regeneration, resurrection solar tree

Apple:
Prophesy, love, Celtic tree of Life, youth, fairy tree, fertility, romance, creativity

Ash:
guardian tree, runic tree, justice, longevity

Beech:
divination, Holy tree, visions, insight

Birch:
Goddess tree, beginnings, new ventures, used to make cradles, birth, rebirth

Blackthorn:
Fairy communications, divination, magick dreams

Elder:
Goddess tree, witch and wizard tree, protection, healing, regeneration, used for astral travel broomsticks

Elm:
Vulnerability, sensibility, empathy, creativity

Fir:
rebirth, feminine energy, endurance, lunar tree, used to mark ley lines on the land

Hawthorn:
Fairy tree, divination, prophesy, wisdom

Hazel:
Wisdom, insight, vision, prophesy, fertility, creativity

Laurel:
Oracle tree, divination, victory, honor

Madrone:
Mother tree, protection, healing, strength, love, regeneration, growth

Oak:
Forest king, endurance, fertility, ancestry, love, fairy tree, longevity, rebirth

Pine:
life cycles, rebirth, solar tree, inspiration

Redwood:
Strength, ancestry, purification, regeneration

Rowan:
Sorcerer’s tree, enchantment, spellcasting, witch and fairy tree

Willow:
flexibility, enchantment, creams, water power, the stars, astral travel, inspiration

Yarrow:
divination, healing, creativity

Yew:
shelter, defense, protection

The sun is high above us
shining down upon the land and sea,
making things grow and bloom.
Great and powerful sun, 
we honor you this day 
and thank you for your gifts.
Ra, Helios, Sol Invictus, Aten, Svarog,
you are known by many names.
You are the light over the crops,
the heat that warms the earth,
the hope that springs eternal,
the bringer of life.
We welcome you, and we honor you this day,
celebrating your light,
as we begin our journey once more
into the darkness.

source: Patti Wigington