Dear Ms. Q,
"Can you provide a list of herbs and such for the bath and oil?" "What or how do you make yours?"
There are many formula’s for the Uncrossing herbs for the 13
herb Uncrossing bath, much of it depends on what grew near a practitioners home
or in their garden, and it also depended on where you lived, if it was a dry
type of country it would be one type of herbs, a swampish country like Florida,
Louisiana other types of herbs or in a rain forest country like the coasts of
Washington State, or Oregon other types of herbs, but many of them come from
the southern states, as well has having been introduced by the Ancients into
Europe.
The Ancient Romans were great ones for collecting information
as well as herbs from various localities and introducing them into their new
“colonies” where the rule of Ancient Rome had spread, as well as discovering
new things as well and incorporating them.
After they had left or been banished from their “colonies” or had been
incorporated into the populace, the knowledge of these herbs for medicinal and
cooking purposes was preserved by Monks in monasteries as well as the Craft
Folk in villages, and either written down
or passed down by word of mouth.
When people began to immigrate to America they brought over
seeds of those same plants as well as the knowledge of their use. Slaves would see the various herbs being
grown and would learn of their use, and in time through trial and error would
find what worked in folk magic.
Now thanks to the internet and mail order those herbs are
available no matter where you live, but I’m sure in other countries outside of
the United States there are herbs or traditional oil combinations that
developed for a ritual to send back the evil that bedevils a person, to break
the condition they are in and to heal them, the basic principles are the same,
sometimes the ingredients are just a bit different.
But one ingredient in both Jewish and Christian literature
and also is known in the middle east is the cleansing attributes of Hyssop, no
matter what in a 3 or 7 or 13 herb bath, oil, incense or powder mixture, Hyssop
Must be the first ingredient to be put into it, followed by Rue, followed by
salt, the others for their properties of cleansing, protection and re-focusing.
Hyssop is an herbaceous plant native to Southern Europe, the
Middle East, and the region surrounding the Caspian Sea. Due to its properties
as an antiseptic, cough reliever, and expectorant, it is commonly used as an
aromatic herb and medicinal plant and has been in use since classical
antiquity.
According to Chaeremon the Stoic, Hyssop was used for purgation (religious purification) in
Egypt, where the priests used to eat it with bread in order to purify this type
of food and make it suitable for their austere diet, frankly that must have
been rough. But it was an effective
medicinal plant as it has soothing, expectorant, and cough suppressant
properties. It is also drought tolerant
and should do well in dry climates in one’s garden, bee’s love it and create
rich, flavorful honey with it.
But one has to be careful with using it because of its high
concentrations of thujone and chemicals that stimulate the central nervous
system that can provoke epileptic reactions when taken in high enough doses.
The oil of hyssop can cause seizures and even low doses (2–3 drops) can cause
convulsions in children. So keep this
oil away from youngsters.
The second herb that should be used is Rue, this is a tough
herb, Rue is a hardy, evergreen, somewhat shrubby plant, is a native of
Southern Europe, it emits a powerful, disagreeable odor and have an exceedingly
bitter, acrid and nauseous taste. Rue is one of our oldest garden plants,
cultivated for its use medicinally, having, together with other herbs like
hyssop, been introduced by the Ancient Romans to England and other countries ,
but it is not found in a wild state except rarely on the hills of Lancashire
and Yorkshire.
It is cultivated as a medicinal herb, as a condiment, and to
a lesser extent as an insect repellent.
Which is why my Grandma would plant it near the front and back doors of
her home, my Uncle use to tease me when I was a child and say it would keep
vampires away. It is also known as Herb
of Grace. Cat’s don’t seem to like it.
It does have some negative effects on the body. Large doses
can cause violent gastric pain, vomiting, systemic complications, and
death. Exposure to common rue, or
herbal preparations derived from it, can cause severe phytophotodermatitis
which results in burn-like blisters on the skin, which is why my Grandmother
always insisted that I wear long sleeves, gloves and long pants when gathering
it. One time I forgot and the blisters
it caused that summer was very painful.
Now I list these two herbs because no matter what all the
Ladies in my Grandmother’s group made sure they grew these two herbs in their
gardens, because they had many magical uses and uncrossing baths is one of
them.
There are many herbs to choose from in putting together a 13
herb uncrossing bath, I have them listed here along with symbols for what use
they are.
The symbols are (p) = Protective (c) = Cleansing (r) =
Refocusing aka healing
Not all of these herbs are readily available, some I would
even question using in a bath, maybe as an oil or powder but one has to choose
carefully taking into account skin sensitivity.
Absinthe (p)
African Ginger (r)
Agrimony (p, c)
Ague Weed (Boneset) (p)
Angelica (p, c, r)
Anise (r)
Ash Leaves (p, c)
Bay (p)
Benzoin gum (r)
Bitter Root (Gentian) (p)
Black Pepper (p)
Blood Root (p)
Brimstone (Sulfur) (p, c) do not use in a bath
Broom Tops (c)
Clover (c, r)
Cloves (p)
Curry (p)
Devils Shoestring (p) not in a bath
Dill (r)
Dog's Grass (p, c)
Dragon's Blood (p, c)
Elder (p)
Five Finger Grass (p, c, r)
Flax (Linseed Oil) (r)
better as an oil
Fennel (p, r)
Frankincense (p, r) incense only or powder
Geranium (p, c, r)
Hawthorne (p, c)
High John (Jalap) (p, r)
Holy (Blessed) Thistle (p, r) not a bath
Huckleberry (p, r)
Hyacinth (c)
Hyssop (p, c)
Lavender (p, c)
Lemon Balm ( c, r)
Lemon peel and Lemon juice will do the same
Lilac (c)
Lotus (p, r)
Low John (Galangal) (p, r)
Marjoram (c, r)
Mint (r) I believe it
is referring to peppermint, as spearmint was used in money spells
Mistletoe (p, c, r) not in a bath
Mugwort (p, r)
Myrrh (p,r) as an
oil or incense
Nettle (c, r) not in a bath
Pine Bark (p) needles work just as well but should be washed
in cold water before making an infusion
Rue (p, r)
Rose (r) white rose
petals is preferred
Rosemary (p, c, r)
Sage (r, p)
Sloe Bark/Berries (c)
This supposed to be a common plum
Spikenard (p, r)
Tormentil (p, r)
Unicorn Root (p, r)
Valerian (p)
Verbena (p, c)
Vertivert (p, c)
Woodruff (p)
Wormwood (r)
Using Castor Oil as the carrier in oil blends has a
cleansing property as well as banishing. Never use the natural castor bean, always buy commercially made for medicinal use Castor Oil, the reason is the castor bean itself is extremely poisonous.
As you can see the choice is formidable as one is starting
out, but as you get to know the properties of each herb and where it can be
used then it’s made easier. Some of
these herbs can be grown in pots or if you are lucky to have a back yard then
in a garden.
Sage, Rue, lavender, lilac, hyssop, marjoram, hyacinth,
geranium, clover, dill can be grown,
some can be purchased in one’s grocery store, and that would include
sage, marjoram, dill, Bay, anise, clove.
With what I have just listed by including salt, you’d have
your herb bath. Other ingredients for
the oil, incense and powder have included black pepper or black crushed pepper
corns, a Broken Chain, Cayenne Pepper, Sugar, Crab Shell Powder, Beef Gall,
Chicken Feathers, the practitioner's bath or wash water. It can get very exotic and strange to one’s
mind.
But it all depends upon what the practitioner has learned,
been taught or has seen what works best, and again according to the area where
they were raised.
My Grandmother would make an herb bath of Salt, Hyssop, Rue, Rosemary, Pine needles, basil,
lavender, white rose petals, sage, bay leaves, marjoram, geranium, cloves, and
for really tough cases she’d add a pinch of the ashes from burned Palm leaves given out on Palm Sunday
from the year before.
[We had this tradition each year at midnight of Ash
Wednesday—when it turned from Fat Tuesday to Ash Wednesday we’d burn the Palm
leaves that we had received the year before on Palm Sunday, we’d all go to my Grandma’s house and she’d
collect all our palm leaves and burn them in this small metal pot and she’d
collect and put the ashes into a special jar, because each Palm Sunday we’d
hold onto those palm leaves for an entire year, and then the next Palm Sunday
we’d receive new ones and hold onto those for a year]
That is what she’d put into her herb packets for the 13 herb
bath. Each lady in her group had their
own individual combination, I never knew what they were, but for each one it
worked.
Now the oil used to dress your candles can be made using
natural herbs finally ground suspended in a base of Castor Oil. Some people would add Jojoba oil because it
does not go rancid as it is really a liquid wax, but in my grandmother’s day
Castor Oil, (known to be a purgative on its own) was used for Uncrossing and
Banishing recipes but when combined with herbs was NOT taken internally.
One thing that was added which seemed to be something that
developed independently when comparing it with the different ladies in Granny’s
group was adding a broken chain, in a way nothing was ever wasted, it could
have different uses. Now this would be a small chain, like ones
from old bath tub plugs, or a broken necklace chain, there would be these tiny
chains to hold individual keys but from use they’d break, so a broken chain was never wasted or throw
away.
The uncrossing oil my Grandmother would make would be put
into a “master bottle” she would first
put into the master bottle a small
length of broken chain, then she would grind up each individual herb and it
would be a total of 13 herbs , but when she used a resin she would put the
resin into double paper bag and then pound it to get any powder or tiny
fragments,
The dry herbs she would use were hyssop, rue, black pepper,
sage, salt, rosemary, lemon balm or dried lemon peel, myrrh, frankincense,
geranium, lavender, pine needles, bay leaves.
So the Uncrossing oil would consist of
1 cup Castor oil
1/2 tbsp Hyssop
1/2 tbsp Rue
1/2 tbsp Salt
1/2 tbsp geranium
1/2 tbsp lavender
1/2 tbsp bay leaves
1 pinch Lemon Balm
or dried ground lemon peel
1 pinch Black Pepper
1 pinch Sage
1 pinch Myrrh
1 pinch Frankincense
and 1 small length
of broken chain
The oil would be put first into the right size jar, Granny
loved the canning jars or mason jars.
Then the chain, the ground up herbs, then resins and finally the chain
into the jar with the Castor oil.
Then she’d seal the jar and shake it until the herbs are
thoroughly mixed. She shake the jar once a day than a week before using it.
If she was making it for someone else or to have it in an
easy to handle bottle, she’d pour the oil from the master bottle into a very
small bottle, but using cheese cloth to strain the herbs and chain while
pouring, then she’d put the herbs and chain back into the master bottle
For the Uncrossing Incense it was the same mixture and
amounts but no Castor Oil and no broken chain to be burned but she would keep a
separate broken chain in the box where she’d keep the incense and she’d add a
pinch of sulfur to add to the “power”
To do it, again she’d grind up each herb, combine them
together, keeping the broken chain in the box and
Burn on self-igniting charcoal blocks such as Three Kings, it may give
off a little or a lot of smoke it depends on the dryness of the herbs and the
amount of resin.
For the Uncrossing Powder this was what Grandma made to roll
freestanding candles in or would sprinkle across the front and back doorway of
the Crossed person’s home, sometimes if it could be done it would be secretly
sprinkled across the walk way of the home of the person who did the
Crossing.
The herb mixture would be ground up and put into a base of Cornstarch,
( some people use unscented talcum powder as a base) and depending upon how much you want Granny
told me it was 1 of Cornstarch to 1/2 each of the herbs and several pinches of
the resin of Myrrh, and Frankincense, dry powdered sulfur could be added if it
was to sprinkle across the person who did the Crossing but not if you’re going
to be using it on candles so sulfur would always be added at the time you would
need it for that.
If you’re going to use
the powder to roll candles in then grind as fine as possible Devils Shoestring
or if you are not able to get sulfur (aka Brimstone) or are reluctant to use
sulfur you can substitute Devil Shoestring instead.
She would grind the herbs as fine as possible, stopping from
time to time to sift out any coarse herbs from the fine, pouring the fine into its
box and continue grinding the coarse pieces.
Once they are powdered as much as possible, combine them together and
then mix them into the powder base and keep in a box with a small broken chain.
Now this is if you want to make your own, but you can
purchase the herbal bath, the oil, incense and powder from any reputable
metaphysical shop.
I provide these recipes for your information.
In my next section on Uncrossing I will give you suggestions
as to how to tell if you have been unknowingly Crossed, so that you can do the
Uncrossing ritual.
But if you feel that something is not right and you don’t
have time to make a 13 herb bath you can do a simple cleansing bath by
combining Hyssop, Rue and salt into a muslin bag and have it either soak into
your tub water and immerse yourself in it or if you are pressed for time hang
the bag under your shower head and stand under it as the shower sprays onto you
and just say “Cleans me with Hyssop Oh Lord that I may be clean and the whitest
snow”. This is only good for quick cleansings and uncrossings
and it’s just temporary until you can prepare for a complete uncrossing ritual.
Blessings to you,
Ms. Q
