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This is another common question I receive at the MISTIC. This article briefly
puts ritual oil use into a historical context, outlines
the types of oils available in the marketplace and describes
common methods of using magical oils.
Magical Oils have been used for spiritual
undertakings since ancient times:
EXODUS 30:22 Moreover the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,
30:23 Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels,
and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of
sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels,
30:24 And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and
of oil olive an hin:
30:25 And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after
the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil.
30:26 And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and
the ark of the testimony,
30:27 And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels,
and the altar of incense,
30:28 And the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and
his foot.
30:29 And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth
them shall be holy.
The Bible speaks clearly of oil being used for spiritual purposes.
Additionally, recipes are given for creating magical oil, perfume and incense.
Ancient Egyptians used oil to anoint their Kings and Queens for
protection, health and power in life and also in many afterlife rituals. Historical
texts document the use of ritual oils in every culture since the beginning of
time.
Magical Oil Use Today
Today, oils intended
for spiritual purposes are widely available online and in botanicas, occult shops
and spiritual supply stores. Within the spiritual oil market, there are wide differences
in price, quality and manufacturing practices. Consumers can now purchase pre-prepared
oil combinations or the base materials (like herbs and essential oils) necessary
to create their own magical oil. Recipes for formulas are widely available in
many books and on the Internet.
Spiritual oils readily available today can be easily categorized
into three types based on the oil components or ingredients:
Mass Produced Spiritual Oil - An Exercise in Truth in Advertising
 When
Spiritual Products became widely available In the early 1930's by mail order catalogs,
Root Workers, "Doctors" and Pharmacists, created Condition
or Dressing oils based on time tested recipes. Thanks to good, old
fashioned commercialism, large manufacturing companies saw an opportunity for
profit with spiritual consumers and in the 1970's began producing oils for the
botanica market.
For manufacturers', the old style Condition Oil recipes
had a very short shelf life. The ingredients necessitated being mixed in small
batches, and required a heavy amount of essential oil and plant material to scent
the base oil (usually almond, olive or mineral oils).
Somewhere along the line, manufacturers discovered that they could
substitute a liquid plastic byproduct called Diethyl Phthalate (or
DP) as the base or carrier oil for magical blends. DP works well in scented
oil manufacturing for numerous reasons. Because it is a chemical, it never goes
rancid. It is inexpensive and picks up a scent and holds it for a very long time.
Therefore, it requires fewer drops of expensive essential oil to create a very
fragrant concoction, lowering the overall cost of manufacturing these oils. More
importantly, it dissolves essential oil and evenly distributes it throughout the
base. This means there is no separation between the essential oil and the base
oil. If you have ever made your own oil formulas, you are probably aware that
you have to shake the bottle of oil vigorously in order to redistribute the bottle
contents each time you use it. The base oil, herbs and essential oil seem to separate
very quickly when using all natural oil ingredients. This is not necessary with
DP-based products.
Unfortunately for consumers, DP and the whole family of Phthalate
chemicals have come under much scrutiny in recent years. Animal studies have shown
that DP can stifle male hormones, sperm production and may cause male infertility
and birth defects - especially when burned (as on candles or incense). There are
also some links to cancer. A quick search
on Google will reveal many studies the reader can peruse for more information.
I call DP-based oils No Oil Spiritual oil. The fact
is that these manufactured oils may or may not contain any essential oil. Who
knows? It is very hard to get a clear answer from their producers. I do sell a
line of DP based oils in the shop from the Mysteria
manufacturing company. I am going to be brutally honest here. The price point
is the sole reason for carrying these oils. I cannot manufacturer hand made oil
at this price.
Many of my retail shop customers insist on purchasing their ritual
oils at under $2.00 a bottle. Thanks in large part to my main local competitor,
many poor, uneducated but highly spiritual folks feel that a 1/2 oz bottle of
Condition oil is $1.99. If it's more, you are trying to get over on them. Or they
feel they cannot afford to pay anymore for Spiritual oils. The under two dollar
price cap has stood for years.
As a practitioner and shop owner, this has proven quite a moral
predicament for me. I want to do the right thing, but I am also running a business.
If I do not carry the cheaper oil, I end up losing the candle, herb and powder
sales to my competition. I have tried addressing this issue from a spiritual work
perspective by instilling a need for herbs and/or powders in candle dressing with
my client base. My logic being that if folks fully dress their candles,
at least some herbal material is present and that's better than nothing!
I have weaned several long time customers off of the DP oils.
I have many customers - especially old workers who resented that for a long while
in New Orleans no other condition oil was available except DP based oil. However
many of my normal every day candle burning clients, still buy DP-based oils and
insist they work for them. Maybe one day I can eliminate DP-based oils in the
shop and convince all of my customers to spend a couple of extra dollars
to get a decent bottle of mid-priced Condition oil that consists of real herbal
material. God only knows!
Doing Things the Old Fashioned Way
As previously mentioned, old time old manufacturers and spiritual
workers made small batches of spiritual oil using real herbs, roots, bark, flowers
and minerals. Most added these herbs to either olive or mineral oil depending
on the purpose of the final blend.
Typically Olive Oil was used as the base or carrier
oil for formulas designed to bless, anoint or draw positive things. Mineral
Oil was used for formulas that command, compel or destroy. Mineral oil was
also used for mineral-based oils like Magnet and Lodestone. In recent
years, Sweet Almond Oil has become a popular base oil for drawing positive
blessings as it is light in texture and scents more easily than heavy Olive oil.
The techniques used for instilling the base oil with herbal properties are quite
varied.
Some times plant material is simply steeped in the (cold)
oil for an extended period time. This is common for white, pink , yellow and other
light-colored Condition oils. This steeping method is used in the creation of
many Mistic Brand Spiritual Oils. The
herbs soak in oil for 30 plus days in a cool, dark location. They may be strained
out (termed cold pressed) through a fine cloth or just left to float in
the bottle.
For darker oils (brown, purple, black), herbs may be wrapped in
muslin or cheesecloth and cooked in the oil to extract their essence. I have seen
and heard of workers employing a double-cooked method for making oil. The
herb materials are simmered in oil for two-three hours, strained out and the resulting
oil is allowed to cool. Then the process is repeated, cooking a new batch of herbs
in the same oil - therefore double-infusing the properties into the base. The
resulting oil is then colored for intent and scented with perfumed or essential
oils. The cooking method is also used in the creation of Mistic
Brand Spiritual Oils.
 Maceration
is an age old method for creating magic oils. Herb materials are ground and placed
in a mortar and pestle. Enough base oil is poured over the ground herbs to cover
them. The worker then begins pounding the herb and oil mixture while praying over
it - infusing the base with herbal and spiritual properties. The herb material
is strained out of the oil base with cheesecloth and topped off with more base
oil. The oil may be colored for intent and new, whole herbs added to each bottle.
This is the method used for Holy Spirit Brand
Roots in Oil.
New Times, New Ways
During the late 1980's and early 1990's, the philosophies of Wicca,
Earth-Magick and Paganism developed at an unprecedented rate. Publishing houses
and film studios jumped on the hype and public interest in witchcraft and neo-paganism
flourished. As the Internet blossomed, by the late 1990's, Wicca, Witchcraft and
Paganism became downright trends.
During the Clinton-era, a spiritual renaissance began.
Many folks felt stifled and unsatisfied with the offerings of mainstream religion.
A great interest in holistic medicine, vitamins, alternative healing methods and
alternative spirituality developed. As the Internet made its way into a vast number
of households, people worldwide found new forums and avenues to discuss, research
and practice spirituality.
It was during this period that Aromatherapy became an area
of interest for those seeking alternatives. Small companies that had produced
Essential Oils for perfume houses, began advertising their wares on the
Internet. Rare essences, tinctures and absolutes became readily available to spiritual
merchants and sole practitioners. Likewise books were published at a rapid rate,
touting the medicinal and spiritual benefits of herbal aromatherapy.
A natural progression occurred that encouraged the use of Essential
Oils in magical blends. These "essential oils" were either steam
distilled or cold pressed (mechanically squeezing the oil from the material) essences
of the individual plant. Many stated the obvious - if you wanted the best results
magically, than what better ingredient to use than the essence of the plant?
The challenge for Spiritual Merchants was that many of the flowers
that had been used in the magical oils did not produce an oil through steam distillation
or cold pressing. Flowers like Rose and Jasmine however would yield oil if soaked
in a solvent (a quick evaporating liquid that is vacuumed from the mixture) -
leaving an Absolute. This is a very expensive process but yields the most
desired aromatheuraputic grade material.
All Natural, Organic, 100% Pure, Additive Free
became the marketing campaign words of the day. As a result, high end magical
oils emerged on the marketplace as a new phenomenon. Made from only the highest
quality, food grade essential oils and absolutes a new breed of ritual oil was
born. Combining traditional European herbal folk magic with aromatherapy and perfumer's
art these Boutique Oils became the hottest seller in the spiritual marketplace.
In 1990, I developed one of the first companies in the Spiritual
Marketplace to offer high end Boutique oils - Herbal
Brews. First sold through a paper mail order catalog, Herbal Brews became
available online in 1996. The response to these high end magical oils was enormous
and continues today.
I make these oils in conjunction with moon and planetary phases
in order to increase the potency of each blend. Using Jojoba ( a natural liquid
wax) as a base means the oils never go rancid. Each batch of oil is blended by
hand - 2 ounces at a time. The highest quality essential oils and absolutes are
added, one drop at a time using perfumer's methods. The recipes were developed
from years of research in folk herbalism. European, African, Asian and Native
American herbal combinations influenced the development of the line. This multicultural
approach to spell casting and spiritual work reflects the openness and appreciation
many have developed for global spirituality.
How Do I Use Magical Oils?
No matter what type and quality of magical oils you select, I
strongly recommend you charge them to increase energy and shape it to best
carry out the tasks you want to perform. Handmade magic oils are already loaded
with the power of the herbs they contain and many blends are imbued with energy
put into them during their creation. But, once you have purchased a premade oil
blend, you want to make it yours - as it will be your tool to use in magic.
You can charge an oil by censing it with incense. I like using
Benzoin, Myrrh or Three
Kings for this purpose. You can also charge the bottle by holding it up to
your Third Eye and focusing energy on it through creative visualization.
Many oils can be charged through the Elements or by burying in the earth,
or by exposing it to starlight, moonlight, or sunlight (remember essential oils
break down in light, so a little goes a long way). You can also baptize an oil
with Holy Water or Blessed Water. For
Instance, a bottle of "Come To Me" oil might be baptized in the
name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost to draw its target to the user in love
and passion.
Obviously, magical oils are most commonly used in magical work.
Decide which number is relevant to your spiritual
work and add that many drops to your spiritual bath
or on top of your incense.
Hope this Helps!
Tribble
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