The Ritual Use of Herbal Powders
Herbal powers have a variety of uses in magick and rituals; however, using them as incense is one of my favorites. It’s so easy to drop a pinch on a piece of ritual charcoal, and with so many different herbs and resins available, there are endless options to create just the right effect.
A simple way to begin is to use equal parts of dried herbs and then use a lesser amount of resin or powdered sandalwood. But you can play around with the amounts to suit your needs. Grind the herbs/flowers alone or together using a coffee grinder. However, I prefer to use a mortar and pestle for the resins.
When creating your own, look at herbal correspondences that align with the purpose of the powder.
Powders are typically used in:
- Simmer pots – Add a pinch to some water you’ve heated in the pot
- Workings involving water – Powders can be added to a bowl of moon-charged water along with other herbs or flowers.
- Sprinkled on the sides of candles anointed in ritual oil. I typically use 4″ chime candles.
- Dropped on the melting wax at the top of a pillar, votive, or tea candle
- Drop a pinch on a piece of burning ritual charcoal
- Mojo/charm bags – Either sprinkle a small amount of powder over the other items in the bag or add it first. It’s easiest to add the powder first if you’re using a fabric swatch you tie up into a bag and less so if using a drawstring bag. With a fabric swatch, you can layer the items, but with a bag, it’s a little more challenging to do that.
NOTE: These herbal powders are NOT for ingestion…ONLY for ritual use.
A few examples…
Spirit Wisdom and Clarity
- Rose blossoms (dried)
- Yarrow flower (dried)
Using a variety of rose blossoms (different colors) and some white yarrow flowers, grind them together to create a powder.
Altar powder/incense
- Copal
- Myrrh
- Frankincense
- Sandalwood
If using powdered resins then simply mix them together. If using traditional resin, then grind the pieces into powder using a mortar and pestle and then mix everything together.
Goddess Blessing Incense
- Lavender
- Rose petals
- Copal resin
Grind together to create a powder
Protection
- Rosemary
- Thyme
- Lavender
- Cinnamon Basil or Thai Basil
- Copal Resin
Grind together to create a powder
Anyway, using herbal powders can be a simple way of including the energies of herbs in ritual work. Grinding them together also creates a synergistic effect which is nice. Besides, they’re fun to make!
References
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Thank you... Jan Erickson
