Friday, February 17, 2012

Brewing

Brewing potions is one of the things I love about my very Witchy life. For my Etsy shop, Blade and Broom, I make my very favorite brew -- flying ointment -- about once every two weeks. (My non-toxic flying ointment is our shop's most popular product.) Tonight, I made up another lovely batch.



I have a little red pot that I only use for brewing. The lovely cooking utensil is hand carved by an Etsy Witchy friend from near Salem. I love sitting with the herbs as they simmer -- mugwort, lemongrass, cinquefoil, rue, Dittany of Crete, poplar buds (balm of Gilead), clary sage, and wormwood (plus benzoin powder and vitamin E oil as preservatives).


The sweet, sticky poplar buds open up in the heat of the salve's base oil as they simmer.



A pound of base salve yields about six 2-oz. tins of flying ointment -- or one of the large jars. Isn't it a lovely olive green? One of the names for flying ointment in the Middle Ages was "green salve." You can see why.

2 comments:

Élise Pettey said...

I really liked this! It was a great quick look at a Witch's work when she brews ;) I do a TON of cooking, but now after seeing this, it really makes me want to start making salves! (I'm a huge sucker for anything like skin cream, and salves would just be incredible.)

Laurelei said...

I really recommend it! VERY satisfying to do something so practical and really so time-honored. The process hasn't changed much, when you think about it. =)