Herbs are Mother Nature's way of saying: "Here, I grew this for you - even though I am small, I am packed with nutrients, vitamins, medicinal and magickal value. You only need a little bit, and the rest you should share" The best and easiest way to use herbs is to: 1. positively identify that it is indeed the herb that you think it is. 2. Smell it, touch it, spend time with it. 3. If it is safe for ingesting - Taste it. 4. Take it home and use it fresh in an infusion or in you cooking or in your sorcery. Deities and Spirits love offerings of fresh cut herbs and plants. 5. Dry it for more powerful benefits. Drying a herb makes it more potent and you can make your own incense! Drying tips: Hang up in bunches or spread out in baskets in a warm, dry shaded place. Do not dry in the sunlight. 6. Infuse in olive oil. After you have dried the herb for at least 24 hours to let the moisture evaporate out of it, you can put it into a jar and cover with oil. Try not to leave too much air in the jar as oxygen causes oxidization and makes the herb go off. Leave in a warm sunny windowsill shaking it every day for at least 2 weeks, up to 6 weeks. Strain and bottle in a dark glass jar or bottle. Use within a year. 7. Make a powerful tincture using alcohol or vegetable glycerin for those who are sensitive to alcohol or for children. Put your fresh or semi dried herbs into a jar and cover with alcohol or vegetable glycerin. Store in a cool, dry place, out of sunlight and shaking everyday for 4 weeks. Strain, dilute by half in purified water and put into dropper bottles. . 8. LABEL, LABEL, LABEL! No matter how much you think you're going to remember what you have in all of those jars just by looking/smelling you can never be too sure. Ohhhhhh! How many herbs I have burned or thrown out!!! Label and date everything! 9. Use herbs responsibly. If you don't know. Don't ingest.
