Herbal Oils and Salves & How to Use Them

Behind the legends and literary fictions, however, lies a tragic story, a phenomenon that claimed countless lives between the mid-fourteenth and late eighteenth centuries. In times of famine, natural disasters, and epidemics, throughout Europe there was always someone ready to testify that, before a disaster, one or more women had been flying near the fields or celebrating with strange dances, perhaps naked and in the company of demons. Rational explanations for incomprehensible misfortunes, on the other hand, were scarce. It was much easier to identify scapegoats, mostly common women, to accuse of witchcraft.

According to the records of witchcraft trials, many of them later confessed to having actually flown astride a broomstick or had supernatural encounters. These statements were often made before torture, and therefore most likely in good faith, not just as a last-minute attempt to save themselves from the stake. These women, in short, believed they had truly flown.

Witchcraft or medicine?

Traces of popular beliefs in witchcraft and magical arts can be found well before the late Middle Ages. Symbols related to the supernatural abound in all the legends of the most ancient civilizations.

From the Paleolithic to the Celts, the same inventors of Samhain, the great feast of the dead that marked the beginning of winter, later transformed it into our Christian All Saints’ Day; there’s no shortage of monstrous deities, goblins, ghosts, wizards, and spells of all kinds. An innate tendency in human societies, one might say.

But it was with the great witch hunts and their associated trials, such as that of Salem, which broke out between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, that the most enduring influences took shape in our culture.

Perhaps they didn’t bear much resemblance to the witches of the East and West who tormented Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, yet traditional iconography depicts witches with similar recurring elements.

From the 15th century onward, typical depictions in paintings and engravings almost always include scenes of “Sabbaths,” with witches often in scantily clad or completely naked, busy stirring pots or surrounded by vials in laboratory-like settings.

In fact, preparing extracts and natural cures is precisely what healers and midwives did in rural communities. In times when death was common, and even medicine could do little for certain illnesses, any cure, even alternative ones, was considered providential, if not miraculous (or indeed witchcraft-like).

Best herbs used for oils and salves in ancient times

Mandrake, Belladonna, and Henbane are herbs widely distributed throughout Europe and have been used since ancient times as medicinal remedies for various ailments.

Their effects are due to the presence of certain molecules called alkaloids, particularly two main alkaloids: hyoscyamine and hyoscine.

One form of hyoscyamine is known as atropine and is still used today in highly diluted solutions to dilate the pupil during ophthalmic examinations. Hyoscine, known as scopolamine, is an anesthetic that can induce “twilight sleep” and is used in small doses in current pharmacopoeia to treat car sickness and seasickness.

 As described in the sections on the pharmacological actions of atropine and scopolamine, ingestion of large quantities of these compounds causes mental confusion, agitation, hallucinations, and complex delusions.  

Belladonna berries have an inviting appearance and a pleasant flavor, but ingestion can cause reduced sensation, thirst, vomiting, delirium, feelings of euphoria, and intoxication, followed, in severe cases, by convulsions and death.

However, the onset of certain symptoms produced by these substances was sought and desired by healers in ancient times, and their administration required specific preparation skills. Indeed, both these molecules are not soluble in water, and therefore, extracts of mandrake, belladonna, and henbane had to be dissolved in fats or oils and then applied to the skin or mucous membranes.

Healers, and witches in particular, were well aware of these characteristics and, thus, dissolved these herbs in large cauldrons filled with animal fats; this was how ointments and salves were obtained , the famous “Witches’ Ointment”.

First Step: Oil

The first step in making a salve, is to infuse a base or carrier oil with herbal essence. If you’re using essential oils rather than fresh or dried herbs, just drop the essential oils into the carrier oil until you’re happy with it if you’re just making an oil, if you’re making a salve, you can wait to add the essential oils as part of the salve-making process.

You should use dried herbs for this, or if using fresh herbs, clean them and lay them to dry until wilted. High water content increases the chance of mold growing on your salves or in your oils later.

Use a crockpot and a canning jar, or double boiler. Stainless steel, glass or enamel is best. Place the herbs in the top of the double boiler or the canning jar and pour in enough oil to cover, plus one inch. Put a few inches of water in your crockpot or the bottom of your double boiler.

Heat it on the lowest setting for at least three hours. Avoid exposing the oil to light or allowing it to get warm enough to be uncomfortable to the touch.

Heat and light will cause oils to go rancid quickly. You will need longer, at least five hours for roots and woody herbs. Test by pouring a bit of oil onto your hand and using your senses to determine if it’s strong enough for you.

Let the oil cool completely, and then strain through a cheesecloth, squeezing as much oil out as you can.

¹If you are just making a massage or anointing oil, you can stop here unless you wish to add essential oils, which you can do as soon as your oil has cooled. If you prefer a salve, do not add your essential oils just yet. They should always be added last, so that they don’t have a chance to evaporate. Continue on…

Next: Salve

Add some beeswax to your pan and heat till melted, stirring constantly. Slowly add your infused a bit at a time. You will need less beeswax and more oil than you think. Allow it to cool on a spoon to test if your salve is thick enough. If it’s too soft, add more beeswax, too hard, add more oil.

Blend in essential oils and vitamins at the very end. Add some vitamin E for its skin smoothing properties, and as a preservative. Then pour into sterilized containers and seal.

Using Oils and Salves

These salves and oils can be used for several purposes. You may massage them into sore muscles, use them to smooth rough skin, or apply them to abrasions and other skin irritations or you may use them for ritual purposes.

Anointing oil can be used for several things during a ritual. It is most commonly associated with formal rites of passage, though it can also be used to augment your magical ritual and private worship.

The oil may be simply daubed onto a person’s forehead, or you may wish to anoint various parts such as hands, feet, heart, womb, genitals, etc., depending on your particular path. Salves may be used just like oils for anointing and are perhaps neater.