Four Thieves Vinegar: Non-toxic & Natural Disinfectant & Cleanser

From what evidence we have, infused vinegars have existed almost since we first discovered vinegar.  It's so useful by itself, and infusing it increases its effectiveness and potency.  Its many functions include:

- culinary
- preservation
- beauty regimes
- cleansing
- disinfection
- anti-infestation

I have gone into detail on some of the cosmetic vinegar infusions in this post.  Now would be the time to start making them for the holidays, if you were considering giving them as gifts, by the way...

Herbally infused vinegars are natural, organic, non-toxic, inexpensive, traditional technology that used to and still can replace so many of our modern products.  They can be full strength for cleaning and disinfecting, as an insect discouragement or anti-fungal. With the proper ingredients, they are remarkably effective against bacteria, as well as an efficient cleanser which leaves a refreshing scent. I personally have used the diluted spray to cure my apple trees of a debilitating fungus that had been plaguing them for years. I also got rid of the aphids on my Virginia Creeper and created a scent barrier against ants getting into my house.

Diluted, often with rosewater, it was used as a cosmetic, to tone the face, clear up eruptions, refresh clothing, and in a sponge nosegay, was kept near the face to ward off the Plague. Certain physicians are still called quacks due to the medieval practice of wearing a duck-like mask with a sponge of aromatic vinegar resting in the beak when visiting areas of contagion. Perhaps it's currently an insult to call a doctor a quack because it implies their techniques are right out of the Middle Ages.

Paulus Furst’s 1656 engraving of Dr. Schnabel ("Beak")
of Rome wearing protective clothing typical of the
plague doctors of Rome at the time.

It should be used only with extreme caution during pregnancy, as some of the herbs are abortifacient. I used it when I was pregnant with my son to no ill effects, but I took care not to get any on my skin.

Four Thieves Oil is a very modern invention, and not the same thing at all.  It usually contains essential oils of similar herbs, but oils and aqueous infusions do not often share the same properties.  It cannot be used for all the same purposes as the vinegar formulations, and are often far more expensive.  Though it apparently can be used for similar magical purposes, such as banishment, in Vodun and other systems...

The first actual record we have for the version known as Four Thieves is not medieval. If it is indeed an actual record. Most of the "documentation" are really stories. I will take the liberty to re-post this excellent history.  (I'd credit it if I knew the original source, but this exact version is all over the 'net.):

The famous French aromatherapy doctor, Jean Valnet, has two recipes in his book. He claims the original recipe was revealed by corpse robbers who were caught red-handed in the area around Toulouse in 1628-1631. His story is the more credible of the many one can find. Given the virulence and deadliness of the plague, the judges were astonished by the indifference of the thieves to contagion. Valnet quotes the archives of the Parliament of Toulouse:

During the Great Plague, four robbers were convicted of going to the houses of plague victims, strangling them in their beds and then looting their dwellings. For this, they were condemned to be burned at the stake, and in order to have their sentence mitigated, they revealed their secret preservative, after which they were hanged.

Given the source, I choose to believe the Valnet account, but there have obviously been many spins of the tale. Here is the recipe stated to be the original:

  Original Recipe for Four Thieves Formula

3 pints white wine vinegar

handful wormwood
handful meadowsweet
handful juniper berries
handful wild marjoram
handful sage
50 cloves
2 oz. elecampane root
2 oz. angelica
2 oz. rosemary
2 oz. horehound
3 g camphor

Dr. Valnet has a variation of his own described as an antiseptic vinegar:

Marseilles Vinegar or Four Thieves Vinegar

40 g. greater wormwood, Artemesia absinthum

40 g. lesser wormwood, Artemesia pontica

40 g. rosemary

40 g. sage

40 g. mint

40 g. rue

40 g. lavender

5 g. calamus

5 g. cinnamon

5 g. clove

5 g. nutmeg

5 g. garlic

10 g. camphor (do not use synthetic camphor)

40 g. crystallized acetic acid

2500 g. white vinegar

Instructions: steep the plants in the vinegar for 10 days. Force through a sieve. Add the camphor dissolved in the acetic acid, filter.

Valnet says his formula is useful in the prevention of infectious diseases. He says to rub it on the face and hands and burn it in the room. It can also be kept in small bottles that are carried on the person so that the vapors can be inhaled.

Years of experimentation using historical and modern recipes have helped create my interpretation of this legendary liquid. My version is an amalgam of several different recipes, taking into account what was commonly available, especially in England, during the medieval period, and what was in my garden fresh.  It is a concoction of white wine vinegar steeped in aromatic and anti-bacterial herbs such as garlic, rue, and wormwood for a number of days, then filtered and used in dilution with water for cleansing the house and other areas.

Remember:  Only use real, brewed vinegar for all these recipes. Ordinary store bought white vinegar is just lab-created Acetic Acid diluted to 5%.It doesn't have the same richness of composition or balance of acids as real brewed vinegar, or the same sustainability. Try these recipes with other base vinegars, too, such as apple cider and rice wine! 

Here is my exact recipe, for those that want to try it at home, or who just want to see how crazy I get when I make these things.

My Four Thieves Vinegar Recipe:

Approximately the same sized twig piece of each:

fresh peppermint
fresh thyme
fresh rue
fresh rosemary
fresh wormwood
fresh sage

four cloves garlic (slightly crushed to release the allicin)
3 bay leaves
4 cloves
4 small pieces cinnamon bark

Place ingredients in old, clean, spaghetti jar. Fill remainder of jar with white wine vinegar, stir to get rid of bubbles, add lid, and place in sunlight, like windowsill. Herbs will lose colour after a few days. Then you filter and can add a bit more herbs for a really strong batch.

Filter out completely in a few weeks, bottle and label.

Article published on Witchvox on December 30, 2012.

I'm a Witch, not a Wiccan - A brief summary of broad pagan designations



Current Modern Paganism - Venn diagram

I have commented before on the usefulness of designations in the neopagan community. Though we are generally self-directed with many being solitary and "eclectic", it is darn helpful to be able to declare certain predispositions, especially if one is interested in working with others. In joining an on-line group or planning a ritual, the use of categories can help determine if a great deal of negotiation, or only a little, is required to make your collaborations most satisfying.

 

One question often asked is the difference between designations in the neopagan community.  Of course, there are a vast variety of answers, and as a very dynamic and vibrant community, these answers may be quite altered in a decade.  However, there are some trends that seem to have settled out for the moment... 

 

Earth Religions or Earth-Centred Spirituality is currently the designation for all those traditions that are outside most of the major religions, i.e.Abrahamics, Buddhists, etc., but that also follow an Earth based path.  It usually encompasses folk traditions, like European peasant beliefs and practices, as well as native aboriginal spirituality.  However, not all followers of those traditions would choose to call themselves pagan, especially if they also practice some form of Abrahamic religion as well. So it's best to not to assume, which is why Paganism is a subset of Earth Religions.

 

Paganism, or Neopaganism, is the modern catch-all phrase for many organized and non-organized Earth based religions and spirituality. Often seen as based on European Aboriginal practices and beliefs, it can also be used to describe traditional African, Asian, and North American spirituality, though less so, largely due to its primarily English usage. By declaring oneself "pagan", it specifically implies a resurgence in traditional Earth Based beliefs, sometimes in defiance of Abrahamics, depending on the area, and a reconstruction of traditional wisdom, knowledge, and connection with Nature as a completion of self and humanity.  It can be Deity based, supernatural, or atheistic.

 

Witchcraft is a subset of Paganism.  Because of the etymology and use of the word itself, witchcraft usually means pre-Christian folk beliefs of Western and sometimes Eastern Europe.  As a modern practice, it has two main elements, either one of which may be included. It is both tribal and a religious choice. For most, it involves the preference of using magic as meditation, prayer, ritual and empowerment.  For a smaller group, they are born into families that are known for the "Gift", "Second Sight", or the "Eye", if you are less popular...  In the past in most places, children born into these families or who showed potential would often have been trained and dedicated to help their communities. A few of these families that survived the Abrahamic purgings retained the gifts and occasionally the training and traditions that went along with them, though most rejected them, usually out of real fear and concern for their safety if they weren't outright converted.  Like many reClaimed traditions, such as native spirituality, modern witchcraft is a combination of contemporary writings and current analysis of past traditions, as well as past and extant examples of country and folk rituals, and to a much smaller extent, of witch families and their practices.  Due to recent advances in cultural archeology, it is also undergoing the greatest updates and flux. Though most are not from family traditions, modern witches can follow the folk beliefs of the aboriginal Europeans, or practice magic, or both.  They can also refer to themselves as witches if they come from a witch family or have the traditional innate abilities, without practicing a folk religion or spellcraft.  Or any combination of the above, including practicing witchcraft in other traditions, like Abrahamics. (Jewitches.  Heh.) It's a pretty broad category, but my usual test is - anything that can get you burnt as a witch by fundies usually qualifies you to self-identify as a witch. Spellcraft, Goddess worship, foretelling, healing... But not that heretic stuff. That's totally different.
 

Due to its heavy reliance on magic and its European structure, Wicca is almost entirely a subset of Witchcraft, though there are a few practitioners who could be considered outside of it, such as high magicians. Wicca is a relatively new tradition, with its origins largely in the middle part of last century, with some of the structure extending back into the Victorian era.  Drawing on what was known at the time of folk history and tradition, it is a conglomeration of primarily European beliefs, but also reflects turn of the century Orientalism with elements of ancient Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Asian references. Though slow to start, in the last few decades it has had hundreds of writers popularizing it, and has seen an explosion in individual sects.  Because of its very modern feel and adaptations while retaining an aura of Romanticism, Wicca is one of the largest and best known segments of Witchcraft and neopaganism, and one of the fastest growing religions in the world.

Wiccans are almost always witches, but witches aren't always Wiccan. Wiccan is not the 'politically correct' term for witch.  It's a sect of witchcraft, like Protestantism is for Christians.  They have certain specific beliefs and rituals that identify them as a group.  You wouldn't call all Christians Protestants, would you? Hence, the Venn diagram.  I hope that clears things up, especially for the well meaning but less knowledgeable. 

 

Heathenism is a collective category of paganism who follow the Old Religion and who will sometimes consider themselves Wiccan if they practice magic but usually don't identify as witches at all.  Primarily men, they can be of a more structured faith, like Druids, or more folk based, like Odinists. They often identify with warrior culture and value traditional knowledge, self-reliance, personal strength and honour.

This is a very brief sketch, of course, and some in the community will dispute these categories.  There are lots of others as well.  Wizards, or High Magic practitioners, for example, deal with the Other World and its denizens in a rigid, formalized manner, and so can be from nearly any religion, including Abrahamics.  From what our current literature refers to, these are the general starting points and what most persons will intend to convey when they use these terms.  Feel free to comment on the specifics or dispute below!

 

 

Curses! And the Magical Mechanics Thereof...



The Last Unicorn

 I'm not above quoting fantasy books myself if they say it well. "The most professional curse ever snarled or croaked or thundered can have no effect on a pure heart." -- The Last Unicorn. This is essentially true.

Curses work the same way other magic works. A Contact spell, for example, sends out feelers across the chaotic systems. A lot like a computer match up. If the potential person/s you are interested in meeting is also interested, as some of your energy is going along with it, you both work together to pull the chaos strings so that you will both meet up in an appropriate location and time for you to pursue an acquaintance. Rather like "your people" and "their people" calling a meeting. It is a two way street.

Curses are much the same. It is a two way street between the curser and cursed. The curser has decided that someone really need a kick in the ass for something, and sends out feelers. Their energies comes in contact, and if the ‘cursee's’ own guilt, that is, their own inner Goddess of Vengeance, decides that they must be punished, both humans use that energy to create the curse effect. Rather like a karmic string tied around one's finger to remind one of this guilt, which might not have remembered otherwise, or not gotten to it as quickly. Which is why someone must go to the trouble of cursing another in the first place, and why a curse has no effect on a pure heart. No self-need for punishment, no curse.

I believe we should most definitely treat others by the Golden Rule. There is indeed a version of that in every major tradition. But that's almost entirely for our own benefit. We cannot become enlightened and self fulfilled without it. With neophytes terrified to practice spellcraft on their own without the aid of their 'teacher', the Three Fold or Karmic Laws has become an enslaving chain left over from our reClaiming days that should be abandoned as quickly as possible.

The 3 fold, ten fold, or even 11 'Law' is a MYTH, told to keep newbies in line.
I'm sorry I'm breaking the conspiracy of some of the Adepts in disabusing you of this notion. There are many reasons for it, but I break from much of the crowd and teach like a heritage. I believe we must always and only discuss the true metaphysics of witchcraft to prove ourselves a mature spirituality and not a mystery cult.

Spewing the pat fluffy Threefold or Karmic Law is such an oversimplification of the complexity of the Universe that it is an obscenity to the dignity of seekers of Enlightenment and those who assist them. How does witchcraft compare as a viable path for those of intelligence and wisdom with such an obvious disprovable flaw as it's main tenant? It's deeply embarrassing for a spirituality of maturity and strength.

That doesn't mean that the Universe doesn't slap you if you choose to be an ass. You often do get what's coming to you. But that is most definitely NOT the same performing so-called 'black magic' (which sounds abominably racist) and expecting to be punished for it.

Cursing, for example, is simply a form of dispensing justice where you believe it required, same as you would protect someone from getting beat up. You should get punished for NOT redressing a serious imbalance, in my opinion, same as you would for not getting stopping someone being physically victimized.

No. It's simply that the 'Rule' or 'Law' or whatever that many teachers tell newbies when they are first starting out is merely fantasy. There are numerous reasons for this, but it is designed to scare them, control them, and ensure that they don't go trying spellcraft on their own.  Oh, sure. If you feel that what you are doing is wrong, say that you deserve to be punished for something more than your victim does, than YOU get the curse, not the person whom you are trying to punish. And it will recoil depending on the level of your guilt. In that, it's inherantly self limiting.

The truth is really much harder. The Universe does pay people back, but certainly not in such a lovely symmetry like three or any other number. It is ridiculous to assume that a quantitative quality can be put on someone trying to harm another, and take into account whether it was deliberate, or only slightly, or not at all, and 'repay' that back in some sort of mathematical formula. Like some suffering or blessing of mine can even compare to someone else's in sensitivity, or life disruption, or level of joy, or some other feeling or quality in the first place.

If you are nasty to others, they will be nasty to you. Most times. Sometimes you can be nice to everyone, and you will be assassinated. Sometimes bad guys really do win. Totally and completely. The Universe is not so cut and dried as the 'Law' makes it out to be. It is not fair. And it certainly doesn't balance. And even if it could, it is so vast that we would never be able to see it, with our limited shells.

But that's where we come in, as Her representatives. We can see what's in front of us and report back, so to speak, to draw Her attention to something that we would like to see remedied right now, and we specify a manner that we can comprehend. That's one of the functions of spellcraft, particularly blessings, curses, and healings.  In the old view of witches as representatives of the Goddess, we must mete out punishment and benefit to those that deserve them. Like a Mother training her Children - rewarding them for good behavior and punishing those that have not behaved well. That's one of our duties, I believe, as well as protecting her and all that is a part of her.

All people are intelligent and sensitive to some degree and deserve to be treated like seekers of truth and self-fulfillment. We do them and ourselves a great disservice when we do not teach the metaphysics and theology of witchcraft correctly from the start. In all it's complexity.

My curses are extremely good. They can take up to two years to manifest, and they attack whatever it was that caused the person to be cursed in the first place. Completely. The Goddess always has a much better idea of how people should be punished than I do.  If they didn't feel guilty, it wouldn't work at all, and they are punished often by what they consider to be thier greatest strengths.  And, due to my style of asking the Goddess to take care of it Herself without my suggestions or too much interference, they manifest in a far more creative and complete manner than I ever could have imagined, exactly matching the infraction with the punishment. So I never worry about justice for infractions against me, though it would be nice to have the wisdom to avoid them in the first place...

And as aggressive as I am, curses come far more naturally than Blessings. Perhaps that's where my real challenge lies. I find that I can much more easily wrap my brain around the metaphysics of a balancing of injustice that curses provide. I have yet to truly understand viscerally what blessings are all about...

Adapted from my article on Witchvox.

Colours of Magic, Racism, and Reclaiming Traditional Balance

At the Standing Stone altar...

I believe Wicca has done the world a great disservice in the modern labeling of magic. Not that magic types shouldn't be labeled. It's very helpful to categorize when one is looking for reference material in a library for example, or to indicate who might be a better match to work with. And colours designations themselves are not the problem per se. Colours to describe forms of magic are traditional all over the world. However, the current use of colour terms has some very unpleasant connotations and perpetuate associations that we as spiritual practitioners must acknowledge and be aware of, especially if we decide that we must deal with the issues they present.

"White" magic is by implication almost the only desirable magic nowadays. Many practitioners, especially those who are new, go out of their way to explain that they practice only white magic. One can only assume it is because this colour has implications in English that is consistent with the image Wiccan writers and leaders wished to perpetuate. White is by implication, then, desirable, clear, pure, shining, and filled with light. And practiced by Whites. "Black" magic, on the other hand, is undesirable, dark, sinister, and practiced by the unscrupulous victimizers. And Black. These same implications have also applied to the possessors of the skin colour called "black". But why not "constructive and destructive"? Or "positive and negative"? Or even "yin" and "yang"? By the most powerful suggestions, then, the practice of Wicca has translated into delineations along racial lines. How many 'whites' can imagine a 'black' Wiccan vehemently denying that they practice 'black' magic, and only practice 'white' magic? What exactly is wrong with 'black' magic, then? And doesn't that have implications on the colour of their skin? With current usage, if I say "Black witch" or "White witch", do you know if I'm referring to the type of the practitioner's magic or the colour of their skin? By these associations, does that mean that Red magic is only practiced by North American natives? Or Yellow magic by Asians? What about Brown? Green magic must only be for space aliens...[1]

There is of course a long tradition of associating Black and Night with fear and negativity, in the Western World especially, but it becomes greatly exaggerated with the advance of Xianity and the suppression of paganism, particularity women's traditions. Modern Witchcraft, in it's evolution of thealogy, can draw upon other rich traditions and classic depictions of magic, and does not need to perpetuate the popularized Xian view of magic that associates black with harm, evil, and Satan. I accuse the newcomer Wicca as the primary source of the infection, because much of the rest of the pagan world still goes by an older system, the traditional three "gunas" found for thousands of years in most cultures. They represented the three aspects of the Goddess in her Creatrix/Virgin, Preserver/Mother, and Destroyer/Crone modes, distinguished by White, Red and Black. Being of the Celtic persuasion, when I have used those colour designations, I envision the Creatrix magic as primarily Bardic and Inspirational. Red magic is the Preserver, so I see healing, love, etc. Most cultures place fertility in this colour, although a few reasonably place this in White for birth. I guess it depends what result one hopes for. Black Destroying Crone is for battles, curses, balancing the scales, removal of cancerous circumstances or images, or the destruction of other things that have outgrown their usefulness and need to be replaced.

It is nearly impossible to discuss and manifest balance in the world with the inadequate and limiting nomenclature of the Wiccan White and Black. The White=Good, Black=Bad presents us with a very unsophisticated tool to represent our spirituality. The traditional gunas give much more freedom to our thealogy. Black, White, and Red magics have negative and positive forces in them that must be explored by the seeker. There is positive and negative destruction. Without destruction, there is no creation. The pure blank page must be destroyed to write poetry on it. The crumbling building must be destroyed before a new one can be built to house a family. The remains of last night's dinner must be put on the compost to rot and create new soil. There is negative creation. There are many ideas, constructions, and institutions that have mostly caused harm in the world, and would have been better had they never been created. Red magic negativity can express itself in harmful relationships or love obsessions, or in healing that truly believes interventions on unwilling subjects is 'for their own good'. Such unsophisticated terms also reduce our ability to deal with destruction as good and necessary, and creation as not always the best choice. As women, it reduces our power to deal with destruction in any reasonable manner, leaving us with far less skill or experience to tackle issues under the Destroyer auspices even in our own lives, such as marital arts or abortion. This is what the Goddess in all her aspects is really about: expressing and celebrating our power as women, in all it's dread and magnificent forms.

If we are to use a system of colour classification to broadly describe certain specializations and preferences, and I personally find it can be quite elegant and robust, there are many conventions to draw upon. Brown usually speaks of animals and other nature magic. Blue is most often Water and it's creatures. Purple is considered more on the astral plane: like travel and divination. The Indigo Children or Tribe are often said to be such. I know a Red Witch who absolutely emits sexual karuna energy, and my apprentice is envisioning herself as a Red and Brown witch. She is learning the aspects of healing, for horses and other animals as well as humans. I have heard of Orange, Lavender, Mauve, and other forms of specialization, but I'm not as clear on what their particular areas of interest are. I use Green magic to describe the primary form I focus on, that is, healing, herbs, kitchen witchery, environmental work, etc. By implication, it is seen as primarily positive. Using that to designate myself gives those who don't know me an excellent basis for how I work and what my interests are. It has helpful thealogy aspects to meditate on and I find it inherently more useful than the term "White". As well as not perpetuating any nasty stereotypes.

Green Magic is in fact a great example of the ongoing evolution of the Colour System. Green Witchcraft as a term is far more recognized than it was even ten years ago. It's almost become an agreed upon designation. That didn't come overnight, nor without controversy, and it was not in wide use until very recently. I believe that this helps demonstrate several important points: that the interest in colour designation will not fade away, that we can choose to alter the current uses, and that we can agree upon and transform colour terminology to best reflect our practices of magic and our philosophies. The Colour System does not, will not, and should not go out of use, but we can change those aspects of the modern designations that are non-traditional to witchcraft and offensive to our egalitarian philosophies.

One of the other significant benefits to the Colour System is one not widely practiced currently, but again gaining in popularity. Since many witches dedicated to a particular type of magic will often find they are most comfortable with that colour around them, they will occationally find that an aspect of their religious practice is to wear only those hues. Rather than finding it limiting, it is a vibrant expression of their spiritual practice and dedication that they can take with them in their day-to-day living, as well as provide a meditative concept. It has the same discipline as religious dietary regimes and other spiritual practices. If during the training as pagan nuns, they dedicate themselves to a Colour of Magic, I encourage them to explore the rather radical discipline of dressing in only those colours as part of their spiritual practice; in effect being garbed as a nun all the time, even if those around you never know. Some will even begin to dream that they need to have those colours enfold them. Most who take on this discipline usually choose one particular shade of their colour, and almost always mix it with Black, often seen as the traditional colour of witchcraft itself. Some use a few more colours, to indicate their different preferences. A symbolic metal will often also be selected for jewellry and accents. Gold and gold-like metals such as brass is usually for the sun and masculine energy. Silver is for the moon, of course, and copper is traditionally associated with Venus, Love, and Red Magic. White Gold would be a combination of Silver and Gold aspects, Red Gold with Copper and Gold, Bronze is often used by warriors, etc...

I personally have taken on this practice for decades. I have only worn the Colours of Dark Green, Black, and Silver since the mid-90's when I dedicated myself to living my Craft every moment of the day. With this discipline, I am constantly a Green Witch, and I am always displaying that concept to myself and those around me. For those of you who would worry about being seen as even more of a weirdo in dedicating yourself to your Craft in that way, the rest of the world, including some who have known me for years, don't usually notice the perpetual colour choices of a wardrobe. Unless it's only one colour, for some reason... I've also saved an incredible amount of money on clothes, since everything I purchase goes with everything else, and I always look put together, for the same reason. Imagine going into your closet blindfolded and coming out matching! It's really a dream...

I am obviously a huge fan of the Colour System, and find it wonderfully helpful in my own practices and assisting my students find where their own interests might lie. It is a traditional, valuable, and vibrant part of our heritage. When considering the negative, positive, and possibly neutral aspects of each colour, the Colour System gives rise to a very robust and intricate system of designations that can help us accurately define our theaologies with beauty. However, there are some serious flaws in how the Colour System is currently being used in modern Paganism. As it is in the process of evolving, it can be deliberately altered to more suit our needs as a spiritual tool, yet without continuing to perpetuate the stereotypes of the English language or our practices, to ourselves and the general public. To do this, it is vital that we insist upon purging the racism and self-loathing in the current use of the terms "White Magic" and "Black Magic", and instead begin to explore the more traditional aspects of those colours, and how they might better serve our modern sophisticated ideas of magic, it's practitioners, and our philosophies. I, for one, look forward to the day when our designations evolve to a more sophisticated level; when I can speak of magic without someone fearfully interjecting, "But you only practice White Magic, right?"

No. No, I don't. 



Footnotes and further reading:

2
3
"Red, white, and black are the main sacred colors in Zulu symbolism. In combination, as particularly in the clothing of diviners, who also code medicines as white, black, or red (Ngubane 1977), these colors suggest an understanding of the universe and the cycle of life within it. White is associated with the ancestors, concepts of purity, calm, and good intentions, and light and divine enlightenment. In some contexts, black represents darkness, evil, death, and defilement. In other contexts, black is linked to the ancestors and carries positive connotations-it evokes the dark rain clouds necessary for the sustenance of life, for example, and Zulu pots, some sculptural objects, and the leather skirt of marriage are blackened to please the ancestors. Red is the color of blood, menstruation, and fertility, and red ochre is strongly associated with the earth and women and their fertility; white clay is associated with the ancestors (Berglund 1989)."

"Ornamentation of everyday use items seemed to be an obligatory component of their creation. Earthenware, ceramics, pottery, tools, vessels, dishes, pottery moulds, internal walls of houses (as shown by clay models) all exhibit a compulsory ornamentation: painted in varying earth-colours, such as white, red, ochre and black, and sometimes carved with incisions or encrusted. The decoration of items or spaces are geometrical incorporating symbols of nature (sun, moon, stars, rain, birds, trees, branches, seeds, flowers, water) and with magical symbols of the supernatural world (the eternal circle, teeth, rhombus, crosses, endless meanders, snake-patterns, lines) are so universal and repeated, that it is unlikely that the decorations were random or coincidental. Umansky believes that these ornament-symbols are of two types: “those aiding to find food and to grow crops, and those protecting people and the results of their labour”. He notes that “some items carried both the symbols of fertility and of protection, intertwined in an integral picture of the cosmos”. Videiko also supports the idea of using ornamentation as a form of protection: “the floor and the walls were painted with red and white colours and decorated with geometrical ornamental patterns to protect the inhabitants from evil spirits” (The Trypillian Culture: Introduction)."

"Graves gives the colours white, red, and black as the colours symbolic of the moon goddess. These are moon colours because the full moon is white; the moon appears red in certain atmospheric conditions and solar eclipses, and black just before the new moon. In occult tradition, white symbolises the goddess as Spring; red is Aphrodite, and black the death aspect of the goddess, say Atropos (the third of the Fates)." 4

High Magic, Low Magic: Designations Help Define Our Styles

Under my Apple tree....

I personally find designations handy. They express no limit, only a specialization. It certainly helps you anticipate how easily you can work with another and how your styles and knowledge will mesh. I know, for example, that I don't usually get on well with high magicians, or Iron John style wizards. That's darn handy to know when someone tells me that he is a necromancer and a cabbalist.

As I label myself a ReClaimist, matriarchal, bardic green witch, most of you will have an idea of what I am currently working on, where my knowledge areas lie, what my focus is, and how I express my spirituality. That doesn't mean I'll stay like that forever, or that I'm not interested in other forms of worship, but it certainly makes it easier for us to find others of the same style. Rather like nametags at a convention.

I not only see no harm in it, I encourage folks to find a useful label for their personal style practice. Makes them feel more validated, too, especially when they are first starting out.

High magic is usually the term for what the wizards do. It's rather like a Catholic mass, with all the ritual words in a sacred language, pomp and finery, ordained divine conduits, and strict adherence to detail. The power in high magic comes from without... the great universal energy that is harnessed by the correct performance of the ritual itself, with some measure from the performer (s) , but not much. They are mostly lending energy for the conduction of the spell to take place, which is why there is such an emphasis on hierarchy in high magic. It is vital that the ceremony be followed exactly with the correct people taking care of their assigned functions. The more powerful as spell, the less room for error.

The big draw for this kind of magic is that it offers a great deal of power in a relatively short period of time, but with a corresponding danger level as you ascend. The goal is to eventually control and submit the entire Universe. Nearly all wizards are male, white, and have terrible ego issues. They are usually still at the age where they feel invulnerable, since it's required that you eventually wrestle with demons, for example, and incur the wrath of extra dimensional entities by enslaving them or their friends. It is often spelt with a 'k' to delineate it from low magic. Wizards often find that sort of window dressing appealing.

Low magic is usually what witches do. Its goal is to make you one with the Universe, and therefore blissful, content, wise, with all your needs provided for. To unleash and accept your Goddess within, which is the same as the Goddess without, by giving full release to your Goddess self. This means that much attention is paid to your own instinct and the answers that are right for you, as your Goddess cannot ever be wrong, you just have to get better at hearing her. So our spells are more like mediation, sometimes with helpful symbols or foci like incense, statues, herbs, and other paraphernalia.

Most experienced witches don't bother with it, however, unless they are trying to working on something much harder than usual. To effect change in the Universe, we try to use the Butterfly effect, to tug on the string of the Great Weave that will most affect the change we want. In trying to find the string, we learn how the Universe works and so increase our wisdom. And the Universe is vast, so She often can't get to something as quick as She'd like.

It is therefore our job as Her representatives to draw her attention to inequities by blessing those who need it, to injustices by cursing those who deserve it, and other maintenance of the Continuum, thereby increasing our understanding and interaction with it.

Wicca is like high magic for witches. It calls upon the spirits and entities in a very ritualized format with specific assignments to the members, but primarily uses the inner energies of the group or individual to do the prescribed task. There is therefore no backlash if done incorrectly. But they do seem very fond of their accoutrements...

Most women choose the style of Low magic because it is more like their usual style of being: persuading and joining, rather than controlling. The sex of the practitioner doesn't enter into it, other than gender training in their culture helping them have certain inclinations... That explains the overwhelming majority of practitioners in the Middle Ages being clergy. They often went into the priesthood for reasons OTHER than piety, like power and wealth, they were learned, and they had access to all sorts of magical formula, arcane materials, etc. So High magic, or ceremonial magic, was almost entirely Christian and clerical in the Middle Ages.

It is indeed all the same power. However, I can cure myself, clean my house, or get rid of my weeds and insects in my garden through chemicals created in a lab, or I can use chemicals in herbs and natural liquids. Some are just as dangerous to the environment and myself but most aren't.

Chemicals, like magic, are all made of the same components essentially but how they inter-react and perform is completely variable depending on how they were generated and used. They can be naturally gentle and persuading, or they can be artificially harsh, brutal, and destructive.

You've probably have heard of the phrase "As above, so below". Only one interpretation is rendered as "As in Heaven, so it happens down here." Another, more widely used and helpful meaning is "Change or events Outside affect the Internal, and vise versa." 'High' in the case of magic means 'external', 'low' means 'internal'. ONLY when hierarchy becomes so predominate in this culture, and High implies more powerful, and consequently more male, does High and Low magic take on some connotations that some people today take umbrage with. It's not a personal insult to our style.

Now. When was the last time you enslaved a demon, deity, or angel to unwillingly do your bidding? How about binding your local ghosts, fairies, and spirits as your personal gophers? I don't remember when it was that I forced the dead to come back in an unquiet rest to speak about the secrets of the Universe... High magic involves the use of formula and ritual to achieve just such dog collars on the Powers of the Universe. It isn't the end in and of itself. The spell is usually to DO something, but it is the elemental being that figures out how to achieve the goal.

This kind of style offers much to recommend it to those that want a lot of power fast. Sure, High magicians have to keep their will focused on the spell for it to work, but only for the ritual itself. For the results of the spell to be efficacious, it doesn't have to be PERSONAL, internal power that is bringing it about. That's what the Harnesses of the Universe are for, like Jewish magic squares, Keys of Solomon, which can energize, activate, and execute many different kinds of spells simply by being performed correctly. However, the perils increase correspondingly.

I've seen a young wizard tell me that Hunters from the spirit world are stalking him, and we did a little complex ritual around a lamppost to confuse them so they can't follow. I mean, I never saw them, but that doesn't mean they weren't there, so I won't doubt his word. Much. But I'll tell you. I've never done anything in my magic work to invoke their wrath in the first place.

I am not comparing levels of power here. A very experienced or instinctive witch who is close to the Warp and Weft of the Universe can indeed stop a storm with a thought. Unfortunately, that takes a great deal of Enlightenment to reach that point, so most of us don't get there in a hurry, if ever. Now, it takes a wizard of far less experience, personal power, and self-mastery to achieve the same ends by going through the rigmarole to capture the power of the Storm God and just fire away or let Him do the work. It's not easy, but it's a hellova lot easier than becoming one with the Forces of a Hurricane and personally knowing on an unconscious level what strings to pull.

With these kind of benefits attached to High magic, including the hierarchy, the feeling of mastery and the practice of invincibility, it's no wonder that most wizards are men. But there is no such thing as a free lunch. Most powers that are so bound in High magic are not only interested in becoming Unbound as soon as possible, they would also like to wreak revenge on the mortals who dared to commit such an atrocity.

Which is why my little wizard friend was almost PROUD at the Things following him. The quality of a wizard is told by the quality of his enemies, after all... I don't know of many women who have the same disregard for personal safety as many men do, either, btw...

Now, the next time you try to harness the Angel of Life and Death to cure yourself of cancer by invoking the Necronomacon and creating a doorway to Hell in your closet, rather than simply lighting a candle and envisioning the cancer going away, then you can tell me that High magic and Low magic are the same.

You must admit, the first one, if done correctly, has a much greater probability of curing you quickly and permanently, but so much can go wrong. The latter requires a deeply Enlightened, experienced, or otherwise powerful witch, and you might not be able to find one before you croak, but at least you don't have to worry about your relatives falling through to the Second Circle when they put their coats away at your wake.

Reprinted from Witchvox.

Artisan Sea Salt: Organic, Traditional Nutrition, Healing, Medieval Re-creation, & Cleansing Magic!

Organic Herbal Bath Therapy with course Celtic Sea Salt

Sometimes known collectively as Artisan salt, there are several brands which are still harvested in the traditional manner. The Celtic Sea in Brittany and Tavira in the Ria Formasa Natural Reserve in Portugal are just two of the places that still practice the ancient techniques that some suggest can be traced back for thousands of years.  Celtic Sea Salt is in fact a brand name of sea salt that is harvested in the traditional manner.  This brand and some others are certified by Nature et Progrès, one of the oldest PGS in the world, functioning without discontinuity since 1972. Nature et Progrès still operates as a PGS, with its own private organic standard, its own certification procedures (involving peer review and consumers in the inspection process) but is not allowed to call its products “organic” (“biologique” in French) due to the third party certification requirements of the EU regulation.  I still find the designation very useful, however, using this third party certifier to distinguish their products from mined rock salt or evaporated sea salt.


Our bodies run on salt. Without properly balanced salt we run out of electrolytes and our ‘batteries die out’. Refined table salt, however, promotes pathological calcification and a breakdown of cellular tissue. All side effects, warnings, and bad press are based on medical research that has been done with refined, white table salt, which is 99.8% sodium chloride. NaCl can actually solidify the membranes of the human body, cause water retention, headaches, etc. Ordinary table salt can also contain aluminum-based ‘free-flowing’ agents and significant amounts of sugar. When people talk about "salt", they overlook the fact that there are approximately 82 other elements in natural sea salt which serve as a buffer to protect you from the harshness of pure sodium chloride. Those buffers ensure our bodies use the sodium properly, and eliminate it completely and quickly through the kidneys once it has been utilized. Your very blood requires properly balanced salt to function. When the cells of a mammal are deprived of sodium they literally explode attempting to equalize inside and out. Your cells must be bathed in a sodium-based, extracelluar fluid.

Sea salt actually stabilizes blood pressure, whether high or low. It is the primary cleanser of our veins and arteries, keeping our ‘transmission lines’ clean since it has the ability to clear plaque. Proper salt in the blood stream breaks up grease and ensure normal circulatory flow. A study performed in Rotterdam, Netherlands with 100 women and men with untreated mild to moderate hypertension showed that when common table salt (NaCl) was replaced with mineral salt high in potassium and magnesium a reduction in blood pressure equivalent to that obtained with hypertensive reducing drugs was achieved. The reduction ranged from 4.0 to 11.2 mm Hg systolic and 0.8 to 5.8 mm Hg diastolic. (British Medical Journal, 1994, 309: 436-40) A reduction in pulse rate was also recorded for the group given the mineral salts. No reduction in pulse rate was recorded for the group given the placebo and their blood pressures even rose slightly. Although this study was not done with properly balanced sea salt, you can easily see how beneficial a diet that replaced table salt with properly balanced sea salt could be for men or women with hypertension.

Sea salt not only helps to digest and emulsify foods natural oils, helping to scour the artery walls clean, it effects digestion. Proper salt actually creates hydrochloric acid. Hydrochloric acid is made from the hydrolysation of chlorine. Salt also re-enriches your saliva so your body can manufacture the proper digestive juices to break down complex carbohydrates, celluloids and chlorophyll. People used to eat a salty soup before a meal to enhance digestion.

Sea salt also recharges and maintains the cells and energizes the body. Proper salt recharges the cells in much the same way as a battery. The better you maintain the battery, the longer it lasts and the better it performs. Deprived of this vitally balanced saline solution, cells degenerate and age. We are salt-based creatures - tears, blood and sweat are salty. Those who preach a ‘no salt' diet should instead say a ‘no refined sodium chloride’ diet. The general rule of osmosis applies to bodily functions: Water goes where salt goes. If we do not replenish our body’s salt reserves, we throw off the vital balance of salt and water that keeps us operating normally. Your body will begin to secrete water more quickly in order to raise the level of sodium concentration in the bloodstream. Signs of too little salt in the diet may take the form of sweating profusely and loss of appetite, extreme fatigue and/or insomnia followed by muscles that become sore and stiff and begin to twitch. Convulsions can result in extreme cases. Traditinally harvested sea salt is completely unrefined to ensure proper bodily utilization. You will notice that it is moist; dry salt indicates that the magnesium has been removed, because magnesium clings to water. Salt from ancient sea beds and salt mines are also not as beneficial for humans. Millions of years of rainfall through many geological layers will deplete vital minerals from these deposits and introduce other components. Most of the essential elements are driven far below the salt line, thus destroying the delicate, natural balance of mineral, gases, and moisture found in the living waters of the ocean.

Celtic Sea Salt is harvested annually from Brittany, the north western most point of France that borders the Celtic Sea. The government of France considers the region where Celtic Sea Salt is harvested a national treasure and imposes the strictest regulations to keep its resources pure. Twice daily, the ocean water that feeds the marshes is carried inland from the North Atlantic Current by 15 foot tidal waters. Celtic Sea Salt is hand harvested by the paludiers or salt farmers of Brittany the same way it has been for generations. In Portugal, similar traditions are followed by the marenotos (salt gatherers). It takes four years to train a paludier. During the winter months the oeillets or salt beds must be groomed to prepare for the next season’s salt crop. This process involves meticulous raking of the bottom of the oeillets. Each oeillet is lined with a natural layer of clay and sand that helps filter any debris present in the water. Before the water flows into the oeillets it is held in large settling ponds which have their own ecosystems. Brine shrimp and a variety of plants and fish thrive in these ponds. Because these fragile organism cannot live in polluted environments, by monitoring the health of the ecosystems the paludiers can gauge the quality of the brine in the salt fields. In early March, the ocean water is allowed into the field for the first time in the season. This water is directed to the fields via a series of canals. The brine flows through the oeillets which vary in number from 30 to 100. The brine settles in the fields for approximately three months before the first harvest. During this time, the salt is allowed to exposed to the sun and wind, allowing water to evaporate. The paludiers test the salt regularly at every oeillet. Analysis performed periodically ensure there are no detectable levels of heavy metals in Celtic Sea Salt.

When I'm pregnant, I have a strong tendency to water retention and a lack of energy. During my last pregnancy, I was able to easily combat both problems in a healthy way by eating traditionally harvested sea salt. I sat down with some raw carrots and a dish of salt, dipping the carrot into the salt to eat it. By the time the carrot was gone, I was full of energy, and never had any edema this time. I highly recommend it as a safe, gentle alternative to many of even the more severe problems of pregnancy, including hypertension, mineral depletion, edema, constipation, and others.

Traditionally harvested sea salt is a food and should be used as such. Because it has a perfect balance of the essential trace minerals and gases the body requires, in cooking or baking use only 2/3 of what the recipe calls for. Always salt to taste. Because it emulsifies oils, chefs have known for centuries that if they add oil alone to food, it becomes ‘greasy’ and indigestible but if salt is added, it breaks the bonds of the oil giving it a wonderful taste and consistency. Sprinkle it lightly over raw fruits and vegetables to aid digestion and mineral absorption. Some dissolve and drink small quantities in a glass of water, fruit or vegetable juice. Instant mineral water!

Medieval reCreationists should also take note of this traditional salt! When civilizations move inland away from the ocean, many solutions are created to solve the salt problem. Some mine it in available areas as rock salt, which is different in every quarry, or bring it in from the sea directly or as kelp and other products. In much of antiquity, elaborate and impossibly long trade routes were established to carry various forms of salt all over the known world. It's one of the reasons that salt was worth it's weight in gold!

In attempting to reCreate dishes of the past, current table salt is completely inadequate to the task. Not only does the simple toxic structure of modern table salt completely change the chemical reactions of the cookery, the added iodine and "free flowing agents" change the flavour. I can always tell when someone uses table salt in cooking or baking. Even sea salt harvested for modern tastes does not have the necessary consistency. Sea salt harvested in the traditional manner has the correct ratio of constituents and is the best ingredient for replicating the taste, texture, and quality of medieval dishes.

Salt is often used in ritual and spell work. It can be for cleansing a space or object, representing the ocean itself, or as a substitute for adding blood potency to the endevour. Since blood has almost the exact same minerals components as sea salt, and is said to taste the same, the only kind of sea salt that should be used in ritual is traditionally harvested sea salt, with its natural and unaltered ratio of minerals. Table salt, as a toxin and chemical, is an abomination. Though for a simple cleansing, modern sea salt could be used in a pinch... Heh.

In my beauty products, nothing but traditionally harvested sea salt will do, of course. The natural composition is far gentler to the skin, and helps the cells regenerate and heal. I blend them with herbs and use them in the bath, in powders, and in salt scrubs to nourish my body, relax my muscles, and balance my skin. You can check out some of my available blends in my shops!

For cooking, baking, bath salts, and beauty treatments, I personally will never use anything other than traditionally harvested sea salt: for myself, my family's, and my clients' health.

Some data from the work of Jacques DeLangre, Ph.D., Biochemist, and ‘the Salt and Grain Society, Inc.’

Abridged version of this article published on Witchvox, March 3, 2013