Making natural herbal infused oils at home

How to make your own natural herbal infused oil in a few easy steps
Shared by Martina Protze

Make your own oils from scratch. Once made, these oils are suitable for a range of uses, they can be burned in a candle oil burner to add fragrance to the air, excellent to use at your altar instead of incense, use it to anoint candles for candle magic, add to baths for for spell work purification and for silky and heavenly soaks, make it into perfume, use for a variety of skin conditions, use it as massage oil or even just a delicious cooking oil or salad dressing.

See below for instructions.

Olive, almond, sunflower or coconut oil work best.

1. Find a large, clear, clean glass jar or bottle with a tight lid.

2. Pack fresh, clean, whole herbs loosely into the jar, use any herbs you like or a mixture, you can experiment with smells and tastes or if you need a specific one for a spell or potion only use that.

3. Cover the herbs with oil. High quality olive oil is best, but any good quality vegetable oil will work.

4. Put the lid on as tightly as you can, and set the jar on a sunny windowsill - this is best done in the summertime, but can be done in winter if you have a window that gets maximum amount of light, even in winter.

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5. Leave the jar on the windowsill for 30 days, shaking it gently once a day.

6. Find another large, clear, clean glass jar or bottle with a tight lid, a large funnel, and some cheesecloth. Pack the cheesecloth fairly tightly in the funnel. Set the funnel in the empty jar, and wrap some cheese cloth around where the mouth of the jar meets the funnel, to prevent spillage. You can also use a fine sieve but it won't work as good.

7. Slowly pour the oil into the clean jar through the funnel. The cheesecloth will strain the herbs, letting the oil filter into the jar.

• This does not make essential oil. Essential oils are the herbs compressed to make oil.
  
• This makes diluted oil. There is no need to further dilute this oil.
• Experiment with mixes. Fill the jar with a mix of chamomile, vanilla and lavender to ensure pleasant sleep. Mix vanilla and cinnamon to fill your kitchen with cooking scents.

• Lavender is soothing, cinnamon invigorating, mint fresh. White willow bark has a spicy smell, sage is used by Native Americans for cleansing, chamomile is used to soothe and help sleep. Do some research about your favorite scents, and see what you can find.

• In the Autumn try using rosemary which also has astringent and healing properties as well.
  
• In the summer pick or purchase mint to make a refreshing oil
  
• White willow bark (or any kind of bark or nuts or roots) may need to be soaked in water first, left in the oil longer, and/or used as freshly as possible.
  
•  Some herbs can be used dried, like cinnamon, but for the most part, dried herbs lose their essential oils, so best to use fresh.
  
•  Store oil in a cool, dark place, and smell it occasionally. If it smells rancid, don't use it.
  

Source: Wicca Teachings