The Nine Herbs Charm

The Nine Herbs Charm (Nigon Wyrta Galdor) is a 10th-century Anglo-Saxon metrical charm recorded in a medical manuscript called the Lacnunga. It is one of the most significant pieces of Old English literature because it preserves a rare blend of Christian influence and ancient Germanic paganism.  

The charm was designed to treat poisoning, infections, or skin issues (symbolised as a "serpent's venom") through a combination of herbalism, ritual chanting, and divine invocation.  

The Ritual and the Legend

The text tells a mythic story: a serpent crawled to a man and bit him. In response, the god Woden (Odin) took nine "glory-twigs" and struck the serpent, shattering it into nine pieces.  

To perform the charm, a practitioner would:

1. Chant: Recite the poem over the herbs before they were processed.  

2. Prepare: Crush the nine herbs into a powder and mix them with old soap and apple juice to create a salve.  

3. Apply: Sing the charm into the patient's mouth, both ears, and onto the wound itself before applying the salve.  

The Nine Herbs

While scholars debate some of the Old English names, the most commonly accepted list of the  ( modern named here) nine herbs is:

• Mugwort 
• Plantain
• Watercress / Bittercress
• Betony 
• Chamomile 
• Nettle
• Crab Apple 
• Chervil
• fennel 

Why it Matters Today

• Sacred Numerology: The charm focuses heavily on the numbers 3 and 9, which are sacred in Norse and Germanic traditions (representing the Nine Worlds).  

• The "Flying Venom": The charm mentions "nine venoms" and "nine flying things." In the Anglo-Saxon worldview, disease wasn't just physical; it was often seen as "elf-shot" or invisible darts of poison flying through the air.  

• Woden’s Appearance: This is one of only two places in Old English poetry where Woden is explicitly mentioned as a healing/magical figure, marking it as a crucial piece of pre-Christian history.

Fun Fact: The charm specifically addresses the herbs as living spirits. It speaks to the plantain, reminding the plant of how it has withstood the wheels of carts and the breath of bulls, essentially "cheering on" the plant's spirit to fight the patient's illness.

Create your own Nine Herbs Salve

Creating a modern version of the Nine Herbs Salve is a beautiful way to connect with ancestral healing traditions. The original recipe calls for "old soap," "apple grime/juice," and "ashes," but we can adapt these into a shelf-stable, skin-friendly ointment while keeping the spirit of the ritual intact.

1. Gather Your Modern "Nine"

Some of the original herbs are hard to find. Use this guide to gather your ingredients

Base Ingredients:

• 1 cup Carrier Oil: (Olive oil or Jojoba work best)

• 1/4 cup Beeswax: (Replaces the "soap" as a hardening agent)

• A splash of Apple Cider Vinegar: (Representing the apple and the acidic purification)

2. The Infusion (The "Medicine")

1. Prepare the Herbs: Finely chop or grind your nine herbs. If using fresh herbs, let them wilt for 24 hours first to reduce moisture (this prevents mold).

2. Slow Heat: Place the herbs and carrier oil in a double boiler (a bowl over a pot of simmering water).

3. The Chant: As the oil warms, this is where you perform the Galdor (the chant). Traditionally, the charm is sung into the mixture nine times. You can recite the poem I mentioned earlier or simply speak to each herb, acknowledging its power (e.g., "Mugwort, oldest of herbs, bring your protection here").

4. Strain: After 2–3 hours of low heat, strain the oil through a cheesecloth into a clean jar, squeezing out every drop of "glory."

3. Creating the Salve (The "Body")

1. Melt the Wax: Return the infused oil to the double boiler and add the beeswax pellets. Stir gently until melted.

2. The Apple Element: Add a few drops of Apple Cider Vinegar. It won't fully mix with the oil, but it honours the original instruction of "apple-grime."

3. The Test: Drop a spoonful onto a cold plate. If it’s too soft, add more wax; if too hard, add a splash more oil.

4. Pour: Pour the liquid into small tins or jars.

4. The Final Ritual

According to the Lacnunga, the magic isn't finished until the salve is "activated."

• Sing into the Jar: Once the salve is set, sing the charm over it one last time.

• Application: When applying it to a scratch or skin irritation, the ancient text suggests singing the charm into your own mouth, then into each of your ears, and finally over the wound before rubbing the salve on.

Safety Note: This salve is for external use only. While these herbs are traditional, always patch-test a small area of skin first to ensure you don't have an allergic reaction—modern skin can be more sensitive than 10th-century skin!

Fiery Well Oil

 

Fiery well oil

• 1 tbsp pink rock salt (trace amounts of iron oxide)
• 1 tbsp true cinnamon
• 1 tbsp dragon’s blood resin
• 1 tbsp frankincense resin
• 1 tbsp myrrh resin (related to Saturn, but the myrrh plant is spiky and thorny, good Martian qualities)
• A dash of chili powder
• A dash of powdered Saigon cinnamon (hotter than true cinnamon, but cassia will suffice)
• A dash of crushed red pepper
• A dash of powdered ginger root
• A dash of finely ground black pepper
• A dash of red sandalwood (normally ruled by Venus, but used to “build” a wall of protection; its redness helps, and is used in hexing in some traditions)
• 1 cup castor oil
• 1/2 cup olive oil

1. Finely grind all dry ingredients.
2. Mix all dry ingredients and put in jars.
3. Add olive oil and mix thoroughly.
4. Add castor oil and mix thoroughly.

Flying Ointment: Real?

 Witch Flying Ointment 

Fact or Fiction?

Witches’ flying ointments, known historically as unguentum venenum, “green salve,” or “witches’ salve,” were legendary preparations tied to European folklore and witch trials from the medieval period through the early modern era.

These ointments were said to enable witches to “fly” to sabbaths—often astride broomsticks—by inducing vivid hallucinations of flight, levitation, and nocturnal revels. Rather than literal physical transport, the “flight” was likely a delirious trance state caused by potent anticholinergic compounds absorbed through the skin.

Our Elder Carrie-Anne Grove has tried a prepared and self made flying ointment that were made from the original ingredients. She has had several experiences using this ancient witch potion “having used flying ointment I can attest that it does create some interesting and powerful effects, I can see why witches in the past believed that they were flying!!”

WARNING!!

THE INGREDIENTS OF TRADITIONAL FLYING OINTMENT ARE VERY TOXIC AND THEREFORE EXTREME CARE MUST BE TAKEN IF MAKING OR TRYING IT. WE DO NOT RECOMMEND TRYING IT ESPECIALLY ALONE AND WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE IF ANY ILL EFFECTS EXPERIENCED. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!

Key Historical Ingredients

The core active components were tropane-alkaloid-rich plants from the Solanaceae (nightshade) family:

•  Black henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) — a primary ingredient, producing dissociation, body suspension, and visionary “flight.”

•  Deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna) — causing pupil dilation, delirium, and intense hallucinations.

•  Mandrake (Mandragora officinarum) — linked to ecstatic visions and sleep-like stupor.

•  Jimsonweed/Datura (Datura stramonium) — adding vivid, often terrifying delusions.

Other plants occasionally appeared: hemlock, wolfsbane (aconite), poppy, or mugwort. Bases were typically animal fats (lard, rendered child fat in sensational accusations) to facilitate transdermal absorption, reducing oral toxicity while allowing alkaloids like atropine, hyoscyamine, and scopolamine to cross mucous membranes or skin—especially “hairy” or pulse-point areas.

Fact or fiction: flying on a broomstick 

Legend has it that witches used to believe they could fly and travel riding on their broomstick. Made up ? Yes and no. We know that the flying ointment can be made and of have some powerful hallucinogenic properties and highly hypnotic. It is believed that witches used to rub the ointment on their broomstick (besom) and then place it between their legs with their exposed genitalia so that it could rapidly absorb the ointment via the blood rich thin membranes of their “lady bits” . Using the ointment in this manner could well cause hallucinations if light whilst astride their trusty besom!

Historical recipes vary wildly. A 1267 account by Theodoric of Cervia lists henbane, mandrake, hemlock, opium, and others. Giovanni Battista della Porta (16th century) included children’s fat boiled with aconite, poplar leaves, and soot. Francis Bacon attributed versions with “fat of children” from graves, wolfsbane, and cinquefoil.

These accounts often stem from inquisitorial confessions, scholarly speculation, or anti-witch propaganda, blending pharmacology with demonology.

Effects and Interpretation

Users reported sensations of soaring, attending sabbaths, or erotic/ecstatic encounters, followed by amnesia or terror. Modern pharmacology explains this as anticholinergic delirium: fragmented reality, time distortion, and out-of-body experiences mimicking shamanic soul-flight.

Some scholars debate whether such ointments were widely used or largely a myth amplified by witch-hunters to explain “flight” without conceding supernatural power. Others see them as entheogenic tools for altered states, possibly rooted in older pagan or folk practices.

Today, modern reconstructions in some pagan or entheogenic circles use safer herbs (mugwort, clary sage, wormwood) for astral or dream work, avoiding toxic nightshades due to severe risks: heart issues, coma, or death. The historical ointments remain a potent symbol of the boundary between medicine, magic, and madness—where plants dissolved the self to reveal other worlds.

Modern safe reconstructions of witches’ flying ointments focus on non-toxic, legal herbal alternatives that evoke dreamwork, lucid dreaming, astral projection, or trance states through mild sedative, visionary, or oneirogenic (dream-inducing) properties—without the deadly anticholinergic delirium of historical nightshades like henbane, belladonna, mandrake, or datura.

These contemporary versions, popular in modern paganism, witchcraft, and herbalism communities, replace toxic tropane alkaloids with safer plants traditionally associated with spirit-flight, divination, or altered consciousness. 

Common bases include olive oil, jojoba, coconut oil, or beeswax for salves; essential oils may enhance scent and subtle effects. Application is typically to pulse points, temples, soles of feet, or “third eye” area before meditation, sleep, or ritual—never ingested or applied to mucous membranes.

Key Safe Herbs in Modern Reconstructions

•  Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris): Classic for vivid/lucid dreams, astral travel, and visionary states.

•  Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium): Adds stimulating, dream-enhancing thujone (in low doses).  WARNING: toxic in high doses 

•  Clary Sage (Salvia sclarea): Promotes relaxation, euphoria, and dream clarity; often as essential oil.

•  Cinquefoil (Potentilla spp.): Magical association with power and flight; non-psychoactive but symbolic.

•  Dittany of Crete (Origanum dictamnus): Linked to shamanic flight in folklore.

•  Balm of Gilead (poplar bud): Soothing, visionary carrier.

•  Others: Bay leaves, vervain, sandalwood, lavender, or lemongrass for calming and scent.

These herbs work synergistically for mild entheogenic or oneirogenic effects via absorption, aromatherapy, and placebo/magical intent—far gentler than medieval poisons.

Example Safe Recipes

From pagan herbalists and online witchcraft sources:

1.  Simple Mugwort-Based Flying Oil (for dream/astral work):

•  Infuse dried mugwort, bay leaves, and sandalwood in jojoba or sweet almond oil (1 part herbs to 3 parts oil) for 2–4 weeks.

•  Strain; add a few drops clary sage essential oil.

•  Anoint before bed for enhanced dreams.

2.  Herbal Salve with Classic Safe Blend:

•  Melt ¼ cup beeswax + ¼ cup olive/coconut oil.

•  Stir in powdered dried herbs: mugwort, wormwood, clary sage, cinquefoil, dittany of Crete (small amounts, ~¼ tsp each).

•  Optional: benzoin powder or clove oil for preservation/scent.

•  Pour into tins; use sparingly on skin for trance or sleep rituals.

3.  Advanced Symbolic Blend (e.g., inspired by practitioners like Kelden):

•  Cinquefoil, balm of Gilead, dittany of Crete, wormwood, mugwort, clary sage.

•  Infuse in oil or make into salve; focus on magical correspondences for “flight.”

Modern versions prioritize safety: avoid toxic nightshades entirely, start with patch tests, consult herbalists if pregnant or on medications, and treat as ritual aids rather than guaranteed hallucinogens. Effects are subtle—relaxation, vivid dreams, meditative states—rooted in herbal tradition and personal gnosis rather than pharmacology of delirium.

These reconstructions honor the historical motif of boundary-crossing while adapting to contemporary ethics and legality, turning the witches’ salve into a tool for inner exploration rather than dangerous poisoning.

Carrie’s potions and spells: Witch Salt

 Potions and Spells

Witch Salt

Witches salt or black salt as it is also known as is a powerful and essential creation that any witch should know how to make and use.

It’s easy to make and is an essential element that can be used on its own or as part of a ritual, potion or spell.

Witch salt is cleansing, purifying and protecting for your home, yourself, others and your workings. Here’s my version of it but there are many variations. Experiment and find what works best for you.

Mix together well:

Rock or sea salt

Charcoal

Ash ( from your incense etc,)

Egg shell ( optional. Ensure it is clean and dry)

Lavender 

Sandalwood 

Mustard seeds

Patchouli 

Black peppercorns 

Turmeric 

Nutmeg

Chilli Powder 

Angelica 

Clevers ( optional for binding)

Cinnamon (optional for increasing energy)

Grind this together well in a clockwise manner until it’s a fairly uniform consistency. Ensure that you charge it with your intent. This is essential for this to work.

Place in a labelled air tight bottle or jar. 

That’s all there is to it!