You’ll have to clean your tub, for one.
On a chilly February evening that also happened to fall on the eve of the full moon, I attended a class called "Mastering Herbs for Magical Use" at New York City's oldest occult store, Enchantments. When a friend asked what I was doing that night, and I told her, she said, "I didn't realize Hogwarts had adult education classes."
It was the store's (and the instructor, Cat's) first time offering this particular class, though Enchantments periodically holds other workshops and events, including a class called "Introduction to Candle Magic," which I've also taken. Since then, I've visited the store a handful of times, spending $10 to 30 each time on magic candles meant to help me with things like career success, confidence, and money management.
While I was aware of the beautifully arranged wall of herbs in jars each time I walked into the very small store, I was always too afraid to look directly at them. In the witch store I am afraid of both seeming like I either take witchcraft too seriously, and seeming like I don't take it seriously enough. So when I got an email about a new class that would demystify the herb wall, and perhaps turn me into an actual master of them, I signed up immediately.
Of the eight other people in the class, just one is male. One of the women turns out to be someone I went to high school with, though neither of us realizes this until afterward — before then we just look at each other suspiciously, in a way that asks both "Do I know you?" and "What are you doing here?" Except, of course, we are both there.
Cat, the instructor, is amiable and approachable, with long red hair and an excellent witchcraft-based Tumblr. She asks if any of us had a weird day, and several of us nod knowingly. "I was looking at the astrology chart earlier and there were some communication issues," she says, "but we're in a good place for witchcraft now."
She hands us each a booklet — which includes lists of commonly used herbs and several potion recipes — and gives us a brief history of magical herbal use in various ancient cultures up through the present. There are many ways to use herbs in magic: crushing them into oils, burning them, and pouring them into baths. I am most drawn to the method that incorporates fire, but we are beginners, so tonight we will focus on baths.
We turn to the next page in our books, where Cat has listed her recipe for an "herbal protection bath," best taken on a Monday — or, ideally, on the eve of the Full Moon. The recipe is:
Cat's Herbal Protection Bath
One tablespoon each of:
- Hyssop
- Heather
- Mugwort
- Lavender
Though each of these ingredients is available for purchase at the store, Cat tells us they all can be bought anywhere else herbs are sold. (She likes an online outlet called Mountain Rose Herbs.) She hands us each a cloth satchel and then passes each ingredient jar around one by one, instructing us to place two scoops of each into the little bags. I notice that the mix we're making is at least three times the quantity prescribed in her printed recipe, and become vaguely nervous that my bath will be too protective.
After we've filled our herb pouches up to their drawstrings, Cat takes some time to answer a few general witchcraft-related questions, and we are set free into the night. I rush home, feeling a little stressed about having to take a magic bath I had not planned on taking when I woke up that morning.
