Making a Powerful Ritual Oil for Protection
Adding a touch of magic to help create healthier personal boundaries.
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We all have moments when we need to shield ourselves, whether it’s from negative energies or from other people. As we deepen our connection with spirit and our awareness expands, we become more attuned to all kinds of energies. That’s why learning about protective magic and how to banish negativity is crucial for any kind of spiritual practitioner.
Today, I’ll be creating a powerful ritual oil for protection.
I’m creating this oil during a waning moon because it’s to me the perfect moon phase for any kind of magic that has to do with protection, purification, or banishing. This recipe is my personal creation, you can adapt it to your specific needs, or follow it as is. If you choose to change it, always do your own research on the plants and resins you’re using.
The ingredients I chose for this oil are:
- St. John’s Wort
- Black Pepper
- Angelica
- Rue
- Agrimony
- Nettle
- Ginger
- Myrrh
- Rosemary
- Bay Leaves
- Horsetail
- Cinnamon
- Black Salt
I created this recipe with the idea of using 13 ingredients because I like to add the power of numerology to my magical recipes.
13 is a powerful number that brings change, good luck, and prosperity, even though its reputation is usually radically opposite. In the Tarot, the 13th card of the Major arcanas is the Death card, and even though this card can be scary at first, its true meaning is actually one of deep transformation, usually for the better.
I like to reflect on the order in which I add the herbs, as this further strengthens my intention.
I start with St. John’s Wort because this herb adds strength and power to anything it’s added to. St. John’s Wort is a very powerful herb used for centuries to banish negativity and for protection.
Then, I add black pepper, which is also a strong protective plant associated with the fire element. Black pepper is great for banishing evil spirits, removing negativity, and breaking hexes.
Next is angelica root, an extremely powerful protective plant. Angelica helps pacify strong aggressive energies directed towards us and neutralizes negativity.
Rue is another powerful protective plant. It’s also a strong healing plant and can help us heal from psychological or emotional damage done to us.
Agrimony is a protective plant particularly useful for returning unwanted energies to its sender. Great for deflecting hexes and curses and sending them back to the person who cast them.
Nettle is a known protective herb that can help us strengthen and protect our personal and physical boundaries. Nettle helps dispel darkness and also is useful for back to sender spells.
Ginger adds strength and success to the mix. It’s great to promote courage and self-confidence and it can help us maintain good health.
Myrrh is a sacred resin used for centuries in religious ceremonies. Myrrh helps enhance any magical working. Its intoxicating scent can help us grow our psychic powers. It also helps bring peace and promotes healing. I work a lot with this resin and it has become one of my plant allies.
Rosemary is a traditional herb present in almost all purification blends. Burning rosemary helps purify our home of any unwanted energy and removes harmful spirits.
Bay Leaves are another classic in most purification rituals. We can make a floor wash with bay leaves in combination with other plants, like rosemary and basil, to cleanse and protect our homes. Bay leaves also attract success and prosperity and are good for healing.
Most people know horsetail as an herb associated with love and fertility magic, but another property of this herb is that it can help us strengthen our personal boundaries. That’s because one of the medicinal properties of horsetail is to help strengthen bone structure. I’m adding it here because setting healthy boundaries is an important part of what protection means to me.
Cinnamon is great for adding power to any spell and speeding up its success. Cinnamon is also one of my plant allies. I use it a lot in my spell work.
For the last ingredient, black salt, I’ll add it once I’m done preparing the oil, and when it’s time to bottle it in a jar.
Preparing the herbs and making the oil
As I prepare each herb, I take the time to connect with the spirit of the plants. To make the oil, I prefer having most of the herbs finely ground to make it easier to extract their essence. I grind them in my coffee grinder, but before doing so, I’ll still grind them by hand in my mortar and pestle because it allows me to take the time to speak to the herbs and infuse them with my intention.
When the herbs are already ground, I still like to have physical contact with them before adding them to the mixture, so I’ll usually pour some of it in my hands and connect with it that way. I believe that the more senses we use when practicing magic, the more powerful our magic will be.
Some of these herbs have become powerful allies in my magic practice. Understanding which herbs are our allies is just a matter of taking the time to connect with different plants. Soon, you’ll feel the difference between plants you seem to intuitively know and understand, and who seem to have a strong effect on you. These are your plant allies.
Once I added all the herbs, it’s time to add the carrier oil and heat the mixture.
I use a double boiler system to heat my herbs with the carrier oil but before adding the oil, I first add a shot of alcohol, usually cheap vodka, as it helps break down the essence of the plants. This technique is something I learned from reading the book “The Poison Path” by Coby Michael. It’s a wonderful book and I highly recommend it.
Once the alcohol is added, I mix it with the herbs and wait for it to heat and for the alcohol to evaporate before adding the carrier oil. I use organic linseed oil as my carrier oil, but you can use any kind of oil you prefer. However, I recommend avoiding coconut oil simply because of its consistency.
After adding the oil and mixing it well with the herbs, I’ll let it sit at a low fire for about six hours, monitoring it and stirring it now and then. It’s important to keep the oil below boiling point during the whole process.
After six hours, I’ll let it cool down before bottling it in a jar. Once the oil is in the jar, I’m adding a small teaspoon of black salt to the mix, as the last ingredient.
I make my black salt myself using rock sea salt that I grind and ashes from charcoals and herbs I burned during rituals. I won’t get too deep into what is black salt, how I make it, and why we use it here, but it’s a topic on my list to talk about in the near future.
Once everything is in the jar, I’ll let the herbs macerate with the oil for a full lunar cycle, so about four weeks.
During that time, I’ll shake the jar often, at least once every day. When a full lunar cycle has passed, I’ll then strain the herbs out of the oil and bottle it in another bottle. I usually recycle linseed oil bottles for that, as they are convenient and made of colored glass, which is better for preserving the oils.
I also add about 10 to 20 drops of vitamin E oil to the final oil, to help preserve it.
Since some ingredients in this oil can be quite fiery and irritate the skin, I don’t really recommend using it as a perfume. Instead, this oil is better used for anointing protective charms, anointing candles, return to sender spells, or any type of banishing or protection spell.
I hope this will inspire you to try making your own ritual oil for protection. Remember, always be cautious when working with herbs, and never ingest any of the oils you make. It’s important to handle them with care, do research, and always be aware of any allergies or sensitivities you may have to the ingredients you choose.
