Offerings from the Poisoner’s Apothecary

Entheogens for the Botanica

The Poisoner’s Apothecary is a section of Forest Grove Botanica filled with things I can’t sell in my Etsy shop – specimens, tinctures, and smoking blends of legal psychoactive herbs and well-known poisons. New offerings include a Smoking Blend Sampler of my three magical herbal smoking blends (Hedgecrosser’s Smoke, Love Smoke, & Visions of the Seer), as well as Calamus and Galangal root tinctures. Calamus or sweetflag is a Native American shaman’s root ingested for flying, but it is also found elsewhere around the world and even turns up in an oil recipe in the Old Testament.

Galangal root originates from Asia and is closely related to ginger meaning my Galangal tincture tastes quite pleasant. Galagal was a favourite of Aleister Crowley who recommended its use for communing with familiar spirits. It also happens to be a mild hallucinogen. The last in my tincture trio is Mandragora. It was carefully measured so you can’t overdose even if you drink the whole bottle (which I still don’t recommend). Even though most witches think of Mandrake in association with salves, it is actually better suited for extraction in water or alcohol… with very careful dosage.

Ingredients for the Aves Salve

I’ve made another batch of Aves Salve with magical and psychoactive herbs simmered in rich duck fat. This is my perfected recipe with a long shelf life, a lovely scent of balm of gilead, and a smooth texture. It is also a flying ointment containing Atropa Belladonna and real Mandrake root. I have it available in the regular 2oz jars and, also for the first time, in half ounce sample size jars for the witch on a budget or for those who just want to test it out.

Here is was Dver over at A Forest Door had to say about my Aves Salve:

“I bought some Aves Salve from you about a month ago. I just wanted to let you know how impressed I am with it. I honestly didn’t know what to expect, never having used anything like it. I have used it three times now – each time has only been more powerful than the last, and I look forward to doing more with it in the future. It feels like putting on a mask or holy costume for possession or shapeshifting work, but all encapsulated in a simple dab of salve.

As much spirit-work as I do, I still actually maintain a dose of skepticism about any new tool or practice until I see some proof of its efficacy, and am not overly-eager (as some are) to claim a sense of spirit or energy in everything I touch. But this really blows me away. So I wanted to say thank you, and to let you know I really appreciate the work you do.”

Porta's Flying Ointment Porta's Flying Ointment

I am also working on a new traditional flying ointment based on a recipe for a shapeshifting-flying ointment from Giovan Battista Della Porta’s De Miraculis Rerum Naturalium (Natural Magic) from 1558. It includes Henbane, Mandrake, Datura, and Belladonna. I added balm of gilead for preservation and because it’s quite traditional to flying ointments and is included in other recipes Porta gives in his work. I grew the Henbane and Datura this summer, the Belladonna was from a friend who grew it, and I had to outsource the Mandrake root.  Once I’m able to test this batch to see if my dosages were correct, I hope to make another version using the more traditional hog’s lard as the base instead of olive oil.

I hope to have more offerings for my witchy head shop soon including absinthe and sabbat wine infusion kits with psychoactive herbs as well as more poisonous specimens.

Category : Entheogens, Folk Magic, Herbalism, Stang & Cauldron Products, Witchcraft & Magic
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