#bath salts

there have to be at least a million hermitcraft posts on this site, not even joking, I'm bound to miss a few- also i'm not online cuz I'm watching grian's new episode :3

I'm not much of a Christmas girl, but I do like spreading cheer around the holidays. One of the ways I've taken to doing that is by gifting little handmade, enchanted useables around the holidays. Nothing big, nothing that screams MAGIC, just little bits of happiness and hope in the darkest days of winter.

Since this is my favorite type of witching, little ways of hopefully making the people in my life's lives better, even just in a little way.

I believe in the reciprocity of gift giving - that you give a gift of love to someone and someday, when you need it, you will get something back in return.

This year, I decided to work with two of my favorite allies: sweet orange and rosemary. I am working with sweet orange to bring joy and happiness, and with rosemary to clear out anything icky and to protect.

I'm breaking this down into four basic types of consumables: a sugar scrub, a bath salt, finishing salt, and some beeswax candles. Everybody is getting one or some combination of these (along with the holiday bitters my partner and I make every year).

I keep the ingredients for these really simple. Everything except the produce and the jars was things I already had in the house: beeswax and wicks for the candles, sugar and coconut oil for the scrub, salt (Epsom and kosher), and essential oils. I ran out of Sweet Orange oil after my first batch, so I'll need to buy more.

Note: add labels with ingredients to your gifts, just in case someone has an allergy you don't know about

Right now, I'm sharing my recipes for the sugar scrub and bath salts (which have been made and gifted). If you'd like a follow-up on candles and culinary salts, let me know! Keep in mind that you will need to change these ratios to reflect the size jars you have - adjust up or down as necessary.

A note on essential oils: if you're afraid of essential oils, skip it. If you don't know how to use essential oils safely, skip it. Do not use food utensils with essential oils - I have essential oil safe equipment that is never used for food. A leftover wooden chopstick from Chinese takeout is a great stirring utensil for this purpose. These recipes will be lighter in scent without the oils, but that is perfectly fine. Sweet orange oil, in particular, is EXTREMELY SAFE - if you're on the fence, opt out of the rosemary and use that.

As always, I expect you to add your magic to these recipes. There are a couple of ideas as to how to do that:

Create a sigil specific to this recipe - put it on the jars (under the labels to closeted magic) or draw it into the salt/sugar on the top of the jars before you close them up

Create a chant that you speak as you mix these together - if the person you are giving to is witchy, you can share the enchant with them to use in their cleansing with your gift!

Supplement by charging these with candle magic

Rosemary and Sweet Orange Sugar Scrub

1.5 Cups White or Brown Sugar 2 tbs. melted coconut oil 1 tbs. fresh orange zest 1-2tbs. dried or fresh rosemary, crushed 5 drops Rosemary essential oil (optional) 10 drops Sweet Orange essential oil (optional)

Add sugar to your jars until they are almost full, then add the orange zest and rosemary. Add in the melted coconut oil, then immediately add your essential oils if you are using them. Mix together in the jar, adding your magic as you do so.

Note: Due to the freshness of these ingredients, this scrub is best used within 1 month of preparation.

Rosemary and Orange Balt Salts

1 cup Epsom Salt .5 Cups Kosher Salt 2 tbs. Baking Soda 1-2 Tbs. Dried Rosemary 1-2 Tbs. Dried Orange Zest 5 Drops Rosemary Essential Oil (optional) 10 drops Sweet Orange essential oil (optional)

Mix together the salts, baking soda, and dried botanicals in a large mixing bowl, making sure they are thoroughly incorporated. Add to individual jars, then add essential oils if using. Mix together in the jar, adding your magic as you do so.

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There are so many ways that you could change up this craft. If orange and rosemary aren't your thing, change up the botanicals. Lavender would be a decent replacement for orange (for calm rather than happiness), and pine or fir would be a suitable replacement for rosemary.

Or make another type of blend entirely!

Just remember to keep your ingredients skin safe! Many essential oils should not be used in a recipe like this, even when mixed with a carrier oil.

Happy witching!