Magical Oils: Process + Recipes to Craft Spell Oils

Oils have been used in many practices around the world for hundreds of years. They have been used for candle anointing, healing, aromatherapy, massage, and so much more. As magickal people, we can take advantage of the healing and magickal properties of oils and herbs within our practice. The process for making spell oils is very simple. We will walk through the different steps to the process plus give you three different recipes you can try on your own!

Using a Spell Oil

In magickal practices, there are many uses for spell oils. They are a versatile tool for any witch to have in their toolbox! You can keep them on your altar space, in your bag, or around the house so you can use them whenever you need them.

Dressing Candles

One way that spell oils are used is by dressing candles. An oil is crafted or bought, then used in candle magick to add extra correspondences to candles and objects during a spell. This is done by adding a few drops of oil to a candle and rubbing it around. This is most easily done with taper candles or chime candles, but it can be achieved with other candles as well.

The main purpose of anointing oil is simply to impress your thoughts upon the candle, to consecrate it, so to speak, to a particular purpose…Do not merely rub up and down; start from the centre, and rub from the centre upwards and then from the centre downwards.

Natural Magic by Doreen Valiente

The oil is dripped on the candle and then rubbed in one of three ways: from the bottom to the top to banish, from the top to the bottom to attract, or from the middle out. How you dress a candle is going to depend on your personal beliefs, your tradition, and your practice. When you dress candles, please keep fire safety in mind. Remember, oils are flammable and less is more!

Oils for Topical Use

Some spell oils are meant to be used topically. These are created with body-safe oils and ingredients. They can be created during a ritual to be used during specific times of the month or year. Topical spell oils can even be used to help relieve ailments, bring abundance, and aid in protection. The ingredients chosen tend to be herbs, essential oils, and crystals.

It is important to remember that for topical spell oils, care should be taken to use body-safe ingredients. Spell oils should hardly ever be ingested and, if possible, you should work with someone knowledgeable in herbs and their remedies as you create your spell oil if you aren’t familiar with them yourself.

Anointing an Object

Just as you can anoint a candle, spell oils can be created for anointing other objects. This is most commonly done with jewelry in the form of amulets or talismans. However, a spell oil can be added to any object — as long as the oil will not damage the object — for any purpose the witch desires. Create an oil for protection and add it to your skincare routine. Create an oil for abundance and add it to a coin you carry in your wallet. The options are endless!

Creating your Spell Oil

If you have an idea for your spell oil, now is the perfect time to create it! Gather your ingredients and follow along to learn about choosing your base oil, your ingredients, and other correspondences to make your spell oil the best it can be!

Choosing your Base Oil

All spell oils need a base oil. This is the main ingredient in your oil and it is what all other ingredients will be added to. The usual choices include olive oil, almond oil, and jojoba oil. However, you can choose any oil you have on hand. Like your herbs and other ingredients, base oils can also have correspondences associated with them. Here are a few of the most common:

Almond Oil: sensuality, fertility, abundance, and love

Olive Oil: good luck, abundance, wealth, healing, and peace

Jojoba Oil: healing, protection, banishing, and addiction

Coconut Oil: protection, healing, cleansing, relaxation, and sensuality

Adding in Herbs

The next ingredient in your recipe is going to be an herb or some assortment of herbs. These will be chosen by you for the purpose of your ritual. You can add as many or as little herbs as you would like, though be careful by adding too many. A good maximum number herbs for a spell oil is less than ten. This allows all the herbs to be evenly coated in your base oil, a more specific intent with your oil, and there is less chance of your oil smelling badly from the different combinations of herbs.

Here are some herbs you can add to your spell oil as well as their common use:

Lavender: promoting peaceful sleep and easing anxiety

Rose: calling in love in all forms

Calendula: soothing aches and pains

Mint: calling in abundance – used commonly in money magick

Rosemary: protection and healing – also a good all-purpose herb to have on hand

See More: Witch Plants: Herbs & Recipes Every Witch Should Know

When adding herbs to your oils, you may be wondering if you should use fresh herbs or dried herbs. The answer is going to be this: it depends! Both methods have their upsides and downsides so the choice will be yours. It is more common to use dried herbs for creating oils as it has less chance of the oil going rancid and creating mold or growing bacteria.

When using fresh herbs, you will need to make sure the herbs or flowers are clean and completely dry. Any dirt or germs on the herb can introduce that bacteria into your oil and cause it to go rancid. The same is said for the water. The herbs must be completely dry before including them. You will also need to adjust the amount of time you steep your oil and your method.

When using dry herbs, there is no need for extra steps. You simply add the herbs into the oil, stir it around, and let it steep!

Adding in Essential Oils

You can also add essential oils into your spell oil. This can help add fragrance to the oil as well as the properties of the herbs. The correspondences of essential oils are going to be the same as their true herbal counterpart, so there is no need to worry about differences between oils and herbs. If you choose to use essential oils only, then there is no need to steep your oil and it is ready to use right away! However, you can still create a ritual out of the creation process — the more magick, the better!

See also: Essential Oils – Drop Some Knowledge on Me (Spells8 Forum)

Adding in Crystals

Some witches also like to include crystals in their spell oils. You can find little rollerbottles full of spell oils everywhere online that have small crystal chips in the bottle. Adding a crystal or two into your spell oil can help amplify the properties of your spell oil depending on the crystal. You will need to be very careful when adding crystals to your oils as not all crystals are oil-safe.

It is generally thought that any variety of quartz is safe to include in water elixirs and oils. However, this has not been fully tested here and any crystals you add to your oils should be done after extensive research.

If you are hesitant to add crystals to your oils, that is okay! It is better to be safe than sorry — and you have other options! You can create a crystal grid with your crystals and let the oil steep in the center of it. You can place a crystal on top of or next to your oil as it steeps, too. That will help infuse and amplify the energy in your ingredients with the crystal you choose.

Steeping your Oil

When making spell oils, there are two different methods of infusion you can use. One is a cold infusion that involves letting the oil steep over a period of time, usually two to eight weeks. The second method is heat infusion which involves heating the oil with the ingredients for a quicker process. Which method you choose is going to be up to you.

Cold Oil Infusion

By far the easiest method, cold oil infusions take the most time. This method is best for softer herbs and witches that do not have the time to sit and watch a hot oil. This method involves filling a jar about three-quarters of the way with your ingredients, pouring your base oil over the herbal matter until it is covered, and putting it away in a dark place for two to eight weeks.

When making a cold infusion, it is important to leave space in the jar for the herbs and oils to move around. You will want to shake the jar to stir it up at least once a day, though if it is okay if you forget. Cold oil infusions will be ready in several weeks. Once it is ready, strain out the herbal material and store the oil in a cool, dark place for use whenever you need it. Alternatively, store the oil in a dark brown bottle to prevent light from tampering with your oil.

Hot Oil Infusion

Creating a hot oil infusion is much more labor intensive but your oil will be ready quicker. There are also some ingredients, such as different barks and harder herbs, that do better in a hot oil infusion. For this process, you will need a double boiler, some pot holders, and about three hours of your time.

Add the oil into the top bowl on top of the water. You will heat the water to almost-boiling — not too hot! You do not want to burn your oil. With the oil warming up in the bowl, add in your herbs and ingredients and gently warm them. You will need to stir this mixture often for three hours, being sure not to let the oil burn or the water run out of the bottom of the boiler.

When the oil is ready, strain the herbs out of the oil and let it cool. It will be ready to use almost immediately!

Working with the Moon and Sun

When making spell oils, many witches choose to use the phases of the moon or the sun to imbue their oil with those properties. You can choose to do the same thing by crafting your oil by the moon phase or sun phase and letting it steep for a full lunar cycle. Here are common correspondences you can use when choosing a moon phase to work with:

New Moon: beginnings and fresh starts

Waxing Moon: growth and attraction

Full Moon: heightened power and any purpose

Waning Moon: banishing and shrinking

Read more: Moon Magick: Working With The Moon Cycles

Easy Spell Oil Recipes for Beginners

To get you started on your spell oil journey, we have put together these three simple recipes to help you in your practice. Each one is written out with the ingredients and correspondence only. Choose the steeping method that works best for you and craft an incantation to go with each one, if you so choose!

Take these recipes, practice with them, and adapt them to suit your specific needs! The possibilities are endless and the magick is within you.

Peaceful Dreams Spell Oil

This spell oil uses two main herbal ingredients and a base herb. Use this oil every evening when you go to sleep to promote a restful night and peaceful dreams.

You will need:

• lavender
• calendula
• base oil – either olive or almond is best
• a full moon

Shield of Thorns Spell Oil

Craft this spell oil to use for protection as you go about your day. As you create it, and when you use it, envision your entire body being covered in a circle of rose thorns, protecting you from any unwanted intrusion.

You will need:

• rose thorns or roses
• rosemary
• a base oil – either olive or coconut is best
• a waning moon

Lifetime Abundance Spell Oil

Call abundance into your life as you use this oil. Add it to candles for your money altar, use it on your hands before you go to work, or add it to a coin in your wallet to always call in your abundance.

You will need:

• mint
• sunflowers
• a base oil – olive or jojoba is best
• a waxing moon

More Oils, Please!

Now that you know how to create your own spell oils — and how to use them — check out some of these recipes below! Spells8 has many different recipes and ingredients to help you create the spell oil that fits your craft.