Monthly Spell
September 2021
Magical Ink
Good Lughnasadh! This month we’re gonna mix up some ink. I don’t have a BoS, but I do have a grimoire. I never knew why I couldn’t keep a Bos until I interviewed Amy Blackthorn recently. She said that as a child she never felt safe, so obviously she couldn’t write down all her secrets into a book of shadows with the chance that someone could find it and use it to hurt her in some way. Welcome to my shadow work for the rest of the year, friends.
But anyway- here’s some stuff to make ink.
In this month’s kit:
Annatto, used as a powerful red dye and good for protection
Prickly pear guts, for pink dye and good for sweetening (but also offers some protection since I got my fingers stuck full of glochids while getting and prepping them for you)
Dragon’s blood resin, good for dye, increases potency of spell
Beet powder, should give you a nice purple red, brings in an earthy love
Gum Arabic (thickener)- add last
Jar
Tumbled amethyst to enhance intuition as you craft your spell
Pheasant feather from Desert Rose Farm. She’s a wildcrafter; these were from a pheasant that an owl took down. One of my fave suppliers of random witch things. Check her ig @desertrose.us. Use this to cut into a pen, or just dunk and scratch like I do. I’ll include a link to a tutorial I used on the Patreon site.
I’m not going to tell you what kind of spell you should do with the ink. I included ingredients that could be used for a love spell but you can mix and match as you like. You should have a decent stock of herbs and ingredients by now if you’ve been here for any length of time!
Here’s a recipe I made by combining something from Martha Stewart and from watching @pigmentology on Instagram (a lovely, lovely witch with an equally lovely ig account).
Choose the herbs and ingredients you want to use, add ½ tsp of salt, and give them a good grind in your mortar and pestle. I’d use like a pinch of each since we’re using a tiny jar. Then put them in a bowl or cup (use one you won’t drink or eat out of again though). Pour ¼ cup of boiling water into it and add ½ tsp of white vinegar. Let it steep for a good hour or so; you can dunk strips of paper into it to test the color.
Strain the liquid and pour into your jar. Add 1 part gum Arabic for 10 parts liquid (I cannot do math, I am going to eyeball the hell out of this). Shake the hell out of it. If the gum Arabic won’t dissolve put the jar (WITHOUT the lid) in the microwave for a few (less than 10) seconds and shake again. Repeat until the arabic dissolves.
You can add a whole clove as another preservative if you want. I love the smell of cloves.
Here's the video I used to learn to cut quills. I know your feather is small- you can also just dip it into the ink and just scratch away.