One of my favourite kitchen witchery items is my ‘Four Ps’ water. Made from the herbs growing in my garden, and oils, which although are already in my collection, are easy to find in shops or online, it’s a multi-use concoction.
Crafted specifically for Protection, Prosperity, Purification, and Peace, I add a splash of Four Ps to the mop bucket when washing the floors around the house. It’s ideal for cleaning altars and magickal tools, and I’ve also used it for consecrating tarot decks. One of my altars has a seashell to represent the element of water, and I often fill it with Four Ps in place of moon water.
Cheap, and easy to make, waters like this can be crafted using whatever herbs or oils you have to hand. You can add crystals too, but ensure they’re not water soluble or they’ll dissolve.
Here's how!
To begin, find a suitable, clean bottle. I use a bottle with a strong airtight lid which I bought in IKEA. I reckon it holds about one litre, but any size will do.
First, I add the dry ingredients. The following are the herbs I use for my Four Ps water.
For Protection: Rosemary and Rowan Berries
For Prosperity: Moss
For Purification: Sage
Next, I fill the bottle almost three quarters full with rain water. If I have enough moon water to fill the bottle, I use that. (Sometimes I’m organised enough to make the moon water in advance, but usually, I’m not.) Otherwise, I use clean rain water and once the next Full Moon comes around, I leave the completed bottle out to soak up extra goodness.
Depending on what you want to bring in or keep out of your home, you can place the bottle under the appropriate moon. For example, if you wish to encourage prosperity, place the bottle under the building energy of a waxing moon. If you need to clear out bad energy, place the bottle under the fading energy of a waning moon.
I’ve found that adding a splash of alcohol helps preserve the herbs. Over the years I’ve had a few waters ruined by rotting herbs and the smell turns icky fairly fast, so adding alcohol prevents premature rot. I used vinegar once, but it battled with the scents of the oils and eventually won, so I won’t use it again. My preference is vodka as it minds its own business. If you happen to enjoy a tipple of vodka while preserving your water, Sláinte from me!
Now it's time for the oils!
For Prosperity: Bergamot (approx 7 drops) and Vetiver (approx 3 drops)
For Peace: Rose (approx 7 drops)
Depending on how full the bottle is by this point, I may add a little more water. For the bottle I made for today’s blog, I topped up with some of the remaining moon water I made during the Super Blood Wolf Moon of 2019.
I also add clear quartz beads from an old chakra bracelet that fell apart. I have rose quartz chips somewhere too, so I’ll pop them in once I find them. You can add ingredients to your water at any time. It's a work in progress!
Once all your ingredients are in the bottle, give it a gentle shake. It takes a while for the scents to blend and settle down, so don’t be afraid to add more oil if the perfume isn’t to your liking in a week or two. At the time of writing this, it’s the day after a Full Moon, so my bottle is already outside and under the Rowan tree in my garden for some extra moon bathing tonight. You can use your water immediately, or wait to place it under the moon cycle of your choice.
With herbs, crystals, and oils offering so many uses, you can tailor make dozens of washes to suit your needs. When it comes to scent, be as generous as your nostrils require with the oils.
While I do like my waters to have a nice smell, I don’t get too hung up on the aroma. If your nostrils are fussy, experiment with small batches of water to begin. Vetiver has quite an earthy, pungent aroma and is a very gloopy oil, so I wouldn’t use more than 3 drops in my wash, but blended with the Rosemary and Sage, along with the zing of Bergamot, it smells frickin’ amazing. Cinnamon, Clove and Frankincense are another three oils that leave behind a glorious scent. Coming into Autumn, there’s nothing cosier than these fragrances around the home.
You can also add the waters to spray bottles and use them to mist the air. Be careful if spraying near furniture or fabric as the oils may stain. And always avoid spraying near your furry friends and their bedding!
I stick to using the herbs in my garden and locality for making waters, and know their uses from practice, but a book I’d recommend to any Kitchen Witch is Scott Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs. Affiliate Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I may earn commissions from qualifying purchases from Amazon.com. This is an affiliate link meaning I get commissions for purchases made through this link, but at no extra cost to you whatsoever.
There are lots of indexes within the book, including one which lists magical properties, so if you’re looking to craft a water for courage, money, healing, or psychic powers to name just a few, you’ll find a list of the oils and herb correspondences. A root around the internet will serve up lots of herbal info, too.
The sky’s the limit with magickal waters, so have fun and enjoy using them around your home or whatever space might benefit. They make great gifts too, especially if the water is lovingly crafted for the recipient’s needs in mind.
Needless to say (but I have to) the water you craft is not fit for consumption, so don’t allow fellow humans or animals to drink it, however delicious it might smell.
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