Make a green witch bug balm

With the warm summer weather, one thing that’s a constant now here in the UK is mosquitos! Spend any amount of time outside, especially in the early evening, and you’re asking for trouble...

So to help with this, I’m sharing a recipe on how to make a soothing summer balm.

This is made with plantain - Ribwort (as shown) or broadleaf is fine and helpfully, at this time of year there’s always an abundance of this growing wild by the roadside.

You can recognise plantain by the long tall stems with large green or brown seed heads on top. The Ribwort variety has long rib-shaped, leaves as seen above.

Plantain is a fantastic natural wound healer! It reduces inflammation, is an anti-microbial, soothes itching and can even stop bleeding.

Magickally, it’s used in healing spells, aids in grounding and meditation, and is also used as a powerful protection against hexes, negative energy or harmful spirits.

To make this balm in exactly the same way I’ve done here, you need to do the following steps first;

Gather your plantain leaves

A good handful of these will do. Wash and towel them dry and then put them to dry fully. You can do this in the oven on the lowest setting, in a dehydrator or just leave them to air dry by hanging them in bunches in a dry place. It’ll take 2-3 days to air dry.

Make a plantain oil

After the plantain is dry and crispy, put it into a clean jar, and cover with olive oil, coconut oil or almond oil. Then put the lid on and leave in a dark dry place for at least a week, but the longer you can leave it the better as it’ll allow more of the essential oils to seep into the carrier oil. I tend to cold infuse it, but you can warm up the oil and place the raw leaves into it to simmer if you don’t want to wait.

Once the oil is ready, you’ll need to gather the following things to make the balm itself;

• A small pan of water and a glass bowl to make a double boiler.

• 3 tablespoons of your plantain oil.

• 1 tablespoon of organic bees wax pellets. You can get these online or from a lot of herbal shops.

• Some citronella essential oil.

• Small tins, jars or containers to put your finished balm into.

  
  

Making the bug balm

1. Pour a small amount of boiling water into the pan, and bring to a simmer.

2. Place the glass bowl or jar into the pan of water, while it’s still on the heat, and add the bees wax pellets and the plantain oil in the amounts above.

3. Stir with a stick until all the wax has melted into the oil ans you have a smooth clean oil.

4. Take off the heat, and set aside for about 2-3 minutes before you add between 13-20 drops of citronella essential oil.

5. Stir it all well before pouring into your small jars or tins and leave to cool.

This balm not only soothes bites and stings after the fact, but due to the citronella, can also be used to keep the bugs at bay before they get chance to bite.

Use it throughout the summer months when going out for walks or especially during twilight and after the sun goes down.

And that's how you can continue to be a green witch even when the biting bugs are out!

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