Grow Your Own Passion Potion - Wild Wicked Witchy Stylee

by Karen Lawton of Sensory Solutions
(London, UK)

We are modern day Green Witches, growing and collecting plants to make up a wide array of potions and lotions, working in harmony with nature and the natural cycles that govern Her.

Walking down our garden path towards home is a Sensory Experience, passing the fragrant aromatic herbs –sage, rosemary, lavender, thyme, marjoram, myrtle and bay amongst others. This short walk that is made hundreds of times is a constant source of joy, education, staple food, flavourings and precious medicine. From the elder tree, that self seeded and surprised us by gracing us with her presence, we make a valuable syrup from her berries to help fight any viral infections over the cold wet winter months and then in the spring dry out her flowers for teas to bring down fevers and dry up snotty secretions, the chili plant potted up next to the door brings many a smile as we all watch the peppers turn different shades of green through to red. St. john’s wort (one of the best nerve herbs we have) and lily of the valley (heart) are hiding under the shade of the protective rosemary.
Amongst these delights are the herbs for one of our most popular creations, the Passion Potion. It is a delicious, fun aphrodisiac created from 3 herbs (chili, daisy and valerian) that, although seen here in a new combination, have been reputed for their desire enhancing properties for thousands of years.

The term aphrodisiac dates back at least 5 000 years and comes from the myth of the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite, who sprang forth from the sea on an oyster shell. Maybe that’s why Oysters are know as one of the foods of love and endowed with their own aphrodisiac properties…

There are many different foods, herbs and even drugs that have reputed aphrodisiac actions, many of them exotic and hard to find. This particular potion is easy to make and the plants are accessible to everyone and grow prolifically.

We make our tasty Passion Potion from plants we grow in our garden plus one little fairy flower that grows in nearly every lawn and garden (well, gardens that haven’t been weed killer-ed), the daisy. It is widely known as most folk have played a game or two in their early years with this delightful little flower.

The Daisy is a really important medicinal herb and in the past was known as Bruise-wort. It is our native Arnica, a brilliant lymphatic and respiratory herb. Have you noticed that if daisies are stood on, trodden underfoot they simply bounce back up, displaying amazing resilience and strength of character? They can give this gift of resilience to folk who use their wonderful medicine.

We pick the daisy flower heads in early spring. They are a herb of the sun and are literally the ‘days eye’, opening their faces up to the warming rays early morning and tracking the suns movement throughout the day, closing prettily in the evening. This action indicates the eye strengthening and soothing properties also possessed by this versatile plant.

We collect Sun herbs on Sundays as near to a full Moon as we can. We do this simply because it feels right to us, there is no right or wrong way of doing things, respect and awareness are key the rest can be totally made up to personal ideals. For us, full moon is full power and energy so this is when we harvest plants that are light, loving and above ground. Roots on the other-hand, we collect on the dark moon. There are some exceptions like many of the dark berries which look like the dark moon such as elder, sloes and blackberries.

Filling a pan with daisy flowers is a beautiful site, little white pink and yellow, delicately fragranced fairies ready to be transformed into a tasty syrup. Cover with water and bring to the boil, strain off the liquid, watch the froth form (from the soapy saponins contained in the daisies) almost like a head of beer. This needs to be strained then you measure your liquid and add 1 pound of sugar to every pint of fluid and gently heat this mix up stirring slowly until it becomes syrupy. You then can bottle it up in sterilized bottles and keep in the fridge for up to one year as the main ingredient of your Passion Potion.

The daisy gently lifts the spirits and brings elements of joy and play to the experience of our passion potion.

The second herb in our potion is red hot chili peppers. These amazing hot red fruits aid the release of our feel good factors, endorphins and give us a really good uplifting buzz.

Capsicum is stimulating and excitatory, specifically for the circulatory and digestive system. When consumed in small amounts they aid digestion and stimulate an improved flow of nutrients through blood to our organs. They promote blood flow and strengthen the heart, arteries, capillaries and nerves, improving arterial blood supply to the tissues and encouraging toxin removal. Chillies are very high in Vitamin A and C.

The natives of the Caribbean were eating Scotch bonnet chillies when Christopher Columbus arrived on his first voyage. These chillies are known to be some of the hottest on the planet!

Although chillies are associated with growing in the relatively warm climes of South America and Asia, growing peppers can be done so successfully in the northern hemisphere too. In order to get a decent harvest your chili plants will need to be started off either indoors or under glass. Assuming you have the room to store them, the best plan is to plant your seeds early in the year (January or February) and nurture the seedlings indoors or under glass. The plants can then be put outside once the threat of frosts pass.

Once your beautiful chillies are ready to harvest, pick them near a full moon and get ready for chopping. As you may know, they must be handled with care to avoid any nasty accidents, rubbing your face especially eyes is not a good idea nor is going to the toilet before thoroughly washing your hands!!! Slice the chillies and place them in a jar and cover with brandy. This will usually be ready in a month or so but will continue to get hotter the longer it’s left. When ready, strain it through a muslin cloth and store the powerful chili tincture in a clean bottle. Chili drops can also be used to spice up hot chocolate. Simply add a few drops to a steaming cup of cocoa.

The valerian our third and final herb is a central nervous system relaxant. It helps to take away any inhibitions also allowing the blood vessels to relax so the chili can really reach every finger, toe and inch…

Valeriana officinalis, is the pungently smelly, cat attracting, attractive perennial and its’ the root we use in our potion. It is most famously used as an aid to sleep. It is a major player in the herbal medicine cabinet as a relaxant, anti-depressant, and to reduce anxiety.

Next doors cats stomp, roll, and frisk around the plants so much that we have lost 3 of them, it’s certainly not a sedative to them!

Valerian is an easy to grow and commonly found in the wilds. If growing as a medicinal herb, cut flower stalks as soon as they appear to direct more energy to the root. Valerian roots can be harvested in the spring or autumn.

Clean the roots before chopping them and placing in a jar with Brandy. Again, leave for a lunar cycle and strain the liquid through muslin to separate the roots.

Now you’ve got your daisy syrup and tinctures of chili and valerian to mix up into a magic passion potion. We mix 50/50 daisy and valerian and then depending on the strength of the chili tincture, enough of this to give it a really big kick. It’s up to you how spicy you make it but it’s definitely ‘hotter’ if it’s hotter. We then decant it into 30ml bottles with a pipette for easy administration. Take a drop and see how you hot up.