Drink Recipes for Your Lammas Day Feast
Lammas, also known as Lughnasadh, is the seventh spoke along the Wheel of the Year. Celebrated around August 1, Lammas honors the first harvest of the year. In her book Practical Magic: A Beginner’s Guide to Crystals, Horoscopes, Psychics, and Spells, author Nikki Van De Car writes, “It is a sign that the hot days of summer are finally coming to an end and the bounty we have worked so hard all year to ensure has finally arrived.”
Lammas is also a time to reflect on your relationships. Lammas traditionally “was also a time for trial marriages: Tailteann marriages were arranged marriages that were given a provisional period of a year and a day—if the marriage was successful after that, great. If not, it was dissolved on the Hills of Separation (actual hills that stand near where the games were traditionally held) as if it had never been.”
In preparation for Lammas we are excited to bring you two exclusive drink recipes, plus a love spell, from Nikki Van de Car’s forthcoming Potions: A Guide to Cocktails, Tinctures, Tisanes, and Other Witchy Concoctions, on sale August 23rd and available for pre-order at your favorite bookseller! May these special potions spark connection, love, and abundance.
Sparkling Rhubarb Apple
Apples have a long history in love magic. They symbolize connection, fertility, and abundance.
4 ounces natural apple juice
2 teaspoons Rhubarb-Infused Simple Syrup
½ teaspoon Potent Rhubarb Shrub
¼ teaspoon Loving Bitters
Seltzer
Gin (optional)
To a collins glass filled with ice, add the first four ingredients. Top with seltzer and spike with gin if desired. This light, fruity drink hearkens back to celebratory sparkling apple cider that perhaps we would enjoy at holidays when the grown-ups drank wine or champagne. As you sip it, let the magic of your childhood self bubble forth, brimming with joy in simple things.
Pro-Tip from RP Mystic: Recipes to make your own Rhubarb-Infused Simple Syrup, Potent Rhubarb Shrub, and Loving Bitters can all be found in Potions, available for pre-order now.
Juniper Rose Kombucha
This kombucha is layered with flavors and intentions, offering you ample opportunities to infuse loving intentions and mindful magic into your potion.
1 batch Basic Kombucha
2 tablespoons dried roses
2 tablespoons juniper berries
Decant 7 cups of kombucha into a jar or jars, leaving just a little space at the top of the jar to boost carbonation. Add a total of 2 tablespoons of dried roses and 2 tablespoons of dried juniper berries to the kombucha. (You can find these either online or at some health food stores.)
As you add your roses, think about the gentle sweetness of love, the sense of peace and comfort it can bring. Think about how treasured love can make you feel and the way you treasure others—and yourself.
As you add your juniper berries, think about the brightness of love. Those who truly love us can see things about us we hide from everyone else, including ourselves. And those we truly love value what we have to give them. Giving and receiving love energize us, bringing a sense of lightness and joy.
Seal the jar, and swirl it gently to mix your herbs together, blending the complementary sides of love. Prepare your next batch of kombucha, as you allow this loving batch to rest in the refrigerator for one week. At the end of the week, carefully unscrew it, and take a taste. If the flavor and carbonation levels are what you want them to be, strain your kombucha into bottles. If not, let it sit for a day or two longer.
Pro-Tip from RP Mystic: A recipe to make your own Basic Kombucha can be found in Potions, available for pre-order now.
Love Spell
Bottle spells are an old form of hoodoo magic, a spiritual practice created by enslaved Africans in the South and the Caribbean. This bottle spell is not hoodoo proper, but it is inspired by it. Use an empty bottle or jar, and begin by placing small items in it that represent the kind of love you want to invite into your life. You might add a feather to represent a light, fun love. You might add an acorn to symbolize a love that will grow strong. Or perhaps you could write your specific intentions on a piece of paper, fold it up toward yourself three times (or a multiple of three), and then place it in your jar.
Once you’ve added your desired items, pour honey over them— just enough to cover—then add some red wine to fill the jar. Seal it and shake it well, coating all the items with honey and wine.
Place a small candle, like a tea light or votive, atop your jar. Anoint the sides of the candle with ylang-ylang, jasmine, rose, or patchouli essential oils, and gently rub a drop of the same oil over your heart. Light the candle, and then stare at the flame, allowing its fire to spark your heart. Allow the intentions from within your jar to drift up into the candle and alight within you as well.
Witchcraft meets cocktail craft in Potions, a contemporary introduction to the world of infusions, tisanes and herbal teas, homemade tinctures, and expertly mixed alcoholic beverages, all imbued with a healthy dose of everyday enchantment. As with all magic, intention is what makes a potion a potion, and author Nikki Van De Car uses her signature blend of holistic remedies, DIY projects, and accessible magical rituals to guide readers through the wide world of potion-making. From homebrewed kombuchas to crystal-charged cocktails, this fully illustrated guide is an essential addition to the arsenal of kitchen witches and enchanted mixologists.
Organized around a series of intentions -- including Creativity, Calm, Love, Harmony, and Protection -- the chapters in this book each include teas, cocktails, kombuchas, non-alcoholic beverages, and DIY components like bitters, shrubs, and infusions, that enhance the reader's spellwork. Every recipe will involve a brief ritual of some kind, whether setting an intention, or using a crystal, sun magic, or moon magic, and each recipe will involve some form of herbal magic. Each cocktail is accompanied by a vibrant, full-color illustration, and each chapter includes longer mystical rituals to support the reader’s overall magical practice.
- MINI MORTAR AND PESTLE FOR POTIONS AND COCKTAILS: Whether you're creating a tincture to invite creativity, or creating your own bitters for craft cocktails, this brass-colored, food-safe ceramic mortar and pestle will bring a touch of magic to rituals, holistic medicine, and at-home mixology.
- DELUXE FULLY ILLUSTRATED PACKAGE: This mini set is housed in a vibrant, full-illustrated magnetic closure box, and includes a mortar and pestle (approx. 2" tall), cleansing crystal, and mini book.
- INCLUDES RECIPES AND DIYS: A 48-page bonus mini book includes cocktail recipes, and DIY instructions for infusions, tinctures, and home brewed kombucha.
- A PERFECT GIFT: This beautiful set is an ideal gift for witches, mixologists, and herbal remedy enthusiasts.
Focusing on three primary areas -- healing, magic, and fortunetelling -- this books provides the perfect primer for sophisticated dabblers, with inviting text and spell-binding illustrations. Clear introductions on trending topics, like herbal tonics and astrological charts, are paired with home remedies, hands-on instructions, and suggested rituals in a chic, stylish format that will capture the imaginations of good witches of all ages.
From the bestselling author of The Junior Witch's Handbook comes an introduction to the charmed world of magic—featuring enchanted information on crystals, horoscopes, dreams, and more!
From sparkly crystals and healing plants to the constellations that move across the night sky, the world is full of magic! In Practical Magic for Kids, author Nikki Van De Car teaches readers ages eight to twelve about the magic all around them. Kids will learn how to interpret their horoscopes, read their friends' palms, decode their dreams, and so much more in this approachable, age-appropriate guide. Full-color illustrations throughout will help young mystics explore the magic in plants, tarot cards, and even themselves, in chapters on:- Chakras
- Auras
- Crystals
- Plant-based Magic
- Magical Holidays
- Magic Spells
- Tarot
- Astrology
- Palmistry
- Dream Interpretation
