Plant Ink

It can be fun to make ink from plants.  The ink can then be used in magical workings, especially if you correspond the colour and the plant used in the ink to the intent of the spell.  I like to use it to write out petitions.

A general guide:

One cup fresh or half a cup of dried plant material

One cup of water

One cup of mordant*, if necessary

Half a teaspoon gum arabic

*Mordant:

Berry dyes: ½ cup salt to eight cups cold water.

Plant dyes: One-part vinegar to four parts cold water.

 

Simmer water, plant material and mordant for half an hour, then strain.

Mix in half a teaspoon of gum Arabic while the liquid is still warm and allow to cool.

This will make about three to four ounces of ink.

Some plant materials don’t need a mordant to fix them such as tea, turmeric or onion.  Others need the mordant to keep the colour.

You can also add a mordant by dropping a piece of rusty iron into the pot with the water and plant material or use sodium carbonate if you don’t want to use the mordant recipe.

Gum Arabic helps to make the ink smoother and thicker whilst also preserving the colour and helping the ink flow.

Adding three drops of thyme essential oil to your finished ink will also help to prevent mould forming.

Experiment with different plant materials to create colours and see what works best for you.  (Use the plant colour chart from the plant dye blog post).