Sometimes our nerves or energies are running rampant and we need a little something to calm that mess down ASAP! That is where we introduce a special oil known as Balsamo Tranquilo or Calm Balm for short! This spiritual oil is used in a myriad of preparations from calming a tumultuous house, cooling down hostility or jealousy from others, and even adding to bath water to settle one's own spirit. It aids in forcing people to think before they speak and speak from the heart without aggression.
Today, I'm going to go over the who, what, when, why and how to make this oily tincture for your magical preparations. Let's start with the who!
It should be noted there is a tree in Cuba known as Azú, Bálsamo Azul or Bálsamo Tranquilo as well that produced a resinous sap that is also known to promote tranquility. It’s other names are Bálsamo de Tolu, Bálsamo Mazu or Bálsamo de Guatemala!
Calm Balm was first introduced as a pharmaceutical aid in physiological and pathological products for external use. To homeopathically soothe headaches, jitters, and other ailments like that. The oldest account of this preparation came from a man named Pere Tranquille 1703 for the treatment of rheumatic pain. However later down the line a doctor by the name of Father Aignan redistributed this oil recipe is as follows:
"Dried leaves of henbane (50 grams), belladonna (50 grams), black nightshade (50 grams), jimsonweed (50 grams), opium poppy (50 grams), all submerged in 200 grams of alcohol for one day: after which you drain from the alcohol and add 500 grams of poppy oil. Everything is heated for 6 hours or so in a water bath, and then a few drips of essence of thyme, lavender, rosemary and mint are added.""Le Prêtre médecin ou discours sur l'establissement de la médecine" (Paris, 1696),
Secondly, another recipe forgoes the alcohol that says the Jimsonweed, blackberry, black henbane, white poppy are in equal parts 4 ounces. Then fresh tops of rosemary, sage, rue, wormwood, hyssop, lavender, thyme, marjoram, mint, aquatic mint, elderflower, and hypericum are in equal parts one ounce all macerated in a common oil (like Sunflower oil for instance) of eight pounds in a copper cauldron, cooked over a sustained fire until the water in the vegetation has dissipated. Strain and pour the oil while it is still hot over the dry plants, reduced to pieces. After fifteen days of maceration, everything is strained again and clarified by resting. The balm obtained will be kept protected from light so that it does not turn yellowish. " Traité de la goutte dans son état natural, ou l'art de connaitre les vrais principes des maladies” (Paris, 1707).
Magically speaking this oil is greenish in color, and is used to sort of "tranquilize a person or situation". Please be careful as the oil in historical context uses poisonous plants known as Belladonna, as well has Henbane. I would recommend using gloves and dried amounts of these. Secondly, it utilizes Lavender leaves, Rosemary essential oil. Thyme, mint, and chlorophyll essential oil. When making it myself, I pray some selected prayers and oriki over it and put it to a particular entity that I work with to impart more ache to give it extra oomf.
Traditionally to use this oil, one is to write the name of the person they want to calm on a piece of paper in black ink, 7 times, anoint the paper, then you roll the paper away from you and tie with a clean white ribbon. Then you place inside a small jar with tranquilizing elements such as sugar to sweeten, lavendar to calm, valerian, salt to take away energy, maybe even a little more oil etc. Wrap this in a piece of foil and put into the freezer. Some people say to give the jar a shake prior to putting it into the freezer but one of my favorite things to do is to place the jar in a bowl covered with ice, and put an anointed single white chime candle on it and allow the ice to melt and the candle to burn until it calms everything down to where it needs to be and THEN place in a the freezer to keep it that way!
However, if you don't want to do all of that, a single white candle in a bowl of ice, left to melt and burn down in a corner of the home, dressed with the balsamo, that is a more gentle way to calm tensions.
This oil can also be used as a ceremonial addition to keep the home and altar space calm and free of afflicted spirits, as well as check unwanted entities as the door before people enter your home. One example of this would be to punch 3 holes in a blessed 7 day novena candle (white, guardian angel, etc) and put the oil into the holes with the necessary herbs and keep it burning in a bowl of indigo or añil water.
I hope this helps! Please wear gloves when handling certain herbs and a mask if you plan to use a heat source to infuse them!
Blessings,
Lolu