Tincturing with Intent
by Ali English
Preserving herbs for use throughout the year has been a perennial problem for a large part of the history of humankind — a problem resolved, at least in part, when we learnt how to produce various forms of alcohol. This gave us the ability to steep herbs in alcohol or vinegar to make medicines that we take internally or apply to the skin. More recently, this practice evolved into the preparation known as a tincture: herbs steeped in alcohol and water for a period of time, to create a finished product that is shelf stable and not required in large doses in order to have a therapeutic impact on the patient. The question I have always had, is how we might add intention back into this form of medicine making. In this era, we have the luxury of being able to take a little bit more time with our medicine making, culminating in layering a little more magic into the making of it, for those of us so inclined. I have often wondered how many of our ancestors would have had the time for this level of faffing about. Were there greater demands on their time — perhaps chief among them being ‘try not to die today’? Or perhaps they did infuse the energies of the sun and moon, seasons and streams, and positive or negative thoughts into their medicines instead.
What I want to look at today, briefly, is the art and craft of creating tinctures with intention. To my mind, this restores an element of enchantment, unconditional positive regard, and wonder to the process of medicine making. We live at such a rapid pace these days, with more and more demands on our time, that tinctures can sometimes feel like they’re catering to the current attitude of ‘just get the medicine down my neck and get on with my day’. Many of my patients struggle to find the time to sit and drink a mindful cup of tea, but there is no reason why they cannot take tinctures mindfully, and no reason why I cannot incorporate mindfulness into my tincture making methods.
What is a tincture?
Tinctures are essentially a method of steeping herbs in a mixture of strong alcohol and a water. Herbalists will often use something that is around 95% alcohol (which we need a special license for over here in the UK). It is also possible to use an off-the-shelf spirit such as vodka, but it can be harder to add in the water component if using this kind of alcohol, especially if you are trying to tincture fresh plant matter. Remember that all plants have a certain amount of water in them — in my experience, it is rare for a plant to contain as much as 80% water, but even 50% can dilute a tincture sufficiently to keep if you don’t account for it in the planning stages. In general, tinctures need to contain over 20% alcohol in order to keep for more than a year. This does not mean that you cannot make tinctures with fresh plant matter, only that they may not keep for long periods of time. If in doubt, allow your herbs wilt overnight so that they evaporate some water content before you start tincturing.
I’m not going to terrify you with maths in this article as that is a whole topic in itself. Suffice to say that there are two ‘categories’ of tincture making: what I will call ‘calculated tinctures’ for the sake of clarity, and ‘cottage tinctures’. Calculated tinctures are typically labelled something like ‘1:5 40%’ on the bottle, which simply tells us that the tincture was made using one part herbs to five parts menstruum — the water and alcohol combination — and that the menstruum was 40% strong alcohol. Cottage tinctures are much more relaxed: chop the herbs, cover them with the alcohol, let them steep for a period of time. There are positives and negatives to both methods of preparation, but some of the following options concerning the added in water components will be easier to utilise if you are making calculated tinctures. These ideas can also be used with cottage tinctures, but only if you are using a much stronger alcohol to begin with, and wilting your herbs overnight before you begin to tincture them.
Getting esoteric — blessing with Sun or Moon
One way of adding extra intention to your tincture is to consider when you gather your herbs, and, where possible, choose a time that brings in a certain energy. For herbs ruled by the sun or by fiery planets such as Mars, you might pick at the height of the day, in full sunlight, perhaps on a Sunday. For lunar herbs, you might choose a day ruled by the moon or water elements, such as Monday, or Friday.
You could then dry the herbs for a set period, before beginning the tincturing process on the day and hour that best suits your intent. If, for example, you are tincturing a herb to reduce inflammation, you might begin the process, and press it at the end, on a day that has links with cool, calming planets.
You might choose to put your tincture under the moon, or begin and complete the process in alignment with particular moon phases, depending on the plant you have chosen to work with. If you decide to expose your tincture to full sunlight, it is best to do so only briefly, especially in hot weather — excessive heat can alter some of the herb’s constituents.
For a more complex and wondrous approach, spagyric tincturing offers a fascinating, if lengthy process, far too long to include in this article. It is also considered good practice to give your tincture a good shake at least every other day; why not use this process as an opportunity to infuse some positive intent into the medicine?
Adding to the menstruum — what sort of water preparation to use, and why?
When working with strong grain alcohol, it usually needs to be diluted, and this can be done with a variety of different water based preparations. My favourites include a cold or hot infusion of the plant, a decoction, juice of the plant, or an aromatic water where appropriate. The latter can either be bought from a reputable supplier, or, if you own an alembic, you might choose to have a go at making your own. As with the basic methods of tincture making, you might also choose to infuse some intent into the making of the tea, decoction or aromatic water, timing the creation appropriately. It is important to allow your hot preparation to cool completely before combining it with the alcohol. I have noticed a distinct difference in a Nettle leaf tincture, for example, when made using a strong, slow decoction of Nettle leaf instead of just water as part of the water component. It somehow seems deeper, richer, and contains more of the true essence of the plant’s character, made simply with leaves, alcohol, and water.
The work is what you bring to it.
One other area worth a brief discussion is that of intent, or the mental space you are in when making medicines. I try to avoid preparing any medicines if I am feeling grumpy, reactionary, or unwell. Bringing a calm, peaceful mindset to medicine making is, to my mind, every bit as important as the tools I use. You can choose to go a step further than this, however. There are a plethora of other esoteric tips and tricks you might choose to use during your medicine making, from infusing a specific intention into the finished medicine — self care and love into a rose tincture, for example, or the strengthening of boundaries into a tincture of agrimony — all the way across to how you choose to stir the decoction you intend to add. I also like to stir a little positive intent into medicines as I blend them for patients: clockwise for an increase in things, and anticlockwise if the patient needs things to reduce or go away.
Crystals – why I don’t use them.
Crystals are a somewhat thorny topic for some people. I have seen various social media fads featuring crystals being added to water bottles, and it does make me cringe. Without a clear understanding of which crystals may break down in water and alcohol, I absolutely cannot recommend that you add crystals to your medicine making. My other concern is the ecological impact. Many crystals are sourced in ways that directly harm the planet and rely on exploiting people with extremely poor incomes as their workforce.
To conclude, tincture making can be a wondrous tool for braiding enchantment and intent back into your medicine making. Tincture making needn’t be drudgery, but can have many other layers built back into the methodology. Even if you don’t choose to incorporate these extra ideas into every preparation, perhaps you might choose just one or two plants this year to experiment with building a sense of wonder back into your medicine making. I would be delighted to hear how you get on.
Ali English is a herbalist. She has been passionate about herbs since the age of 13, and went on to train at Lincoln University, graduating in 2010. Since then, she has set up a practice in Lincolnshire, which lately focuses on offering herb walks, workshops and a variety of related services where she tries to convey a love of our native herbs and wildflowers to anyone who will listen. Her book, Wild Medicine: A Seasonal Journey with Medicinal Plants, is guide to year round guide to herbalism and the wonders of hedgerow medicine.