I was sitting in on a magickal chat with Laurie Cabot some time ago and she was telling us about how she and her daughter Penny make Pomanders each year.
Did you know that Pomanders have their roots in Witchcraft? You can create a Pomander to bring you energy of protection, healing and luck. They were often given as gifts for Yule or to celebrate the New Year.
The word Pomander comes from the old French word “pomme d’ambre” or apple of amber. It can be a ball made for perfumes or a small container of herbs and spices that you would use to make an area smell nice like a closet. It can also mean a piece of fruit done up with cloves and hung up by a ribbon used in the same manner.
To make them you need some oranges, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, wire, ribbon, toothpicks and perhaps some orris root.
You first want to bring the wire through your orange. Start by making the wire go all the way through your orange giving yourself enough space at the top so that you can hang it somewhere. You may want to make a loop at the bottom to attach your ribbon to or maybe some mistletoe or a pine cone.
You can then create your pattern in your orange. Choose something that appeals to you or has meaning to you. Poke holes with toothpicks first and then you can insert the cloves where you want them. After the cloves you can add the ribbon. Red and gold is traditional but I’m always a fan of doing things that have meaning to you so I encourage you to choose what means the most to you.
When done you can hang them for a couple of days in your home as decoration and then you will need to dry them before they mold. To dry them there are a couple of things that you can do. The dehydrator is the most effective method. If your dehydrator is anything like mine you may want to slice up the oranges and then string them up after. If you don’t have a dehydrator you can hang them in a dark cool closet for several weeks until they are dry.
Before you dry them prepare the mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger to roll them in. It will help them to smell amazing. I also included orris root as I have heard that it can help with preserving them but it’s not something I have personally tried.
Once they are dry they will last quite some time and smell amazing. Laurie told us about how her Mother use to have one hanging in the car when she was little. If you wish in the future you can add some essential oils to them to make them smell longer.
Have a magickal day!
Much Love and Many Blessings,
Jasmeine Moonsong
How To Create A Pomander For the Holidays
