Witch Tip Wednesday 5.23.18
Agua Florida, Not Your Mother’s Swamp Water
Agua Florida, comes from the Spanish meaning: water full of flowers. A lot of people also know it as Florida Water, so I’m giving this translation straight off so you don’t think it’s gator juice or something.
Agua Florida is a perfume that’s been around for ages, and is used in several magical practices (folk magic, Brujeria, Curanderismo, Santeria, Hoodoo and Voodoo) as a ritual tool.
🦇🦇🦇As it’s tied so deeply to these cultures, please be respectful of them, and read responsibly. This post is a glimpse into my culture and my personal craft. It’s also an example of how to use the tutorials on distillation listed in the post!🦇🦇🦇
The scent is pleasing to spirits and is used to invite them to intercede on your behalf in some cases, or “set the mood” for your working. Used for cleansing and charging rooms, blessings, banishments and can be used for purification and offering similar to incense and protection as well. If there’s a situation you would burn incense, use water or herbs, usually it can be done with Florida Water as a catch all. It’s the quartz of scented tools.
Some ways to actually use:
Place in a bowl and let it evaporate as an offering.
Use it to dress candles (just let it dry before lighting because it’s flammable if it’s alcohol based)
Place on pressure points or spray on clothes.
Pour over Epsom salts in a fire proof container and light it OUTSIDE as a spiritual bonfire.
This is the brand most people are familiar with, but this isn’t so much a post about just what you can use Florida Water for, but how to make it yourself.
There are two general methods to making it and for my recipe, I use the tincture method:
Water based, by making a hydrosol. (Hydrosol method takes an afternoon-quicker, but more work and less shelf stable)
Alcohol based, by making a tincture/extract (extract method takes several days to a couple weeks-easier, but takes more time, but more shelf stable)
Your more than welcome to combine the methods, infusing some in water and some in alcohol, but using alcohol will make the Agua Florida more stable.
Now there are tons of recipes for Agua Florida, just use your handy “google spell” if you don’t believe me.
Some common ingredients are roses, jasmine, marigold, orange blossom, cinnamon, allspice, clove, citrus peels, rosemary etc. find a recipe that works for you.
My recipe is a mix of “traditional” ingredients and stuff that connects to me/plants I’ve grown. Down below the break:
Mexican mint/Cuban oregano
Pictured above is my floral mix, and here’s the photo of me gathering them.
Infuse the above first to isolate the floral notes for about a week, the alcohol will become a pinkish/yellow color and most of the fresh plants will become white.
Next, you’ll strain that and infuse the plants that have a stronger scent/dried herbs
This can be done in a separate container, and you can mix after infusion to get the potency you would like, or you could put the dried herbs in floral tincture and check the scent daily until it’s the mix you like.
You can add essential oils if you’d like, just make sure you shake your mix before use every time. I use a couple drops of the below:
Now, I don’t give measurements because it’s up to your preference. It’s ok if every batch is slightly different. You can add herbs that correspond more to your purpose or craft, and some people even put non-soluble crystals in the mix! It’s witchcraft, do what works for you. If you’re using water as part of the base, or to dilute it, you can use living waters like moon, river, snow etc, just distill it first.
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