One of the things I’m working on this year is working more with planetary energies. I’ve spent a lot of time working with the metals associated with each planet - but not the planets themselves. I think these heavenly bodies have a lot to teach us so one of my goals for the year is to create an oil for each of the seven classical planets. These oils will be used to dress candles and talismans as well as topically for self anointing before or during ritual.
I decided to begin with the Sun - it is after all the center of our solar system. With summer just beginning it was the ideal time to work with this energy. The sun is the planet of joy and vitality. It is commonly worked with for its associations with personal power, wealth, success, creativity, courage, leadership, healing and growth. Its energy is vibrant and expansive, warm and bright. The sun deals with the conscious mind and the outer world. When looking at polarity the sun is “masculine” - it is an active, pushing force. The sun’s balancing counterpart is the moon.
I created this oil in the day and (2nd) hour of the Sun on June 1st. June really is the beginning of summer here in Iowa so it felt like the perfect time. I used the 2nd hour of the sun instead of the traditional 1st hour because in my opinion the midday sun is more potent than dawn. Do whatever feels best for you.
I am imbuing this oil over the period of several weeks, making sure that every Sunday the oil is placed out in the sunlight for at least an hour. I will be doing this up until the day of the summer solstice. The summer solstice is the longest day of the year - meaning it has the most sunlight exposed to my area. By imbuing this oil from early June to summer solstice I am drawing in the power of the sun at its most physically potent. On the solstice I will be decanting and straining the oil of all materia so it can be used for talismanic jewelry. This will fix the oil with the energy it has gathered. You can absolutely make this at a different time of the year or steep it for a longer period of time.
Here are all of the materials I worked with to create this oil.
I started with a base of sunflower oil. Sunflower is so fully associated with the sun that it’s in the name. Sunflowers are bright yellow and exhibit heliotropism - meaning young sunflowers turn their faces to follow the sun.
Dried dandelion petals (the yellow kind) that I harvested in the day and hour of the sun. Dandelions are one of the first harbingers of spring - celebrating the return of the sun. They are also very commonplace here in Iowa so they make great additions to any solar working.
Calendula petals. I have an overabundance of these guys from a recipe I made several years ago. With their golden yellow color these guys are a traditional solar association.
3 coils of 14/20 gold filled wire. These were made from leftover scraps of previous jewelry pieces. No metal goes to waste in my workshop so I’ve been saving these for a while. 14/20 gold filled wire is wire made from 14kt gold and a brass core. The outer 20% of the wire is made from gold. Gold is the metal of the sun so it was important to me to add it to this oil. I love coils for empowering metal - for those not well versed in engineering moving a coil of wire around a magnet is able to create an electrical current through a process called electromagnetic induction. While I’m not using any magnets in this oil I do feel that coils are able to help modify the flow of subtle energies and enhance any magickal work. 3 is a number of power for me (triangles are generally seen as energy generators and a triangle has 3 sides) so I often like to add elements in sets of 3.
3 spirals of brass wire. For me brass can be both solar and martial (ruled by mars). Its shiny golden appearance makes it solar but its energy is slightly more aggressive than gold. I like to add it to solar work but be careful not to let it unbalance the working, always keep the final goal in mind and make sure to tell it what aspects you want it to embody. I find spirals add power but they are less powerful than coils are.
A handful of red agate chips. Red agate is a very fiery material - just like the sun. I stuck to the lighter colored chips for this working
A handful of citrine chips. Citrine is solar due to its yellow coloration and its association with abundance. Its energy is a little more docile than that of red agate.
A handful of carnelian chips. Like red agate, carnelian is a very fiery material. It does have martial tendencies just like brass so make sure to balance it out with your other materials. For me carnelian felt like a good addition when I was pulling materials out of my cabinet - I tend to listen to my intuition over correspondence lists when I’m creating workings from scratch like this.
You could definitely add some dried citrus like orange or lemon to this as well. I’m planning on using this on skin and talismanic jewelry so I didn’t want to add anything too acidic.
Next let's talk about the setup process. I created this oil outside in the sunlight. First I set up my favorite enchanting vessel and cleansed it with some sandalwood incense. This vessel is something I found at a thrift store years ago, it is a candle holder for three taper candles with a glass bowl in the middle. I used three plain white taper candles and kept them lit during the working as my main power source. I then placed a “Sun” tarot card underneath the glass bowl.
Into the glass bowl I added each of the dry materials one by one. Taking time to sit with each material and tell them what I wanted them to help with. Then I let everything charge for a good 30 - 40 minutes. During this time I cleansed the bottle for the oil - I found a cute yellow painted glass bottle in my stash that worked fabulously. And I raised energy for the working by dancing around to “Shut up & Dance” by Walk the Moon on repeat. This song has a very upbeat and happy feeling for me so it was a perfect way to pull in energy from the sunlight around me.
Music is a really important part of my practice as I find listening to a song on repeat is the easiest way for me to drop into a trance state. I generally pick a song whose “vibe” matches what I want to achieve - my ADHD means I can listen to the same song 100 times in a row and not get bored of it. If you're someone who can't stand the same song over and over creating a playlist or a specific chant is another great option. I put on my over ear headphones and really immerse myself in the music - normally singing along, feeling the vibration of each note in my chest. I listened to music from start to finish for this working.
Once I felt I had let the materials charge and raised enough energy for the working I put everything in the bottle then I filled it up with the Sunflower oil. I also added some large glitter flakes because I love the sparkle it adds. Finally I drew a symbol for drawing in solar energy on the bottle in gold sharpie. This symbol is one I commonly use, at the center is the planetary glyph for the sun surrounded by 8 arrows facing inwards. I use this 8 arrow symbol anytime I want to be drawing in a specific flavor of energy.
Like I said at the beginning I will decant this oil on the summer solstice. All of the material in the oil will be strained out so I don't have to worry about them leaving residue on talismans or on skin but this is just personal preference. I plan to dry out all of the strained material and keep it in a jar to add to any other solar workings or to reuse to create more of this oil at a later date - kind of like a sourdough starter.
I hope this recipe has been helpful for you and I’d love to hear any tweaks or twists you add to make it your own. And remember - Keep Making Magick!
-Tempest the Flamewoven Alchemist