We’re back with another Yuletide gift idea to make for yourself or your loved ones! The Magickal Dream Pillow!
There’s a lot that can be said about these pillows–everything from “they’re just placebo” to “they work wonders” to “…haven’t these been around since the middle ages?” And all these statements are correct!
In this application, the herbs and flowers you’re using inside the pillow are chosen for their magickal or spiritual properties, rather than their medicinal ones. So, in a way, if you believe they will work, they will work (which is like the placebo effect). Some people are greatly affected by dream pillows; some are slightly affected.
As for the Middle Ages…
In an herbal I have that is a collection of recipes involving roses, one of the recipes was for a sweet bag (aka sachet or dream pillow), originally published in 1606 in Little Dodoen:
“Take dry rose leaves keep them in a glass which will keep them sweet and then take powder of mints, powder of cloves in a grosse powder. Put the same to the Rose leaves then put all these together in a bag and take that to bed with you and it will cause you to sleep, and it is good to smell unto at other times.”
This particular blend works well for anxiety, as well. This is one of the items I made and sell for SCA re-enactment folks. Apparently, it works for dogs, too, as a friend of mine had a couple of very anxious pups who loved having the sachet near them.
You can really use just about anything in the pillows. You can also make them any size; just remember, you’re filling them with herbs.
My fabric was about 5″ to 6″ squares. I use about 1/4″ seam allowance and just a straight stitch. The grey pillow contains 2T each of lavender and chamomile (and it resides under my pillow). The gold and red pillow contains about 1.5T each of cloves, rosemary, and mugwort (and it resides under Cameraman Ken’s pillow).
The lavender pillow is just to help with sleep. It seems to work alright for me. It’s not an overpowering scent, either, so it’s not giving me allergy issues. The mugwort pillow is for “inspired dreams,” meaning it’s meant for relaxation and divination. You’ll remember from the blog about the Divination Tea for Samhain that mugwort is used to elevate your psyche. Cameraman Ken hasn’t mentioned any of his dreams to me, so I will simply assume it’s doing what it’s supposed to and his dreams just aren’t insane like mine, so he doesn’t remember them.
You could make a dream pillow with the recipe for the sweet bag and set it in your pet’s bed if your pet is prone to anxiety. Let me know how it works if you decide to do that. Also, I will require pictures of your pet with their pillow. Or just your pet.
That’s all for this week. Next week, we’ll have another couple of videos, one of which will be a Yule ritual, so make sure you’re following me all the places!
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