Five Finger Grass
Not on the shelf right now — call and they will tell you when it lands.
What this is
Sold loose, by the herb. Goes into a bath, a bag, or on top of a candle — the raw material rather than the finished thing.
The practice
What this tradition does with an object like this — how it is used, not a promise about what follows.
How it is used
- 1Sold loose and by the herb, so it is yours to put where it is wanted: into a bath, into a bag, or on top of a dressed candle.
- 2A little goes on the wax, not a handful — anything sitting on a candle will eventually burn.
Working it properly
The craft under the instructions — direction, count and order. This is the part that is normally only said across a counter.
- One of four places, and the choice is the working: steeped into a bath, sewn into a bag, laid on a dressed candle, or burned on charcoal.
- On a candle it is a pinch on the wax and never a handful — anything sitting on a burning candle eventually catches.
- For a bath it is steeped in water off the boil and strained. Poured with the leaf still in it is a bath you will be picking out of the drain.
- Bought for a working rather than in advance. Loose herb keeps, but a jar bought without a purpose is a jar that stays full.
What completes the working
A working is a ladder, not a single object. Each rung below says what the addition does, and shows what Yeye's Botanica carries for it.
the candle the herb is set on, once the oil is on it
steeped and strained, this is what a bottled bath is made of
the bag the herb is sewn into, for anything meant to be carried rather than burned
burned on charcoal when the working wants smoke rather than water
What people get wrong
- Piling it on a candle. It catches.
- Buying the herb before knowing the working, which is how a drawer of unused jars starts.
