Making Magical Inks

In the Middle Ages, many grimoires and religious texts were written by monks. Their apprentices would make the inks, and it was a tedious process. Magicians have been creating inks for centuries.

I’ve always been interested in making my own inks, whether it be for my Book of Shadows or protection symbols or prayers. Recently, I finally tried making my own inks, with varying results. I made two: one for spirit work and another for necromancy.

This post is less instructional and more about my own journey. My recipe is not perfect, but it worked well enough in the end. If you are interested in making magical inks, read on.

My Universal Ink Recipe

When I researched ink recipes online, I found a variety of different recipes with different ingredients and methods. But after trying a few and tinkering with them, I came up with this:

1. Boil one cup of water.
2. Add two cups of fruits, herbs, or other ingredients for color.
3. Lower it to a simmer, and leave for around 30 minutes.
4. Strain out the solids.
5. Stir in four teaspoons of gum arabic.
6. When it cools, pour it into your desired container.
7. Add one to two drops of thyme or spearmint essential oil to preserve it.​

Before you start, here are some other tools that you’ll need:

• A disposable pot. Inks might stain your pots, and some of the ingredients I use are not edible. To prevent cross-contamination, I recommend buying a disposable pot. I got mine for $6 at Daiso, but you can also get one at a dollar store or thrift shop.
• A strainer, preferably one you don’t use as often.
• A glass or steel bowl to strain the ink into.
• Spoons to stir in the gum arabic. 
• Containers to hold the ink. I recommend glass containers with a sealable lid. Do not use corks; these are too breathable and can dry out the liquid. I bought my ink wells at an antique market, but they did not come with lids, so I used silicone beer stoppers.
• A funnel. This will help you pour the ink into the container.

​What Is Gum Arabic, and Do I Need It?

Gum arabic, which is made from the sap of acacia trees, is a natural thickener. People use it to make glue, watercolor paints, and incense. 

Some online ink recipes do not include gum arabic, but I personally recommend it. If you do not thicken your ink, it will look more like watercolor: light, translucent, washy. That said, the amount of gum arabic you need depends on how you’re using your ink

I made my inks for dip pens. These are pens that I dip into ink and draw with. Because of this, I needed thicker ink, hence the four teaspoons of gum arabic. If you are making ink for fountain pens, you should use less gum arabic, around ½ to one teaspoon. Use too much, and your pen could clog.

Also--If you can find liquid gum arabic, get it! I bought it powdered, and it’s hard to stir in. The powder immediately starts thickening the second it touches liquid, and it takes a while to dissolve it. I have not tried the resin, but I imagine that it is not much easier.

It took a few tries for me to find a suitable gum arabic ratio for my ink. The same might happen for you. If you find a different recipe, let me know in the comments below!

Which Ingredients Color the Ink?

Finding the right ingredients to color your ink could be a challenge. As a general rule, if a food, flower, herb, or liquid stains your fingers when you pick it up, it’s good for ink. Here are some examples that I did not include in the recipes below:

• Turmeric (orange)
• Berries (red, black, purple, or blue)
• Tea bags (brown)
• Red onion skins (purple/red)
• Avocado pits (brown/black)
• Black walnut shells (black)
• Marigold (yellow/orange)
• Ash from paper or wood (black)

If you steep a certain herb or flower, and it creates a specific color, it will also work for ink. Examples include chamomile, peonies, hibiscus, rose, lavender, lily of the valley, and daffodils.

But what about magical associations? After all, the entire point of making magical inks is to make them magical. Here is how I made my own ink recipes:

1. Determine your color and ink.
2. Write down a list of ingredients that will create that color.
3. Research the magical associations of these ingredients.
4. Choose the ingredients that will manifest your intent and create the color.

If you cannot decide which color to choose, check out this post about color magic and correspondence lists.

If you want your ink to have more magic, consider adding incense, graveyard dirt, moon water, tea bags, or herbs. I’ll provide some examples of how I made my own magical inks below.

Red Ink for Spirit Work

My first ink was designed to enhance spirit work. I want to use it to draw protection symbols and summoning circles, and I made it red.

First, I wrote down a list of ingredients that could make ink red: raspberries, turmeric, marigolds, red onion skins, and rooibos tea were some contenders. In the end, I settled on these ingredients:

• Beets. These are often used as substitutes for blood and in banishing spells.
• Red roses. I often offer roses to spirits to calm them.
• Dragon’s blood. This is a common ingredient in magical inks. Dragon’s blood incense is often burnt for both protection and spirit communication. I used the incense.​

Specifically, I added one cup of chopped beets, two tablespoons of dried rose petals, and two cones of dragon’s blood incense. 

To say that this mixture smelled weird while simmering was an understatement. But it made a deep, purplish red color close to blood, which is what I wanted. After following the recipe I detailed above, here is how it turned out.

It is a light, purplish red color. I have to shake it before using, similar to other inks. If you want to make it more red, perhaps you can add more rose petals than I did.

Black Ink for Necromancy

My next ink was black, and I wanted to gear it toward death witchcraft, specifically. I’m going to use it for necromancy symbols, decorating bones, and writing prayers to my ancestors.

Although there are many ingredients that can create black ink, I settled on charcoal. It is essentially ash and appears dark enough (or so I thought).

After examining many different ingredients, I came up with this list:

• Charcoal blocks. Historically, many magicians used charcoal to write in grimoires. It was viewed as a “cure all” against diseases, psychic attacks, and protection.
• Myrrh. Called the “oil of holy ointments” in the Bible, this incense became common in necromancy spells. It is often burned to purify magic tools and attract spirits.
• Graveyard dirt. I wrote about its uses here. I used graveyard dirt from my grandfather’s grave, which is sometimes called “ancestor powder.”
• Coffee. Coffee is a spell booster that adds more power to the ink. If my charcoal ended up not working, the coffee would provide some color.
• Cemetery water (optional). ​

As soon as the charcoal blocks hit the water, they disintegrated. Charcoal does not dissolve, but it does “melt” into the water. I only had myrrh incense sticks, so I scraped off the incense into the water. I added two tablespoons of coffee and a tiny bit of graveyard dirt. 

The mixture smelled like myrrh, moreso than coffee. To remove most of the charcoal powder, I had to strain the ink a few times. The coffee seemed to dissolve right into the water. 

Unfortunately, this ink turned out more brown than black. If I were to do this again, I would use more charcoal. I only used two blocks for this recipe, so in the future, I’ll use four or five. Like the previous ink, I also need to shake it before using.

Would You Create Magical Ink?

What do you think about these magical ink recipes? Do you want to make your own, and if so, for what purpose? Do you have a better recipe than me? This was my first time making inks, and I have a long way to go. Let me know what you think in the comments below.