Vegetal Musk Oil from Alchemy Works

Illustration of Musk Deer Vegetal Musk Oil
Our vegetal musk is completely natural. Its aroma is rich and complex —earthy, woody, and animalistic —as one would expect from this prized perfumery ingredient, which was originally obtained from the musk glands of adult male musk deer.* Unlike synthetic musk that is formulated from petrochemicals and other manufactured chemicals which can interfere with and disrupt our endocrine system, our vegetal musk is a natural blend of essential oils, including musk seed, labdanum, valerian, costus root, vetiver, and other plants that share similar olfactory properties with animal musk.

Use this oil as a substitute for animal or synthetic musk, 2 bottles of Vegetal Musk Oil and to lend a warm, earthy, and slightly sweet aroma in your own oil blends and natural perfumes. Often considered an aphrodisiac, the scent of botanical musk is calming, grounding, and relaxing. Musk oil has also been used as an aid to lift depression (as have musk seed, valerian root, and other ingredients used for this blend). Musk is associated with Saturn although many of its botanical ingredients are associated with Earth.

As animal lovers ourselves, most of the products we craft are vegan-friendly. However, using botanical ingredients instead of animal parts is a very traditional practice. Since antiquity, animal parts named in magical formulae have not referred primarily to actual animal parts but to parts of plants. This type of coding is found in sources such as the Greek Magical Papyri (composed between 200 BCE to 500 CE), De Materia Medica, a pharmacopeia written by the physician Dioscorides (40-90 CE), and the works of Galen (120-200 CE), a physician at the temple of Asclepias (quite an authoritative pagan when it came to herbs and herbal codes). When medieval and Renaissance grimoires referred to herbal codes in formulae for magical materials, they were referring to these ancient sources. Thus, the secret knowledge remained encrypted, indecipherable to the mundane reader who did not know the codes.

*These small alpine mammals, which are actually more closely related to antelope and goats, have been hunted to the verge of extinction and are now protected by CITES.

Vegetal Musk Oil
1/4 oz. (2 drams/7.5 ml) $18.00

Uses in Witchcraft & Magic:

Musk Substitute
Saturnian Perfumes
Elemental Magic
Love Magic
Grounding/Calming
Emotional Uplift

Using Magic Oils

Try our Vegetal Ambergris Oil