“i’ll have my joy.”
don’t rush the making of it - making this elderberry tincture has showed me the importance of being slow + careful (in sweet taurus time)
often I’m very good at birthing things, the slowness of making - however progressing in that. also I likely should have been more careful with my measurements (next time).
steps
picking + foraging for the berries (permission was asked for, permission was granted for a small amount, which I’m glad for because this will be my first homemade tincture and serves as a tester)
washing them multiple times to make sure any living beings within them had made their way out
just the deep purple-black ones, not the red, or the stalks. freezing them for couple of weeks, whilst having to make my tasks
allowing them to dry completely in the dehydrator (takes a couple hours, they need to be spread out singularly as much as able)
waiting for the right time to let them soak in the vodka placed on my altar - used a metal tinned lid and I’m praying it doesn’t rust; the wax paper I purchased wasn’t sufficient - to take account for evaporation, I likely have to top it off with some more vodka (within the scope of a 1:5 ratio, providing that the berries are dried) maybe change [the jar].
Biding my time, not wasting my money, learning to be an elderberry, I’ve given myself the adage “half the tasks, double the time’.
The process has been really saturnic - revealing where and how I need more time and loving, and patience. It’s quite humorous that I started making the tincture before I became unwell, and it’ll finish once my illness has passed. Elderberry herself already seem to have this very ‘elder’-like spirit - fruiting in right circumstance, aiding with symptoms of hurt + sickness, fierce with her sharp truth so you can get right.
In that sense, it reminds me of hibiscus (sabdariffa, or sorrel) - where the tartness really is heart-healing, sometimes without the sweetness of honey; it helps with emotional release and purging.
I have to let it the tincture tender in the dark, for a good 5 - 6 weeks and I’m curious to see what it tastes like once it’s finalised, especially as it’s just elderberry alone.
voila. Once the nutrients from the macerate has been extracted, I believe I’ll lay the fruit in my garden or back with the tree.
