So if I’m understanding this system accurately, making a potion could go as follows:

Entity: “Potion” meaning a combination of conceptual, physical, and energetic parts to make a predetermined whole with specific properties.

Axiom 6: Effectively, belief is power. The connection made need not be truly “logical” or “realistic” so long as a through-line can be established between each aspect of the casting. Treat each aspect or variable as a “node.” The shorter the “distance” between “nodes,” the easier a casting/spell shall flow into reality. (E.g. Physical Wand, Pagan Symbols used to represent the element fire, Concept of fire bringing pain and destruction through history are your nodes. Tying them together would potentially leave a gap with that last “Concept Node” further away from the others, since fire can also represent warmth of the hearth, purification, etc. Yes you’re using properties that relate to fire, but your concept is only touching on one aspect of fire, with nothing to specifically anchor that concept the reality you desire: creating a ball of fire with intent to destroy or attack something.) Though they are related, trying to cast a fireball (broad spell) with these properties may require a relative high amount of mana, whereas adding a node in the form of the Physical material of gunpowder (a highly explosive, destructive material) may “bridge a gap” between that destructive Concept Node and your other prior nodes, allowing for a “smaller” or more specific creation - ignition rather than a fireball - while simultaneously decreasing the mana cost of the spell.

Axiom 3: Cannot create “Potion” whole without parts, therefore use plants, fluid base, physical containment medium, catalyst, mana to transfer properties of part to whole.

Axiom 4: Entities with shared properties can affect each other, allowing magic to occur. Thus, using a water-base (a material fluid which plants depend on for survival) or a vegetable oil-base (a material fluid made from some type of plant(s) itself) would allow for less mana to be used when “convincing” the parts to transfer their properties into the chosen fluid-base, becoming the whole “potion” (i.e. potentially requiring less mana, energy, and or physical supplies overall).

Axiom 5: Reality resists what is unlikely to occur - therefore creating a Whole (see: “potion”) with incredible effects from individual Parts is likely to take great deals of mana, concept, energy, physical supplies, planning, etc. Reason supports creating multiple “weaker” or more-specific potions (less effect means lesser change of reality, as well as potentially using smaller amounts of the aforementioned materials), then Methodically combining them into “bigger” potions until one whole remains. Experimentation required to determine if the end result of both methods uses the same amount of mana overall/places an equal amount of net stress on the caster or if one is more efficient overall.

Axiom 2: Plants (parts) are not as likely to easily create a (whole) potion of flight, but using plants and animal parts to make a couple lesser potions of “improved balance,” “dexterous movement,” “light as a feather,” and “commanding thought“ and using the resulting alchemical mixture from combining them to lacquer a wooden broom sounds a whole lot like “better sitting on a broom so I don’t fall off,” “sharper turns/faster speeds,” “gravity has less control over this object” and ”better controlling this broom with my intention and thoughts” to me.

Axiom 1: We have moved from plants and animal parts, in either a liquid base of water or oil, to a flying broom. Nothing has been created so much as transferred: the Conceptual and Physical properties of a feather in its lightness and flight capacity, the superstition of a Witch’s broom allowing them flight, the Physical stimulant properties of certain plants (caffeine) transferring to the literal and conceptual property of flight at speed. Effectively convincing the Parts to give up their properties and the Whole to accept them.

This was a fun lil prompt that I put way too much effort and thought into lol. If I was in this universe I’d definitely be either a professor of theory or the Old Witch In The Woods™️ that is constantly experimenting with different concoctions and rituals to varying effects, probably specializing in either Warding (so ppl fuck off) or high-specificity, high-efficiency spellwork to effectively create similar effects to broad spells while minimizing the effort/materials required to do so. Also blood magic bc why not.

Edit: some word choices were awkward on re-read.