Messages From the Universe

Things On The Blog have been pretty quiet lately, mostly because Things In Real Life have been anything but quiet. IB and I find ourselves with three elderly parents between us who are increasingly reliant on our help with day to day living. As they become less able-bodied and begin to struggle with cognitive issues we've taken on more and more caring duties. It's been one of those situations that has rather snowballed in recent months, in that what was initially just a small amount of extra work has begun to seem all-encompassing. I work days and IB works evenings so his Mum - who now lives with us and is physically very frail - always has someone at home with her if she needs anything. My parents only live a 20 minute drive away, but they are also increasingly reliant on my help so I have had to drastically cut my work schedule so that I have enough time to assist them. Our social life has pretty much shrunk to zero, and we don't even get to spend that much time with each other. 

The last few weeks have been especially stressful, with lots of medical issues and appointments for all three parents, a blizzard of paperwork and officialdom to deal with, the death of several household appliances (why do they all break at once?) and all the kind of SNAFUs usually thrown up when Mercury is in retrograde. I find myself fantasising wistfully about going on retreat - or even just running away for the afternoon to sit in blissful peace in the woods. 

Yesterday as I walked to work after parking the car I was feeling incredibly stressed and overwhelmed by everything, wondering if I am actually strong enough to cope with it all. Part of the pavement was coned off due to some kind of groundworks in progress, so I stepped out into the road to go around the obstruction. As I did, I spotted something on the ground. It looked like a shell, and I wondered how on earth it had got there - and how something as fragile as a shell has survived lying in the middle of the road. I nearly stepped over it, but curiosity got the better of me and I picked it up, expecting to find it was actually just a pebble that looked like a shell. Yet as my fingers closed around it, I realised it really was a shell. 

Now I should mention at this point that this isn't the first time I've found a strange object in my path. I call it pavement divination - when I find these oddities I think of them as messages from the Universe and pay attention to what they may be telling me. A while ago I was working on self-care and heart magic and I found a tiny 'Ace of Hearts' charm in my path while walking to work. I took that as a sign of encouragement that I was on the right track. And of course, there was that whole dead frog thing many years ago. 

I turned the shell over in my hand, and saw that it was filled with cement. I think it had come from  the hard core that had either been excavated during the groundworks, or was waiting to backfill the hole. It seems incredible to me that something as fragile as a shell - even one filled with cement - could have survived being dug up, knocked about, and thrown down onto the road in a town centre. And yet here it was, nestled in the palm of my hand. It had sustained some chips and scratches, but it had weathered it all. 

I smiled, closing my fingers around this small miracle, this battered but resilient treasure. If this small shell can endure the tough times and come out intact then so can I. 

And then the Universe sent another message. As I straightened up, a car horn sounded behind me, reminding me I was still standing in the road. I turned to wave an apology at the driver, only to see it was one of my closest friends driving past and waving in greeting. This is a friend who has always been there for me, someone who I know has my back and who I love dearly. Of all the cars that could have driven by at that moment... It seemed like the Universe wanted to remind me that not only am I resilient enough to get through this challenging period, but that I am lucky enough to have wonderful, loving, supportive people in my life.

My miracle shell is now on my altar, and I will keep it as a token to help me remember in the tough times that I am stronger than I think - and that I am not alone.      

Winter Blessings and Beauties, Day 64: Tarot Year Card

 

The beginning of a new year is an obvious time for divination. If you use the tarot, you have very likely already read your cards for the year ahead. But there's another way the tarot can guide you through the next 12 months: your tarot year card. This method uses a kind of numerology based on your birth date to pick a card which indicates the issues and lessons to be learned during the course of the year. Even if you're not familiar with the tarot and don't own a tarot deck, you can still work out your year card (and it's easy to find the meanings for the card you've picked online).

Winter Blessings and Beauties: Day 64

Tarot Year Card

To work out your Tarot Year Card, add together your birth day and month with the digits of the year ahead to get a 4-digit number. So for example, if you were born on 17th May, your calculation would look like this: 

    17

    05

2021

2043

When you have found your 4-digit number, add the 4 digits together. In our example you would therefore add together 2 + 0 + 4 + 3 = 9

If your answer is a number between 1-21 then that is the number of your Tarot Year Card. If the calculation gives an answer higher than 21 (e.g. 25), add the digits together to get a number within the range 1-21 (e.g. 2 + 5 = 7). 

The number you end up with should correspond with one of the Major Arcana Tarot Cards, as listed below:

1. Magician
2. High Priestess
3. Empress
4. Emperor
5. The Lovers
6. The Hierophant/Pope
7. The Chariot
8. Strength
9. The Hermit
10. The Wheel of Fortune
11. Justice
12. The Hanged Man
13. Death
14. Temperance
15. The Devil
16. The Tower
17. The Star
18. The Moon
19. The Sun
20. Judgement
21. The World

If you're not familiar with the meanings of the cards, there are plenty of online sites (such as this one) which can help you interpret your card.  

.     

Winter Blessings and Beauties, Day 62: New Year's Day

 

Today a whole New Year lies ahead of us, as clean and unmarked as a fresh fall of snow.  

Winter Blessings and Beauties: Day 61

New Year's Day

A day to look ahead. To imagine possibilities. To make plans. 

What are your hopes for the coming months? It may help to journal about them, to refine your ideas and perhaps begin thinking about the concrete steps you could take to bring them to fruition. If you have a favourite method of divination, you could do a reading for yourself asking about the year ahead. 

Happy New Year!    

Winter Blessings and Beauties, Day 56: The Twelve Days of Christmas

Most people know about The Twelve Days of Christmas via the traditional song listing an array of strange gifts - including 'A Partridge in a Pear Tree' - that 'My True Love Sent to Me'. I had always assumed that the gifts were sent in the run-up to Christmas, but actually the Twelve Days of Christmas commence on 26th December, the day after Christmas. 

According to Caitlin Matthews, the Twelve Days of Christmas are called 'Omen Days' in Wales and Brittany (click through to the link for her full explanation of this). Each of the twelve days corresponds to a month in the coming year - the first day (today, 26th December) corresponds to January, the second day - 27th December - to February, and so on. The idea is that on each day you look out for an oracle which forecasts what you can expect for the corresponding month of the year ahead. You can either take note of events or occurrences during each day, or you can use a divinatory system such as the runes or tarot for your predictions. 

Winter Blessings and Beauties: Day 56

The Twelve Days of Christmas

Starting from today, until Twelfth Night (6th January) keep alert for oracles forecasting the months of the year ahead. Or do daily divinations using the method of your choice to get your forecast.      

Celebrating Samhain - and Hallowe'en - in Lockdown

Note: To be clear, for the purposes of this post when I write about Hallowe'en, I mean the secular, spooky, fancy dress, witches-pumpkins-spiders-bats-ghosts-and-ghoulies fun and games which occurs on 31st October. When I write about Samhain, I'm referring to the Pagan festival which occurs on the same date but which marks the Pagan New Year, a time when the veils between the worlds thin and we honour our ancestors, celebrate the dark half of the year and practise divination etc (pumpkins optional).

As life began to return to something more closely resembling 'normality' over the summer I began to think there was no need for further posts on 'How to Celebrate [Festivals] in Lockdown'. For that reason there was no such post for the Autumn Equinox/Mabon. Yet it seems I was a bit premature in my optimism. Many areas of England are now in Category 3 Lockdown, and here in Wales the whole country is currently on a 17-day 'firebreak' lockdown which will cover the weeks either side of Samhain. It's not really surprising, given the British Government's woefully inept response to the Pandemic. So here we are again, and we are likely to find ourselves back here again in the future before this is all over. So let's take a look at some things we could do to celebrate Hallowe'en and Samhain - or both - even if we're restricted by lockdown measures.

Ideas for Celebrating Hallowe'en at Home

I have seen people complaining on social media that 'Hallowe'en is cancelled this year!'. I imagine they mean that children can't go trick or treating as they normally would, but Hallowe'en is about far more than trick or treating, even if that is the current cliché. You may not be able to go door-to-door trick or treating with the kids this year, but don't worry - there is still plenty of Hallowe'en fun to be had. Here are some ideas of Hallowe'en activities you can enjoy together, if you are in a lockdown area:

• Throw a Hallowe'en party for the family. Decorate the house with spooky things - you can keep the kids busy beforehand drawing and cutting out spiders, bats, ghosts, etc to hang up. Prepare some spooky food - cut sandwiches into ghost or skull shapes and decorate them, turn a pot of hummus into 'frog spawn' by adding a few drops of green food colouring, use icing to decorate chocolate cake, cookies or brownies with piped white 'spiderweb' icing - or make traditional fare like pumpkin soup and apple pie. Dim the lights, light a few candles and tell each other spooky stories. Or if that's too scary put on a DVD of a classic kids Hallowe'en movie like Hocus Pocus.
• One year I kept my friend's kids busy all day making a life-sized witch figure (a bit like a Bonfire Night Guy). We used a couple of old pairs of tights stuffed with newspaper for her arms, legs and head. A pillow-case stuffed with newspaper formed her body. Then we dressed her up in a fine witchy costume cobbled together from my black clothes and a pair of my boots. We made a mask for her face and a witch's hat out of black card. Then we sat her on the toilet in the downstairs cloakroom and had great fun listening to the shrieks of the unsuspecting adult members of the household as they returned from work and walked in on 'Winnie' unawares! 
• The whole family could have a fancy dress competition. Make sure you have enough prizes for everyone. You may need to invent a few categories like 'Best Witch', 'Best Monster', 'Cleverest Idea', 'Creepiest Mask' etc to ensure everyone wins something, but if you do it will ensure no squabbles erupt! If you can't be with extended family and friends, you could check in with them via Zoom or Skype and admire each others costumes to extend the fun.
• Have a ghost story writing competition and read them to each other by firelight. Smaller children could draw or paint pictures of pumpkins or black cats (or dinosaurs if they prefer!). Finish the evening with all the lights on and big comforting mugs of cocoa to settle everyone down before bedtime!
• Try some traditional Hallowe'en party games like apple bobbing.
• Make a special Hallowe'en playlist (suggestions to get you started: 'Thriller' by Michael Jackson, 'The Monster Mash' by Bobby 'Boris' Pickett and the Crypt Kickers, the theme song from The Addams Family, 'The Time Warp' from the Rocky Horror Show, 'Ghostbusters' by Ray Parker Jr) and have a Hallowe'en disco for the whole family. You could have themed dances too - 'Dance to this one like a zombie!' 'How would a witch/werewolf/mummy dance?'
• Carve pumpkins together (obviously younger children will need close supervision and probably a lot of help!). To get the most out of your pumpkin, don't forget to read this!

Ideas for celebrating Samhain in the countryside or at the beach/park

• The weather is less likely to be kind at this time of year, but if you can get out for a walk, it's a great opportunity to get in touch with nature at a time of year when there is much change to observe. What bird or animal species are in your area? Some species are going into hibernation, or growing a winter pelt or plumage. Some, such as deer, are in their breeding season. Plants are going to seed or dying back. Now is a good time to familiarise yourself with how trees look without their leaves. Many have distinctive shapes that make identification possible even when you only have bare branches to go by.
• Gather fallen leaves, twigs, nuts, seedpods, stones, flowers etc to make into a mandala as an offering to the Spirits of the Land - there's a great article about making and working with mandalas in nature here. Or take some home to decorate your altar and honour the trees as they prepare for their winter slumber.
• At the beach, write messages to your ancestors in the sand at the shoreline, and let the water carry them away as the incoming waves slowly dissolve the words.
• If you would like to forage some wild foods for a seasonal feast at this time of year, look out for apples, sloes and bullaces (wild plums), sweet chestnuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, or beechnuts.

Ideas for celebrating Samhain in your garden

• Create a shrine to your Ancestors in a corner of the garden (a spot in the west, direction of the setting sun and the Celtic otherworld would be most appropriate). This could be as simple as a cairn (pile of stones) with each stone representing a different Ancestor, or as elaborate as you care to make it. As the sun sets, use it as a focus point for a ritual to honour your Ancestors and Beloved Dead. Create sacred space in your preferred way, then light a tealight for each person you wish to honour and remember, saying "[their name], be welcome this night!" aloud as you do so. Spend as much time as you need with them, telling them what you want them to know and listening for any answers or messages. When you are finished, pour a libation to them. Then thank and bid farewell to each of them in turn, extinguishing their tealight as you do so. Devoke/open your sacred space.
• The second Full Moon of the month - making it a Blue Moon - falls on Samhain this year. This would be a great time to practise your scrying! Within sacred space, take a dark coloured bowl and half fill it with water. Under the light of the full moon, gaze into the bowl allowing your gaze to become soft. Breathe slowly and deeply, keeping your gaze soft and your mind receptive. After a little while you may see images in the water, or they may seem to form in your mind's eye. Don't try to control or force the images, just let them come. When you are ready, set down the bowl and write down what you have seen in your journal, in as much detail as possible. Devoke/open your sacred space.
• If you are able to have a bonfire in your garden, use it to celebrate the Pagan New Year. Gather fallen leaves and write on them with a marker pen the things that you wish to shed and leave behind in the old year. Feed them one at a time into the flames, to be transformed. Have a small dish of sunflower or pumpkin seeds ready. Eat a seed for each of the things you wish for in the coming year and state your intention to make them a reality (e.g. "I will enrol on the astrology course I want to do", "I will create a productive vegetable patch to help feed my family"). Say 'So Shall It Be' to seal your intention. Now celebrate - raise a glass of celebratory mead or mulled wine, toast marshmallows round the fire, sing songs.
• Keep an eye out for shooting stars if the night sky is clear, as the Southern Taurids Meteor Shower will be peaking towards the end of the month. Don't forget to make a wish if you see one!

Ideas for celebrating Samhain in your home

• Create an altar to honour your Ancestors and Beloved Dead. Place photos, mementos, family heirlooms etc on it and use it as a focus for communing with them at Samhain.
• Prepare a feast of the food most loved by your Ancestors and Beloved Dead, and sit down to share it with them. It may be a strange mixture of dishes (for example, my own Feast for the Ancestors typically includes custard tarts for my Granddad, Stilton cheese for my Grandpa, ice cream for my Nanna, grapes for my Gan (Gran), a cup of tea for my Cousin Enid and friend Ivy, and a saucer of tinned tuna for the cats who are no longer with us). Yet strangely, it brings back so many happy memories that it is delicious. While you eat, tell their stories (even if you are alone) and relive the sweet times you shared together. Any uneaten food at the end of the evening can be left overnight for the spirits and then placed outside as an offering to the local wildlife. 
• There are online Samhain rituals on 29th October here, or 30th October here, or you can join the famous annual Spiral Dance in San Francisco which is happening online on 31st October this year here. 
• Samhain is a wonderful time for divination. Use your preferred method, or try something different - tarot, runes, scrying, dowsing, tasseomancy, the I-Ching.  If you read the tarot, there is an excellent Samhain tarot spread here. If you have friends who also enjoy divination, you could swap readings for each other via the phone or online.

A magical and blessed Samhain to you all.  

New Moon Musings

Cards from my favourite decks

Top row: The Gaian Tarot by Joanna Powell Colbert

Bottom row: The Green Wheel Oracle by Danielle Barlow

The fierce, stormy weather today has me feeling not much inclined to leave the house. Instead I have a strong introspective urge. I decided to simply sit with this feeling and let it instruct me. This is the upside of lockdown. I don't have to be anywhere or do anything in particular, even if I had plans for today I can be flexible and change them on a whim. The 'normality' that we are all saying we want to get back to really doesn't allow this most of the time. We have work schedules - and chore rotas to fit round our work schedules - and obligations and social calendars and set routines. We put ourselves under pressure to be busy and productive at all times, and beat ourselves up if we fall short. How lovely to be able to take this time out of time and sit with ourselves and listen - really listen - to that quiet inner voice which is too often drowned out by the everyday clamour. 

My inner voice says it's OK to pause and cocoon for a little while. To just be with my thoughts. I intuitively felt the need to take some time out, do some serious cleansing (both of myself and the house!) and perhaps a little divination - I feel that itch to get out my tarot and oracle cards and see what they have to tell me.

Then I realised that there is a new moon this evening, at 6.38pm. So as I write, we are in the last phase of the old moon. What an appropriate time to pause for a breather, to clear away any stagnant energies, to look ahead to what the next instalment may be! 

This is my plan for the rest of the day:

• Make and use a home-made salt body scrub for myself
• Use incense and singing bowl to clear the energy of the house
• Check in with my divining tools 
• Finish clearing out and filing my messy paperwork drawer (a job I started a few days ago and have yet to complete).

If you would like to do some deep cleansing, here is my recipe for a salt body scrub to use in the shower or bath.

Salt Body Scrub Recipe

Ingredients*

Salt

Grapeseed Oil

Essential oils of your choice

Method

Put a couple of handfuls of salt (preferably seasalt, but you can use good old fashioned table or kitchen salt if that's all you have) into a bowl. Pour over just enough grapeseed oil to coat the salt, but not so much that it's swimming in oil. Add a few drops of essential oil and stir the mixture well. 

To use, take a little on your fingertips and rub in gentle circular motions into damp skin whilst in the shower or bath, then rinse off. The salt will exfoliate any dead skin cells and the oil will moisturise. Don't use it on sore or broken skin.

* Note on ingredients: 

• You can use any kind of salt, but the coarser it is the harsher it will be on your skin. Really coarse salt is best reserved for a foot scrub. I like to use salt because of it's purifying qualities, but if you have scratches on your skin, the salt will sting - so you could consider using sugar instead which will have the same exfoliating qualities but won't sting. For a facial scrub, substitute a softer substance like ground almonds or oatmeal for the salt. 
• You can use any kind of liquid vegetable oil. I like grapeseed because it's quite light and also inexpensive (it's my choice of carrier oil when I'm doing aromatherapy massage) but any oil you have to hand will do. You could even make a blend of different oils. 
• Don't be tempted to put in too many drops of essential oil. Remember they are very concentrated and too much could irritate your skin. I would use a maximum of 3-4 drops for the quantity given in this recipe. 
• I find it easiest to just make as much as I need each time, but if you want to you can scale up the quantities and make a jarful. The salt and essential oils are both great preservatives, so it won't go off quickly. But bear in mind that the oil will eventually go rancid (you can preserve it a bit longer by adding wheatgerm oil or a few drops of vitamin E oil), though this is unlikely to happen before you've used it all up!   

ThriftWitch: Creating Personal Oracle Cards

I've been thinking for a while about creating my own Oracle Cards. I've made oracle sets before, mostly runestones from painted pebbles or air-drying clay - some using the standard Elder Futhark runes and others with my own invented symbols etched into them. Last autumn I taught a workshop during which the participants made their own divination sets. Most people opted to make oracle cards and I've been itching to make my own set ever since. The lockdown means I have time on my hands, so I've finally started.

Home made air-drying clay Elder Futhark rune set

I found some blank playing/tarot cards (to decorate yourself) cheaply online - but you could also use craft card or re-use packaging card/cereal boxes, or old birthday or Christmas cards cut to size (if you re-cycle card, you may like to cover the backs with wrapping paper or something similar so they are uniform).The blank cards come in a pack of 100, which is way more than I'm intending to make, but the extras mean I can afford to experiment and make mistakes. Unlike a Tarot deck which has a standard number of cards (78), oracle decks can have as few or as many cards as you like. I imagine I will start with a certain number of cards but probably add to them over time as new images suggest themselves. 

My first step was to give much thought to what my symbols would be. I already had a good idea of my own personal symbolic language, so I started a list which I added to as more symbols occurred to me. I believe the meaning of symbols is a very personal thing, and as I wrote in The Clean-Start Soap Spell the accepted symbolic meaning of something may be completely different to what it means to you (I gave the example that Frankincense may mean 'higher spiritual connection' to one person, but to someone with an oppressive religious upbringing it may speak more of repression, guilt or fear). Symbols are how our subconscious communicates with us, and will be as individual as our experiences and memories. So while books which claim to interpret dream imagery or symbols may be a useful jumping-off point, it is always more important to trust your own instincts and feelings about what things mean. Once you do, it makes understanding messages from the subconscious (dreams, images from guided meditation or trancework etc) much easier!

Starting my list of symbols

For example, in my own personal language of symbols swallows mean joy (and summer). A hand with a spiral on the palm represents power and manifestation. A frog means change and/or initiation. And so on. My symbols are mostly nature-based, drawn largely from observing and interacting with the land around my home, but your own personal language of symbols may be inspired by very different experiences and imagery. Go with what your subconscious knows and understands. You could even use characters, images and events from the canon of a well-loved fictitious world - Hogwarts, Middle Earth, Sunnydale?

I initially intended to draw/paint the images on my cards but ultimately (mostly through lack of trust in my artistic ability!) decided to collage the cards, with some added hand-drawn decoration where appropriate. I had an idea in my head for what I would like for most of the cards, and also did a few preliminary sketches, which helped get the creative juices flowing.  

With an idea of the cards I would be creating, I started to look through old magazines to find suitable pictures. This was instructive as I found not only symbols I'd already listed but also some that spoke to me which hadn't been included on my original list - so that got longer. The images I found also helped me refine or revise the design of each card. For example I'd originally envisioned a 'Tree of Life' to symbolise Ancestors and Descendants, but having found a wonderful photo of an old hand holding beautiful ripe apples I immediately revised my ideas for the card (apple trees in my own personal symbolic language being inextricably tied up with my grandparents and my childhood). I then found a beautiful black and white photo of an old, wrinkled hand holding that of a child, and together the two images sum up the meaning of the card perfectly for me.  


Then - gulp - it was time to bite the bullet and begin putting the cards together. Having cut out the images I intended to use, I laid them out on the cards before sticking them down to check that they'd look as I expected them to. This enabled me to change the composition around, and in some cases I found the pictures didn't gel together the way I'd hoped, so had to find new images or re-design a few cards. Once I was happy with the way they looked, I stuck them onto the card with PVA glue, and trimmed the edges where needed. Using permanent fine-liner marker pens, I added symbols to some of the cards. 

I found the cards had a tendency to curl up slightly after being collaged because of the glue, but this was easily remedied by pressing them under a heavy book once the glue was dry. 

I think this is going to be a continually developing Oracle set, as new symbols occur to me or I find suitable images to use. It may be that I have to draw/paint some cards if I can't find the right pictures to collage. But I'm very happy with how they're turning out so far.

Here are a few of the finished cards.

Top Row, L-R: 

• 'The Moon' - The unconscious mind, dreams, intuition, night
• 'Sparrows' - Community, negotiating with others
• 'Blackbird' - Beauty, pleasure
• 'Snail' - Home, security, 'baggage'

Bottom Row, L-R:

• 'Blackthorn' - Protection, defence, isolation
• 'Spiral Hand' - Power, manifestation
• 'Ancestors/Descendants' - Family, heritage, humanity, past/future, legacy
• 'Snowdrops' - New beginnings, spring

Let me know how your cards turn out if you decide to make some!

ThriftWitch: Candle Magic Part 2 (or How to Get the Most Out of Your Candles)

Pagans tend to be fond of candles, both for ritual and magical use, and for the soft ambience they create in the home. But what to do with the left over candle wax? It's such a waste to just throw it away. Luckily you don't need to. There are so many uses for candle wax, you'll never throw another candle stub away once you have read this post.

A little candle info first. In earlier, pre-gas and electric times people used tallow (rendered animal fat) to make candles but apparently it didn't smell too good and tended to produce a lot of soot! Beeswax candles were available but were prohibitively expensive for all but the wealthiest in society. Those who couldn't even afford tallow candles had to make do with rush lights - strips of the inner pith from rushes soaked in grease. Nowadays there are three different types of wax commonly used to make candles: paraffin wax, soy wax and beeswax. Paraffin wax - derived from petroleum - is the most common and the cheapest. Many people prefer soy or beeswax candles but they are more expensive. Some candles blend wax types - read the label if you're unsure! You can use most types of wax interchangeably in the following suggestions, or blend different waxes together - I have specified where this is not the case.

Make New Candles

This is probably the most obvious thing to do with all that leftover wax. It's pretty simple too, but you will need to buy some candle wick - easily obtained from High Street or online craft suppliers. You will also need a double boiler (bain marie), a mould to pour the wax into (you can buy one, but an old yogurt pot or similar will do), a piece of blu-tack and something like a chopstick or skewer.

First set up your double boiler - this is a saucepan with water in it, in which you place a heat proof container. I use a second saucepan that I got from a charity shop for this, but you could use any heat proof bowl (bear in mind you will have to clean wax off it later!) or even an old (clean) tin can. Heat the water gently - you don't want it to boil - and break up your old wax, dropping it into the heatproof container. Stir it (with something you don't mind getting wax on!) until it has completely melted.

In the meantime, get your mould(s) ready. It's a good idea to first grease the mould with a little vegetable oil to make getting the finished candle out easier. If using something like an old yogurt pot, poke a small hole in the centre of the bottom and thread the wick through. The bottom of the mould will be the top of the candle, so leave enough wick this end to be able to light it! The hole can be sealed and the wick held in place with a small piece of blu-tack or something similar.  

When the wax has melted, pour it carefully into the mould. Lay the chopstick or skewer across the open end of the mould and fix the end of the wick to it to hold it in place while the wax solidifies. Tip: As the wax cools, it will contract a little and you may want to melt a little more to fill any gap that forms at the centre.

Leave the candle to cool completely before releasing it from the mould. Trim any excess wick and voila! New candle from old.

Variations:

Dipped Candles
Making dipped taper candles is a little more tricky and honestly, I've never tried it. But if you'd like to have a go, there's a good tutorial here. 

Sand Candles
Another way of making a mould - and this can be a fun activity to do with your kids - is to make sand candles. You can do this at the beach, or use a bucket of damp sand in the back garden. The method is pretty much the same, but you make the mould by pressing a shape into the damp sand into which you insert the wick and then pour the wax. When it's cooled, gently dig around the candle to extract it. The outside of the candle will have a sandy coating which gives it a rustic charm.

Additions: Colours/Fragrance/Decoration

• You can blend your own colours by mixing different coloured waxes, or grate in a wax crayon (or two) to colour white wax.
• Make striped candles by pouring in layers of different colours - just allow the first colour to cool and solidify before adding the next. 
• Add fragrance with essential oils
• Make spell candles by putting in crystals or coins etc which will slowly be revealed as the candle burns down
• Safety First! - Don't add anything flammable to your candle which could create a fire hazard! For this reason I am not in favour of adding dried herbs etc to wax. They can 'spit' or flare up and could potentially start a fire.

Fragrance your Living Space

I'm a big fan of scented candles and don't want to waste any of that lovely scented wax. I re-use it in my home-made candles of course, but I also use it to fragrance my home. I put any scented candle remains into a heat-proof dish and place it on a radiator from where it scents the house beautifully. You could also make your own wax melts for a burner, if you have one (I pour melted wax into silicon muffin moulds for this). 

Another idea is to break the scented wax into pieces and put it into little hand-sewn drawstring bags to fragrance drawers, airing cupboards or wardrobes. 

Tip: If you don't use scented candles but you like these ideas, you could always make your own fragranced wax from unscented wax + your choice of essential oils.

Firelighters 

It's easy to create home-made firelighters for a woodstove or campfire with leftover wax, which you can scent with essential oils or dried herbs/spices if you like. Here are two suggestions:

1. Take a cardboard egg carton and put a little sawdust or wood shavings in each egg holder. Melt wax in your double boiler and when melted pour into each egg holder. When the wax is cool, cut into separate firelighters. 
2.  Gather pine cones, and make sure they are fully dry (leave them outside in the sun, on a warm radiator for a few days or pop them in a cool oven to dry out). Melt wax in your double boiler and using tongs, dip the pine cones into the melted wax one at a time. Set them to cool and harden on sheets of newspaper.

One of these firelighters added to your kindling will guarantee your fire catches quickly and easily.

Magical Uses

Divination

Did you know you can use wax for divination? It's called Ceromancy and originated with  the Romans. Take a glass or ceramic bowl and fill it with cold water. Take a moment to focus and form your question (if you have one). Speak it aloud. Then melt your wax and dribble it a little at a time into the water. As the wax comes into contact with the cold water, it will solidify into shapes. Take your time to examine them closely, and interpret them as you would when reading tea leaves.

Spells

Wax can be used in binding spells, dripped onto knots etc to symbolically immobilise and constrain an adversary. You could also use it to seal a spell until you are ready to break it by writing your intention on a piece of paper, folding it and dripping wax onto it to 'seal' it. You could personalise this seal by pressing a thumb or fingerprint into the wax before it completely hardens.

Fun Activities For Children (or your Inner Child!)

• Use melted wax to seal letters - you can buy seals to press into the wax or you could make your own by carving a symbol or initial into the cut end of a carrot. Make sure you hold it in place long enough for the wax to harden or it will be smudged. A little vegetable oil smeared over your seal before using helps to stop it sticking!
• Secret messages - use the end of a candle to write secret messages or draw secret pictures on paper. They will remain invisible until you wash water-based paint over them when they will suddenly be revealed!
• Warm wax in your hands until it is soft enough to shape, then mould it into animals, flowers or other shapes. It will harden once cool.
• Home-made batik: Paint melted wax designs onto plain white cotton, then immerse the fabric in dye. When the fabric is dry, peel off the wax and wash the fabric in warm soapy water to reveal the design.
• Decorated eggs: Paint melted wax designs onto hard-boiled eggs then immerse them in water coloured with food dye for 20 mins. 

Household Uses:

Candle wax is great to un-stick stuck things! I have used it before now to help curtain rings that were catching on a wooden curtain rail run smoothly - I just rubbed a candle stub a couple of times along the length of the curtain pole and the problem was solved. You can use the same trick on zips, drawers and doors.

Rubbing a piece of wax over a surface will help it repel water, and rubbing wax onto metal items (such as garden tools) will help to keep them rust-free.

Household Uses for Beeswax

* These recipes specifically need beeswax * 

Leather polish
Combine 4 parts vegetable oil with 1 part beeswax (you can add a few drops of essential oil of your choice if you'd like it to be fragranced). Heat together in a double boiler until the beeswax is melted. Store in a jar and use to polish and nourish leather boots, shoes and bags.

Furniture Polish
Melt together 3 parts coconut oil with 1 part beeswax in a double boiler. Add a few drops of essential oil (I like lavender or lemon for this one). Store in a jar. To use, apply to wooden furniture with a cloth, then use a second clean cloth to buff to a shine.

Food Wrap
Instead of cling film, make your own re-usable eco-friendly food wrap. Cut thin cotton fabric to size. Spread the fabric out flat on a clean baking sheet and grate beeswax evenly over the fabric. Place in a cool oven for a few minutes until the wax has melted. Use a clean paintbrush to spread the wax evenly over the fabric. If the wax doesn't impregnate the whole piece of cloth, grate on a little more and return to the oven for a few more minutes and repeat the process. When it's done, hang it to cool and dry, then store in a clean dry place until you need to use it. If it gets dirty you can wash it in cold water (warm water will remove the wax). You can rejuvenate your food wrap if it starts to lose its 'cling' by repeating the above process.    

Lip balm/Skin salve
Melt together equal parts of coconut oil and beeswax in a double boiler. This is your basic balm/salve mixture which you can then tailor to your purpose by adding other ingredients before pouring it into your container of choice - I suggest a lidded glass jar.

For lip balm, you could add a little honey for sweetness, a drop of red food colouring if you'd like it tinted, and a drop of essential oil to fragrance/flavour (but go easy on the essential oils, they're very concentrated and your lips are sensitive - you don't want to cause any irritation).

For a salve you could infuse healing herbs of your choice in the mixture while it's in the double boiler, or add a few drips of essential oils, depending on what it's intended for. I would suggest adding a drop each of eucalyptus, rosemary and lavender oil for a salve to rub into sore muscles, or a drop each of lavender, frankincense and chamomile oil for a sleep salve (apply to your temples and wrists before retiring to bed).

Cleaning Up Wax
Finally, if you're going to be trying some of these ideas out, at some point you are likely to need to be able to clear up wax! Here's the best ways I've found to (1) clean wax from glass jars and votives and (2) clean wax off textiles (including carpets!)

Cleaning wax from glass jars/votives/candle-holders
My usual method is to use a knife to break up and remove large bits of wax first. When you're down to the last few difficult-to-get-at bits, run hot water into the sink and immerse the jar for a minute or two. Then, wrap the jar well in a tea towel and pour boiling water into it (if you pour boiling water straight into a cold jar you run the risk of cracking the glass, which is why you warm the glass first by immersing it in hot water). You can then stand it back in the sink of water (hot water outside the jar, boiling water contained within). The wax should melt and float up to the top of the jar. Some resistant bits might need poking with a knife or teaspoon to help them along! When the water has cooled and the wax solidified on the surface, you can skim off the wax and then wash the jar in hot soapy water to remove any last bits.

Cleaning wax spills from fabric and carpets
First - don't panic! Resist the impulse to brush/wipe etc the liquid wax. You are more likely to spread it further and drive it deeper into the fibres if you do this. Take a deep breath and wait for the wax to cool and harden. If possible apply ice to the wax which will make it harden and become brittle. Then break up the wax and peel off/break off/brush off as much of it as possible. The more wax you can remove at this stage the better. Finally, get something absorbent like blotting paper or kitchen towel (brown wrapping paper will work too), a tea-towel and an iron. Put the iron on a cool-ish temperature - especially important if you've spilled the wax on a man-made or delicate fibre. DO NOT USE STEAM FROM THE IRON. Put the blotting paper or kitchen towel under  the wax-stained area and a second piece on top (if it's a carpet you'll only be able to put it on top). Fold the tea towel and cover the top layer of paper with it. Apply the iron, then lift. The wax should have melted and been 'soaked up' by the blotting paper or kitchen towel. If there is still wax to be removed, put fresh, clean paper/kitchen towel down and repeat. Continue until the wax is gone - or until no more is being released to the paper. If you're treating fabric, wash it. If it's a carpet, brush the area over with a stiff brush and then vacuum.
Hopefully, it will be as good as new.


Wow, what a marathon post! But hopefully useful. Let me know how you get on trying any of these.

ThriftWitch: The Magic of Soup

Following my last post, my friend Harlequin asked if I would be writing about the magical uses of soup. I hadn't planned to, but his question got me thinking...

The first thought that sprang to mind was the choice of ingredients. You could choose the ingredients of your soup according to the energies you wish to induce in yourself and your fellow diners. You could for example choose earthy, grounding ingredients like root vegetables and tubers - carrots, turnips, swede, parsnips, potatoes, beetroot or Jerusalem artichokes (though you may wish to take Jafion's advice from the comments on my last post if you choose these!) - to make a 'grounding' soup. This could be a useful dish following a very trance-y ritual or demanding pathworking or spellworking. On the other hand, a light, spicy soup featuring ginger, chili, paprika etc could be used to increase energy levels. Or how about a healing soup, rich in fresh green veggies, garlic and herbs?

Your choice of herbs could be made according to their magical properties. For example thyme is ruled by Venus, so you may wish to include it as an ingredient for the soup you'll eat with your lover, or as part of your Valentine's Day meal.

You could also tailor ingredients according to what is being celebrated at the time of year. I think a creamy, pale coloured soup like curried parsnip or leek and potato would be ideal for Imbolc, and your Lammas soup could contain seasonal ingredients like tomatoes, along with barley and a sprinkling of poppy seeds to celebrate the grain harvest. It goes without saying that the obvious dish for Samhain is pumpkin soup!

There is also the intent that goes into creating the soup. Chop and prepare the ingredients mindfully, giving thanks for the abundance that feeds you. Meditate on that which you wish to increase or bring into your life whilst stirring the pot deosil (clockwise, the direction of the sun in the sky - in the Northern Hemisphere anyway - the direction of growth), or stir widdershins (anticlockwise) whilst meditating on that which you wish to banish (say, illness - or excess weight!). Say a few words of thanks - silent or aloud - before eating.

In my family, we all used to take turns stirring our wishes into the Christmas Pudding during its preparation. This idea works with many dishes, including soup! So if the soup is to be made for a group gathering or celebration, each person could take a turn stirring the pot and adding a few words of blessing for the group over it. That would be a potent brew!

For me, one of the 'magical' aspects of cooking is the way ingredients come together synergistically, creating something which is more than the sum of its parts. I kind of touched on that idea in this post. Soup is an especially good metaphor for this kind of magic given the diversity of ingredients and the way they blend together (particularly in a cream soup).

Finally, when you have finished your magical meal, what about a spot of divination? It was Reya who first taught me soup bowl divination - thank you Reya! After your meal, gaze into your soup bowl. Rather like reading the tea leaves, you should find that the patterns left behind by the interaction of spoon and soup dregs (with a little squinting) resolve themselves into symbols that can be interpreted as you see fit. Like most forms of divination, it's often easier to read for another than for yourself. And of course, it goes without saying that deliberate manipulation of soup dregs is cheating!

Happy soup making!

Simply Divine!

I have read tarot cards for many years now. My first deck, bought impulsively as I was just stepping onto the Pagan path (about 20 years ago now), was the Tarot of the Witches. It sounded impressively mysterious and magical, and I couldn't wait to start working with it. Unfortunately, I hated it from the minute I got the cards out of the box. I hated the artwork for a start, and then found they were hard for a beginner to learn as the Minor Arcana cards were just 'pip' cards rather than the type which have pictorial representations of the meanings (so much easier to learn!). The final straw came when I discovered the deck had been designed for use in a James Bond film - I loathe James Bond films! I quickly gave them away. Good lesson in buying any magical tool: shop around and check how it 'feels' before taking the plunge.

Luckily, I had a friend who read tarot cards so I was aware that there were pictorial decks out there. Next time around I was more picky, and looked at lots and lots of decks before I chose again. This time it was the 'Morgan Greer', based on the classic 'Rider Waite' (which I believe was the original pictorial tarot). The 'Morgan Greer' is clear, and I find it easy to use. It gives me great readings for others, though I've never been able to read well for myself.

I've also had other decks over the years, the 'Rider Waite Tarot', 'The Tarot of the Old Path', Kris Waldherr's 'Goddess Tarot', and non-tarot decks like 'The Druid Animal Oracle' and 'The Green Man Tree Oracle', to name a few (yes, I'm a bit of a card junkie!). Some of them I still have, and some I've passed on to new homes.

This last week at the Summer Gathering I attended two tarot workshops and had my tarot read by the wonderfully talented Diego. I think it's true to say I'm feeling more enthused than ever by tarot right now, and there's another reason too.

These are my new tarot cards. It's a deck called 'Songs for the Journey Home' that T bought for my birthday in July. And I am just in love with them! (if you click on the photo you should get a bigger image to study)

I love the artwork for a start. The arrangement I've laid out here is a selection of my favourite images from the deck. I actually had a hard time choosing! I find the artwork deceptively naive in style. The images look fairly simple, but the more I study them, the more I see. I also like that they're round - having never been a fan of reverse meanings for cards (too complicated!), it's great to have some that can't really be reversed.


The deck seems to be pretty earth-centred too, which of course appeals to me! And the little booklet that comes with the cards, whilst not shying away from the fact that Shit Happens, does somehow manage to mostly find a constructive message within the Shit. As a glass-half-full kinda gal, this echoes my preferred world-view.
And these cards seem to really know what is going on with me - leading up to the Summer Gathering I often pulled a card, asking 'What do I need to know about this situation?'. Though I shuffled the cards well each time, still I pulled the same card over and over - the 'Sixth Wind Song'. Look at the photo - it really expresses how I felt! Yet notice that as well as the clear image of feeling distinctly pressured, it also has a flock of birds flying freely above. The booklet says, '[this card] depicts the experience of being under a tremendous amount of pressure. If you are able to focus on trust, rather than on fear, you will rise above the turmoil of the mind. This is a time to rise above the gentle winds of change.' How on the nail is that?! Even more amazingly, since returning home I haven't pulled the card once, and actually had to look quite hard for it in order to take a photo.

Having never been able to read the cards accurately for myself before, I am very happy with the way these seem to work with me. I used to think there was something wanting in my card-reading skills, perhaps a lack of objectivity that stopped me being able to read my own cards. Now I think perhaps I just hadn't met the right deck yet!

It's still early days in our relationship, but I feel like these cards and I are currently having a great conversation, getting to know each other. I think we will be good friends.