Frankincense Protective Necklet

Magickal Goody of the Day

Make a Simple Cornhusk Chain

(get a jump on Lammas decorations while you got all them husks handy!)

If you’re having a cookout and planning on eating corn on the cob, this is a great craft to do with all those leftover corn husks. The fresh ones work best, but dried ones can be used if you soak them in water for ten or fifteen minutes and then pat them dry with paper towels.

Separate the husks lengthwise into strips about one inch wide. They should tear easily on their own. Form the first strip into a circle and staple it closed.

Take the second strip, loop it through the first, and staple (this is just like those paper chains you made in school when you were a child). Repeat until all the strips of husk have been added to the chain.

Once you’ve completed your chain, there are a number of things you can do with it. Place it on your altar, drape it over a window or a door, or hang it on the wall. As it dries, the husks will shrink and fade from green to tan, but it will still make a great Lammas decoration!

Source:

By Patti Wigington Paganism/Wicca Expert

Website: Article found on & owned by About.com

Magickal Goody of the Day

Making your own ink can be as simple as going out in the woods and finding a fallen twig and charring the end of it and then using that as a writing utensil. If you are going to use this method, you will need to make a new char-pen for each ritual that you perform. You simply burn the end of the twig until it becomes charcoal (not ash) and then you let it cool and use that to write with. While you are burning the end of the twig, visualize your intent, and continue visualizing your intent while the twig cools off. Once the twig is cool, you can then use it.

You can also make liquid magickal inks, and these will require the use of a quill or a dip pen. Dip pens can usually be found at any stationary store and some office supply stores. Which ever you decide to use, you will need to practice with the quill or dip pen until you are used to the way it functions.

The easiest way to make magickal ink is by using lampblack. It is a long process, but it is well worth it in the end as you have made the ink yourself, saved yourself some money and you have added your own personal power to the ink while you are making it. When using lampblack as the method for making your ink all you need is a candle of appropriate color (white if for general purposes, or if you do not have the proper color candle), a metal spoon, a small piece of card stock or cardboard to scrape the spoon, a small bowl, gum arabic and some distilled water. You may also need something to hold the spoon with if it starts to get hot.

Light the candle, and hold the bottom side of the spoon in the flame until the bottom of spoon is covered with soot. This typically takes about 30-60 seconds depending on the size of the spoon, size of the flame, and how close you hold the spoon to the flame. Once the bottom of the spoon is covered in soot, hold the spoon over the bowl and use the card stock or cardboard to scrape the soot into the bowl. Be careful not to breathe too heavily, as this stuff is almost weightless and will happily fly everywhere if you let it. Also, be sure to do this somewhere where it will not get on your carpet, as it will stain fabric. Repeat this process about sixty times, which will take you anywhere from half an hour to an hour. While you are doing this, if you are making this ink for a specific goal, visualize that goal while you are burning the spoon, and scraping the soot into the bowl. If the spoon gets hot, use a pot holder so that you do not burn your hands. Once you are finished gathering the lampblack (soot), you will need to add, one drop at a time, some hot distilled water. Stop adding water before you think you should. Use your finger to mix the soot and water until the soot has completely dissolved. Lampblack will float on the top of the water, so it will take some effort to get it to dissolve completely. Once the lampblack is dissolved completely, and you have rich dark colored water, add some powdered gum arabic to the mix and again stir with your finger until the gum arabic has dissolved. Add enough gum arabic to make the ink have the same consistency has commercial produced ink. After you have completed the ink, you can store it in a jar and use it as needed.

Practical Magick for the Penny Pinching Witch

Carol Moyer

Magickal Goody of the Day

How To Make a Witch’s Ladder

A witch’s ladder is one of those nifty things we sometimes hear about but rarely see. Its purpose is similar to that of a rosary – it’s basically a tool for meditation and ritual, in which different colors are used as symbols for one’s intent. It’s also used as a counting tool, because in some spell workings there is a need to repeat the working a particular number of times. You can use the ladder to keep track of your count, running the feathers or beads along as you do so.
Traditionally, the witch’s ladder is made with red, white and black yarn, and then nine different colored feathers woven in.

Difficulty: Easy

Time Required: Varied

Here’s How:

• Realistically speaking, it makes more sense to use yarn colors that have a significance to you and your working. Also, finding nine differently colored feathers can be tricky if you’re looking for them out in the wild — you can’t just go plucking feathers from local endangered species — and that means a trip to the craft store and some oddly tinted feathers. I’d recommend using either found feathers of any color, or something else entirely — beads, magical uses of buttons, bits of wood, shells, or other items you have around your home.
• To make your basic witch’s ladder, you’ll need:
  • Yarn or cord in three different colors
  • Nine items that are similar in property but in different colors (nine beads, nine shells, nine buttons, etc)

  Cut the yarn so that you have three different pieces in a workable length – usually a yard or so is good. Although you can use the traditional red, white and black, there’s no hard and fast rule that says you must. Tie the ends of the three pieces of yarn together in a knot.

1. Begin braiding the yarn together, tying the feathers or beads into the yarn, and securing each in place with a sturdy knot. Some people like to chant or count as they braid and add the feathers. If you wish, you can say something like this variation on the traditional chant:

   By knot of one, the spell’s begun.
   By knot of two, the magic comes true.
   By knot of three, so it shall be.
   By knot of four, this power is stored.
   By knot of five, my will shall drive.
   By knot of six, the spell I fix.
   By knot of seven, the future I leaven.
   By knot of eight, my will be fate.
   By knot of nine, what is done is mine.

2. As the feathers are tied into knots, focus your intent and goal. As you tie the final and ninth knot, all your energy should be directed into the cords, the knots and the feathers. The energy is literally stored within the knots of the witch’s ladder. When you’ve completed the string and added all nine feathers or beads, you can either knot the end and hang the ladder up, or you can tie the two ends together forming a circle.

   If you’d like your ladder to be more like a rosary string, I’d highly recommend picking up a copy of Pagan Prayer Beads by John Michael Greer and Clare Vaughn.

What You Need:

• Yarn or cord in three different colors
• 9 Feathers or other items to braid into your ladder

By Patti Wigington

Article found on & owned by About.com