First Harvest
Activities
An cloc coanta - lucky stones
Holey stones have a long history as threshholds between this and the Other World. The large ones through which children or hands could pass were known as bringers of healing, fertility, and the "sight". Smaller ones, able to be worn about the neck, bring spiritual wisdom and psychic strength. You can buy "doughnuts" carved from your favourite crystals, or find a naturla holey stone. Maybe even carve your own. When not wearing it, hang it in your room by the doorway to ward away evil spirits.
~ submitted by: Callum Mostyn
Cauldron-Fist Candles
- Tub of clean sand - available at the local toy store
- pencil
- wax - local craft store (to make colors, buy white wax and use left over crayon stubs)
- wicking - local craft store
- large saucepan
- old coffee tin or saucepan you don't mind consigning to candlemaking
- wooden skewers and twist ties
Wet the sand as if to make sandcastles. Make a fist and push into the sand to create an impression (about wrist deep). Carefully remove so the impression stays clean. Use the pencil to poke 3 "legs" for the cauldron.
Heat water to boiling in the large saucepan. Put your wax in the can and place in the water - ensure water doesn't splash into the wax. Add a few stubs to the wax to colour it. As it melts set the wicking in place.
Measure the amount of wicking you'll need - rest knuckles of clenched fist on table, measure to wrist and add 1 inch. Cut a piece that size, use the twist tie to form 2 skewers into a cross and attach the wick to the join - about 1/2 ich should protrude past the cross. Carefully rest the cross on the mould and use a skewer to gently press the tail of the wick into the sand.
Check the colour of the melted wax - add more crayon stubs if necessary. When ready, slowly pour the wax into the moulds and leave to set.
To make a varigated coloured candle, partially fill the mould, let it develop a thick skin and then slowly pour in another colour. A little mixing is inevitable at the join line and will strengthen it. You can repeat with as many colours as you like.
To make a cauldron handle, use a length of wire and shape it as a normal handle. Make a right angled bend about 1 inch from each end. Give it a little extra bend so it's an acute angle with the ends pointing towards the curved handle. Half fill the candle. Let the wax firm a little and then place the handle - use the wick skewers as support. Finish filling the candle.
~ submitted by: Anne S.
Corn Dollies
Unlike the name suggests corn dollies aren't made from corn, but from grain stalks such as wheat and rye. During the Harvest period, the first grain cut or the last was believed to hold special power to protect the household from harm over the winter months. The entire sheaf would be worked into a corn dolly who then attended the harvest festivals and wintered over in the home. Come spring she was fed to the cattle and ploughed into the fields to ensure bountiful crops and healthy livestock. Stalks would be taken from the sheaf and the field to weave little tokens that could be hung in the homes.
Weaving humanoid figures brings the energy of the Earth Goddess and Harvest King into the home. Abstract shapes bring prosperity and luck over the coming year.
- This page has a simple pattern to make a Mortiford (heart). It is easy enough to adjust the pattern to make a circle or fan (lengthen the amount of stalk protruding with the grain heads to create a fan shape, and twist the woven ends together to make a handle. The fan can be used to sweep out negative energy and draw in the positive, or to fan ritual flames).
- This page has a very simple pattern to create mannikin figures. You can make them more intricate by applying the weaving technique from the above pattern to the crafting of the arms and legs. Look here for some ideas for 'dressing' them up.
- The Corn Dolly Story is an odd, and funny, story about a corn dolly.
~ submitted by: Catherine M.
Fear Cards
On index cards or other paper each person draws or pastes pictures or creates a collage from old magazines, photos, calendars etc., of what their fears are. Then the cards are put into a baskeet and shuffled. Each participant draws a card and talks about what they see in the card. After the last participant shares their card, they are placed in the fireplace or other fire burning location. They are then symbolically burned to represent the releasing of our fears.
~ submitted by: Rana
Make Your Own Sistrum
Traditionally this is made with bronze - if you can do so, it produces a better sistrum than the wooden version
Bronze:
- 1 length of bronze - 36 inches long and the width of a ruler
- 3 lengths of bronze - 12 inches long and the width of a ruler
- Assorted bells and metal rings
- Copper wire
- 2 lenths of flat wood, 6 iches long and the width of a ruler
- Nails
- 1 yard of leather lacing
Wooden:
- 3 pieces of wood - similar size and shape to a ruler although twice as thick
- 2 pieces of wood - similar shape to a ruler, but 18 inches long and twice as thick
- Nails, wood glue
- 1 yard of leather lacing
Method:
- Fold the 36-inch bronze ribbon in half. Measure six inches up from the ends and make a mark. Mark at 10 and 14 inches as well. Place the 3 12-inch ribbons inbetween the folded bronze so they lie at the fold, the 14 and the 10-inch mark. Use a hammer to beat the bronze ribbon as flat as possible. Encourage it to reform about the inserted cross-pieces.
- Hammer a nail through the bronze at each cross-piece and flip the ribbon over to hammer the nails flat into the bronze. Use another nail, or a punch to make random holes along the cross-pieces and then use the copper wire to secure the bells and rings to the metal. Alternatively you can simply thread them on the wire and wind it about the cross-pieces.
- Bind the leather lacing about the bronze ribbon from the end up to the 6-inch mark to form a grip.
- To make a wooden version, make the same marks on one of the 18-inch pieces. Drizzle wood glue over the strip and then lay the crosspieces in position. Drizzle more glue over them and place the top piece in position. Use a few nails to secure the crosspieces.
- Thread the bells on the copper wire and wind it into place.
- Glue the outer side of the handle before binding it with leather.
- We are probably all familiar with shamanic drumming - that hellish rhythm which holds open the perilous road to the Otherworld. Perhaps less familiar are the rattles and shakers so very often, but not exclusively, found in female mysteries. These primitive instruments provide incessant rhythm - releasing the mind from the everyday sphere.
- Depending upon what materials you use and what bells and rings, the sistrum will produce different noises. It is an instrument of the divine female as the drum is of the divine male and is ideal for any ritual involving trance work, meditation, dancing, or drumming.
~ submitted by: Iphegenia
Make your own Tarot Cards
This site has printable designs for making your own set of cards. A great way to learn the cards and connect with your own psychic abilities.
~ submitted by: Iphegenia.
Rainstick
- Empty Pringles tin and lid
- Paints, feathers, markers, yarn
- Heavy white paper, glue, scissors
- 2 cups of dried rice and beans
Put the rice and beans in the tin and close the lid. Use the paper and glue to cover the tin completely. Use the paint and markers to decorate the paper with symbols and pictures for rain, water, and growing things. Tie the yarn about one end and attach feathers to the strands.
~ submitted by: Anne S.
Rhibo
6 participants pair off and line up side by side facing each other, holding hands. The other players take turns laying across the clasped hands and are tossed up into the air and caught. This represents grain being winnowed.
~ submitted by: Shakti C.
Summer Windchime
- mixing bowl
- 9 old forks and spoons
- Hammer and pliers
- Fishing twine (12-18 inches long)
- Strong string and wood glue
- 2 lenths of slender dowel - 12 inches long each
- A rounded rock
Use the hammer to beat the forks and spoons into different shapes - you can place them on the rock to bend them. The pliers will let you twist the fork tines into different shapes too.
When you are satisfied, take a length of twine and tie it to each fork or spoon. Try and find a point where the object hangs in an interesting fashion.
Use the string to tie the dowel into a cross shape, and add glue to secure it. When it is dry, hang one metal object from the centre, and two from each arm - equidistance apart.
Make a loop at one end of a piece of string and tie the other to the crosspiece. Hang your chimes.
~ submitted by: Catherine M.
Summertime Bath Salts
- 3 cups Epsom salts
- 2 cups baking soda
- 1 cup sea salt (or table salt)
- yellow and red food colouring
- 5 drop Jasmine, 10 drops Orange, and 10 drops Vanilla essential oils
Use your hands to thoroughly mix the dry ingredients, focusing upon the energy within your palms. Let it flow into the salts, filling them with healing, soothing properties. Divide the mixture into 3 equal portions and set aside.
To the first add yellow food colouring, drop by drop, mixing well with your hands, until you achieve a sunny colour. Repeat, using the red dye and the second portion of salt. For the third, first combine red and yellow in a soup spoon to create a brilliant orange. Then mix this through the salts. Now mix the three portions together in one bowl.
Take the essential oils and blend in a large spoon first, then mix through the salts. Use 1/2 a cup added to the bath before climbing in. Don't soak any longer than 20 minutes, and have a glass or two of room temperature water to drink during and after the soak.
~ submitted by: Callum Mostyn
Wife Carrying
Couples pair off so that the competition is reasonably matched. Traditionally contestants run with their wife thrown over one shoulder while he holds her legs with her head facing backwards. A hundred meters is the distance usually chosen for this contest.
~ submitted by: Ian G.
Rituals
Lughnasadh Milk Bath
- 1 cup powdered milk
- 1 cup powdered buttermilk
- 1/2 cup Epsom salt
- 1/2 cup baking soda
- 6 drops frankincense oil
- 5 drops ylang ylang oil
- 4 drops cypress oil
- 3 drops patchouli oil
Mix well and add 1 cup to the bath for cleansing before rituals.
~ submitted by: Callum Mostyn
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