Rosewicket Wicca Coven

Yule Logs

The Yule log is a remnant of the bonfires that the European pagans would set ablaze at the time of winter solstice. These bonfires symbolized the return of the Sun. The Yule log can be made of any wood. Each releases its own kind of magic.

Aspen: invokes understanding of the grand design.

Birch: signifies new beginnings.

Holly: inspires visions and reveals past lives.

Oak: brings healing, strength, and wisdom.

Pine: signifies prosperity and growth.

Willow: invokes the Goddess to achieve desires.

On the night of Yule, carve a symbol of your hopes for the coming year into the log. Burn the log to release its power. Save a piece of this year's Yule log for kindling in next year's fire. You may also wish to decorate the log with greenery, flowers, ribbons and herbs for magickal intent. Some choices might be:

Carnations-protection, courage, strength, healing, increases magickal power, vitality

Cedar-wealth, protection, purification, healing, promotes spirituality

Holly-dreams, protection

Juniper- Exorcism, protection, healing, love

Mistletoe-a catalyst, fertility, health, success, protection, banishing evil

Pine-healing, wealth, protection, purification, exorcism, exorcism, fertility, wealth

Rosemary-health, love, protection, exorcism, purification, increase intellectual powers, peace, blessing, consecration, very powerful cleansing and purifying

Roses-love, courage, luck, health, protection, beauty

Ribbons can be used according to their color magick correspondences. Be creative and have fun!

Candles

Idea from an article by Dancer of New Avalon

Since it is often a messy task rather than try candle making why not use store bought candles for these ideas? Press flowers and herbs until they are dry or use ones purchased from a craft store. Dip your candle into hot water just barely long enough to soften the wax. Place the dry plant material on the candle in a pleasing pattern, and gently press into the wax. Then do a quick dip into liquid wax to seal it all together.

Explore fragrances by using incense herbs and resins sealed into the wax; you could use the above process or make the candles with the herbs and resins included in the hot liquid (experiment before you commit yourself to a big project... if the herb pieces are too large, they'll act like wicks and create a bonfire, and resins sometimes spit when hot). You could also add pure essential oils to the outside of the finished candle, or to the liquid wax as the candle burns. I like to do the last one-especially if you get the unscented candles-try it in a bunch of little tea lights too! :-)

If you don't mind a bit of experimenting... Timing candles. In medieval times, special candles were marked for the hours (as moon-dials did not work as well as sun-dials...) so that the religious would not miss their middle-of-the-night prayers. You can mark candles for special time periods, like the length of your meditation sessions. Make or get a batch of candles at the same time, keep them together, and treat them the same (such as putting them in the freezer to make them drip less-this is my personal favorite taper trick!). Burn one, and at each time period (hour, fifteen to twenty minutes, etc.), measure the amount of candle that has burned and mark the remaining candles at this increment. Add a little color to the marks with cotton thread (you could try paint, but it does strange things) or wax dye.

For magickal work, bind spells with cotton thread wrapped and knotted around a candle. The usual way is to knot the intention so that with each one burned, the energy is freed to do its work; this is especially useful for healing and protection work. Choose appropriate colors for both candle and thread. This is another project where a final dip into liquid wax would be beneficial, though here it is not absolutely needed.

Should you try making candles from scratch and don't have any candle molds, just dip the wick into hot wax over and over untill it is at the thickness you want. Place in a candle holder and enjoy.

No matter what you create with your candles, remember that they are living beings, apt to seize upon flammable objects and creatures within their reach. They should never be left unattended unless in a totally secure environment (like an empty bathtub for overnight)! Safety comes first.

Bottled Snowflakes

From Yule: A Celebration of Light and Warmth by Dorothy Morrison

You will need:

1 white pipe cleaner

1 length of twine

scissors

1 quart jar with a wide mouth

2 cups boiling water

6 tablespoons borax

1 pencil

Cut a white pipe cleaner into 3 equal lengths, twist them together in the center, then arrange the six legs so that they are equidistant from each other. Tie one end of the twine to a leg, and the other end to the middle of a pencil. (For a more ornate flake, tie the twine around the end of each leg in a continuous motion to make a center wheel).

Set aside. Pour boiling water into the jar, then add the borax one tablespoon at a time, stirring to dissolve. (if a little borax settles to the bottom, there's no need to worry, just go on to the next step.)

Submerge the pipe cleaner form in the solution and let the pencil rest on top of the jar. Leave the snowflake in the solution overnight. The next morning, you'll find it covered with tiny, sparkling crystals. Remove it from the jar, and hang it from the window to catch the sun.

Scented Pinecones

Needed items:

Cinnamon*

Ginger*

Nutmeg*

Cloves*

Orange Zest*

Craft glue mixed with equal amounts of Water

Foam brush

Pinecones

*Add any other spices that you like the smell of. Mix in the proportions that you desire

Rinse pinecones under running water. Lay the pinecones on an old cookie sheet and bake at 200 degrees until the pinecones open up (this not only kills any little beasties that may be residing within the pinecones but also melts the sap resulting in a pretty glaze).

Spread pinecones out on layers of newspapers and set aside to dry completely Use the foam brush to apply the glue to the pinecones.

Mix the spices in a bowl using a wire wisk. Roll the pinecone in the spice or add the spices to a baggie; add the pinecones one at a time and shake to coat (like shake-n-bake)

When coated, allow to dry thoroughly.

Use these wonderfully-scented pinecones in gift baskets, as christmas tree ornaments, on christmas wreaths, or placed in bowls to add a wonderful scent to a room.

If, after storing, you need to refresh the scent of the pinecones just stick them in a microwave until the smell is revived.

Hand Dipped Candles

By Lady Morgan Moonstone

You need to obtain the following supplies:

2-4 pounds of Paraffin Wax (the kind used in canning) or beeswax (which is usually expensive).

Candle wick (available at most hobby and craft stores)

oils and herbs (for scent and magickal goals)

candle dye (also expensive) or crayons (for color)

wax paper

a wooden spoon

a double broiler (I actually find a normal pot works fine as long as your stir...)

Begin by melting the wax in a double broiler. If you don't have one, you can use a large pot filled half full of water and a large coffee tin with the wax in it, sitting inside the pot. Heat the water to boiling first and cut up your wax so it will melt quickly. Once the water is boiling, turn the heat down and place the tin of wax inside of it. Keep the water hot enough to keep the wax melted but not so hot that the paraffin catches fire (which it has been known to do over high heat).

While the wax to melting, stir with a wooden spoon (never use metal) & make sure it all is completely melted.

Also, while the wax is melting, mix the herbs (if more than one) in a small bowl. After the wax is completely melted and been checked, break the crayons up and put them into the wax. Keep stirring until all of the crayons have melted and the color is even and smooth, with no streaks. Keep in mind that the candle will be a shade or so lighter when dry. The more crayons - the deeper and richer the color, so experiment.

Next, add the herbs to the wax. Empower with your energy and magickal intention while mixing the wax. Stir with the wooden spoon until it is thoroughly mixed. Next add 10-20 drops of essential oil (please, no synthetics when making candles for magickal or ritual use) to the wax until it smells strongly of the fragrance intended. Now your wax is ready.

Start with a long piece of wick - twice the size of your desired candle length plus 3 inches (you will be making 2 candles at once). Bend the wick in the middle and hold it by the bend. Dip the wick into the wax and then lift back out. Getting started is the hardest because the wick will float on top of the wax until it has enough wax on it to weigh it down. Allow it to get completely cold between dippings when you first start.

After your candle has started to take shape you can speed up the process a little. I keep a pan of cool water nearby and dip the candles in the water after each dipping in the wax. While this speeds up the process a little, candle making is a slow process but very well worth the time and energy you put into it.

Keep dipping the candles and allowing them to cool & then dip again. When you have achieved the proper size, hang them to dry until the wax has set but the candles aren't too hard. Then roll them on the wax paper to smooth out the shape. Once the candle shape is too your liking, dip 1 or 2 more times to make sure your candle is smooth. Trim off any excess wax to make a bottom with a sharp knife. Cut the wick and hang your candles to dry. You are done!

To Change the Color of Flame

For Candles: add the chemicals to the wax, or soak the wicks in a solution of the chemicals using the "recipes" below

To Add to a Fire: Put three level spoons of the chemical into a paper cup; fill 1/2 full with water and stir. Soak several small chips of wood in this solution overnight. The next day, remove the chips with tweezers and lay on newspaper to dry. They can now be added to the flames to produce bright colors.

Green flame: Borax or Boric acid, copper nitrates or barium nitrates, alum (thallium)

Orange flame: calcium chloride

Red flame: stronium nitrate, some sources site Boric acid as well, Lithium

Reddish/Orange-calcium choloride

Yellow flame: Table salt, Sodium Chlorate or Potassium Nitrate

Yellow/Green-borax (sodium tetraborate)

Purple flame: Lithium Chlorate, Potassium Nitrate, Potassium (gives it a lavender colour)

White: psom Salts (magnesium sulfate)

Another special effect can be achieved by sprinkling powdered iron into a flame. If this is done slowly enough, a number of yellow, sparkling "stars' can be seen clearly.

Solstice Dream Pillow

Copyright © Catherine Osborne

Materials needed: 1-4 oz (30-120 gms) each of the following five herbs: dried chamomile, mugwort, catnip, hops, lavender, whole oranges & lemons, cinnamon sticks, allspice berries, (optional) myrrh or frankincense resin lumps. Scraps of lightweight cloth (4-7 inches/100-175 mm, two for each bag) optional bits of ribbon, embroidery floss, scraps of lace or a few small beads.

For those who are sitting up all night on the Solstice, this is a special dream pillow you can make for prophetic dreams when you go to sleep the next night or throughout the year. (If you are not sitting up a vigil, go ahead and make them anyway - I get some interesting quirks to the dreams when I use the spices in the dream pillows.)

Take the first five dried herbs and mix them in whatever proportions you desire/have on hand. More Mugwort will lead some folks to more psychic dreaming, more hops will lead to a sounder sleep for some others, more catnip may encourage feline pillow sharing.

As the night passes, eat the oranges, and use the lemons (minus their peels) in teas/punches/hot drinks. As you use them try to remove the peels in large chunks or in easy to work with sections. Using a spoon, carefully scrape out as much of the white inner rind as you

can without damaging the zesty outer peel. Scatter the remaining outer peels on a cookie sheet and dry them on low heat in the oven (200F or less). Watch them to make sure they are drying but not scorching. Remove them from the oven, and let them cool.

If you have a fire or incense burner, burn some of the incense resins, saving most to use in the pillows.

Crumble the dried peels up into smaller bits, break up the cinnamon sticks up into smaller pieces, and add the spices, resins and peels to the herb mixture. Mix well. Gather up the scraps of material, and sew up small bags: 3-6 inches/75-150mm should be fine. Leave one side open: small openings will make it more difficult to fill the bags later. If you want to use the ribbons and floss to embroider protective or other magical symbols or representative designs, it will be easier to do before you stitch the sides together. Work on this to keep you awake, thinking of the season and what it means to you as you do it. If these are intended as gifts, think kindly and lovingly of the folks you will be giving these to.

Fill each of the bags with the herb/spice mixture, but not so full that it is hard: people will want to smell them, but they need to be soft enough to sleep on. Fold the last side inward, and stitch

closed. If you want, a small loop of ribbon may be added at this point at the top.

After the sun rises, and you have finished your celebrations, set these aside, and finish them when you have/make time during the day if they aren't done. When you go to bed, slip one or more of these into you pillow case, and inhale deeply as you relax before sleeping. Watch for special dreams as you sleep.

Other Ideas for Yule

· Hang popcorn balls made with honey on trees for wild birds or string a popcorn chain and drape it around the trees.

· Make a wreath out of pine boughs that the family collects on a family outing. Put the wreath in a visible location, such as on the front door, on an inside wall, or in the center of the dining table. When summer solstice arrives it may be burned in the bonfire.

· Make or decorate a special red candle to light on Yule

· Start making tree decorations for family as gifts

· Make an "Advent" calendar

· Make a Yule log. Drill three holes in it to hold three candles of white, red, and black. (Don't let the candles burn down *into* the wood!) Or go to our craft section where we give even more ideas for the Yule log including types of woods, herbs and flowers to decorate with all their correspondences. For more ideas see the craft section below.

· Make your very own Yule cards to send to friends and family

·Go out and find a special log to decorate and light on Yule night **see below

· Explain the concept of the holiday to your child. Using crayons or markers ask him or her to draw you a picture of the sun being born, or try other mediums like clay or finger paints

· Let your child stay up with you all night, and watch the Yule log burn. If your child (or you!) can't make it all night long, wake up extra early and plan a dawn picnic in a park, or on a hill, or somewhere where you can watch the sun rise.

· Keep a candle lit throughout the night to encourage the Sun to keep it company. Make sure the candle is in a safe place where it can't accidentally set your home ablaze.

· Create a ritual of re-birth. Let it begin with all in darkness, and, throughout the ritual, light candles until you are surrounded by warmth and brightness. Move from the womb to the full light of a summer's day!

· Volunteer at a soup kitchen, and make a commitment to be there at other times throughout the year; there are those less fortunate than you... share what you can with them.

Credits

http://wiccaandwitchcraft.110mb.com/index.php?showtopic=782