Select the material that you would like to use for your bag. Velvet, felt, or leather are good choices. You can also use cotton or any other fabric. Because of it's rich texture, velvet is a good choice for charm bags designed to bring money and prosperity to you.
Select the color of fabric for your charm bag. The color you choose depends on the purpose for your bag.
Pink is used for love.
Red is used for passion or sex.
Black is used for banishing and revenge.
Blue is used for spirituality and healing.
Purple is used for protection and also for psychic power.
Gold is used for wealth and prosperity.
Green is used for financial matters.
White is used for purity and cleansing. It can also be used for spirituality.
Other color associations that you may want to consider are:
Silver for the Goddess
Gold for the God
White for the angels or your spirit guide.
Green for fairies.
Cut your material into two square sections. Place the two pieces together with the insides facing each other.
Slowly sew three of the sides of the pouch together. While you sew your charm bag, focus your thoughts on the purpose for the charm. Visualize your goal coming true for you and know that as you sew your energy is being put into your charm bag and being sent out into the Universe and to the Goddess.
Next you can decorate your charm bag in any way that you wish. You may wish to draw meaningful symbols on the bag. You can can write your purpose on the bag. Sewing beads, sequins, ribbons, or other decorations on the bag is a good idea. The more effort and time you put into decorating and working with your charm bag, the more of your personal energy you infuse into it. While you are doing this, imagine that the charm bag is working its magic for you.
Now add the ingredients that you want to have in your charm bag. You can use anything that you feel is symbolic of the goal you wish to reach. Dried herbs, crystals, photos, written words, flower petals, trinkets, a small magnet (for magnetism), you can even spray the inside or outside of the bag with a perfume or dab it with essential oil.
Sew the top of your charm bag closed. If you wish, you can sew a ribbon onto the bag to hang it with. You may also carry the charm bag in your pocketbook, bag, or in your pocket.
Showing posts with label Crafts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Crafts. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Yule Trees, Colors, Activities, and Etc
Trees for Yule:
•Oak : Endurance, Strength, Triumph, Protection.
•Yew : Last Day of Solar Year; Death
•Silver Fir: Winter Solstice Day; Birth.
•Birch: Month following Winter Solstice; Beginnings.
Colors of Yule
•Red,
•Green,
•Gold,
•White,
•Silver,
•Yellow,
•Orange
Stones of Yule
•Rubies,
•Bloodstones,
•Garnets,
•Emeralds,
•Diamonds
Yule Deities
•Goddesses-Brighid, Isis, Demeter, Gaea, Diana, The Great Mother.
•Gods-Apollo, Ra, Odin, Lugh, The Oak King, The Horned One, The Green Man, The Divine Child, Mabon.
•Frey - God, brother-consort of Freyja; son of Njord. "The Lord", fertility and creativity God; "the Lover"; God of Yule. He is the god of wealth and peace and contentment. Blood was not allowed to be spilled through violence, nor where weapons or outlaws allowed on or in his holy places. Sensual love, fertility, growth, abundance, wealth, bravery, horses, boars, protector of ships and sailors, peace, joy happiness, rain, beauty, weather, guarantor of oaths, groves, sunshine, plant growth, sex.
Yule Spell Work
Spell craft performed for Yule should be for peace, harmony, love, and increased happiness.
Pagan Yule Activities
Caroling, wassailing , burning the Yule log, decorating the Yule tree, exchanging of presents, kissing under the mistletoe, feeding of animals, birds with grains and seeds,become a part of nature
Foods of Yule:
Cookies and caraway cakes soaked in cider, fruits, nuts, pork dishes, turkey, eggnog, ginger tea, spiced cider, wassail, or lamb's wool (ale, sugar, nutmeg, roasted apples).
A Pagan Christmas Tree
The Christian tradition of a Christmas tree has its origins in the Pagan Yule celebration. Pagan families would bring a live tree into the home so the wood spirits would have a place to keep warm during the cold winter months. Bells were hung in the limbs so you could tell when a spirit was present.
Food and treats were hung on the branches for the spirits to eat and a five-pointed star, symbol of the five elements, was placed atop the tree.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Noncombustible Incense
Be sure you have all necessary ingredients. If you lack any, decide on substitutions. Each ingredient must be finely ground, preferably to a powder, using either a mortar and pestle or an electric grinder. Some resins won't powder easily, but with practice you'll find the right touch. When all is ready, fix your mind on the incense's goal. In a large wooden or ceramic bowl, mix the resins and gums together with your hands. While mingling these fragrant substances, also mix their energies. Visualize your personal power--vibrating with your Magickal goal--exiting your hands and entering the incense.
Next, mix in all the powdered leaves, barks, flowers and roots. As you mix, continue to visualize or concentrate on the incense's goal. Now add any oils or liquids that are included in the recipe. Just a few drops are usually sufficient. Once all has been thoroughly mixed, add any powdered stones or other power boosters. The incense is now fully compounded. Empower the incense and it is done. Store in a tightly capped jar. Label carefully, including the name of the incense and date of composition. It is ready for use when needed.
Combustible Incense-Combustible incense (in the form of cones, blocks, and sticks) is fairly complex in its composition, but many feel the results are worth the extra work. Gum tragacanth glue or mucilage is the basic ingredient of all molded incenses. Gum tragacanth is available at some herb stores. It is rather expensive, but a little will last for months. To make tragacanth glue, place a teaspoon of the ground herb in a glass of warm water. Mix thoroughly until all particles are dispersed. To facilitate this, place in a bowl and whisk or beat with an egg beater. This will cause foam to rise, but it can be easily skimmed off or allowed to disperse. The gum tragacanth has enormous absorption qualities; an ounce will absorb up to one gallon of water in a week.
Let the tragacanth absorb the water until it becomes a thick, bitter-smelling paste. The consistency of the mixture depends on the form of incense desired. For sticks (the most difficult kind to make), the mixture should be relatively thin. For blocks and cones a thicker mucilage should be made. This where practice comes in handy; after a session or two you will automatically know when the mucilage is at the correct consistency.
If you can't find tragacanth, try using gum arabic in its place. This, too, absorbs water. When you have made the trag glue, cover with a wet cloth and set aside. It will continue to thicken as it sits, so if it becomes too thick add a bit of water and stir thoroughly. Next, make up the incense base:
Cone Incense Base 6 parts ground Charcoal (not self-igniting), 1 part ground Benzoin, 2 parts ground Sandalwood, 1 part ground Orris root (this "fixes" the scent), 6 drops essential oil (use the oil form of one of the ingredients in the incense), 2 to 4 parts mixed, empowered incense.
Mix the first four ingredients until all are well blended. Add the drops of essential oil and mix again with you hands. The goal is to create a powdered mixture with a fine texture. If you wish, run the mixture through a grinder or mortar again until it is satisfactory. Add 2 to 4 parts of the completed and empowered incense mixture. Combine this well with your hands.
Then using a small kitchen scale, weigh the completed incense and add ten percent potassium nitrate. If you've made ten ounces of incense, add one ounce potassium nitrate. Mix this until the white powder is thoroughly blended. Next, add the trag glue. Do this a teaspoon at a time, mixing with your hands in a large bowl until all ingredients are wetted. For cone incense you'll need a very stiff, dough-like texture. If it is too thick it won't properly form into cones and will take forever to dry. The mixture should mold easily and hold its shape.
On a piece of waxed paper, shape the mixture into basic cone shapes, exactly like the ones you've probably bought. If this form isn't used, the incense might not burn properly. When you've made up your cone incense, let it dry for two to seven days in a warm place. Your incense is finished.
Next, mix in all the powdered leaves, barks, flowers and roots. As you mix, continue to visualize or concentrate on the incense's goal. Now add any oils or liquids that are included in the recipe. Just a few drops are usually sufficient. Once all has been thoroughly mixed, add any powdered stones or other power boosters. The incense is now fully compounded. Empower the incense and it is done. Store in a tightly capped jar. Label carefully, including the name of the incense and date of composition. It is ready for use when needed.
Combustible Incense-Combustible incense (in the form of cones, blocks, and sticks) is fairly complex in its composition, but many feel the results are worth the extra work. Gum tragacanth glue or mucilage is the basic ingredient of all molded incenses. Gum tragacanth is available at some herb stores. It is rather expensive, but a little will last for months. To make tragacanth glue, place a teaspoon of the ground herb in a glass of warm water. Mix thoroughly until all particles are dispersed. To facilitate this, place in a bowl and whisk or beat with an egg beater. This will cause foam to rise, but it can be easily skimmed off or allowed to disperse. The gum tragacanth has enormous absorption qualities; an ounce will absorb up to one gallon of water in a week.
Let the tragacanth absorb the water until it becomes a thick, bitter-smelling paste. The consistency of the mixture depends on the form of incense desired. For sticks (the most difficult kind to make), the mixture should be relatively thin. For blocks and cones a thicker mucilage should be made. This where practice comes in handy; after a session or two you will automatically know when the mucilage is at the correct consistency.
If you can't find tragacanth, try using gum arabic in its place. This, too, absorbs water. When you have made the trag glue, cover with a wet cloth and set aside. It will continue to thicken as it sits, so if it becomes too thick add a bit of water and stir thoroughly. Next, make up the incense base:
Cone Incense Base 6 parts ground Charcoal (not self-igniting), 1 part ground Benzoin, 2 parts ground Sandalwood, 1 part ground Orris root (this "fixes" the scent), 6 drops essential oil (use the oil form of one of the ingredients in the incense), 2 to 4 parts mixed, empowered incense.
Mix the first four ingredients until all are well blended. Add the drops of essential oil and mix again with you hands. The goal is to create a powdered mixture with a fine texture. If you wish, run the mixture through a grinder or mortar again until it is satisfactory. Add 2 to 4 parts of the completed and empowered incense mixture. Combine this well with your hands.
Then using a small kitchen scale, weigh the completed incense and add ten percent potassium nitrate. If you've made ten ounces of incense, add one ounce potassium nitrate. Mix this until the white powder is thoroughly blended. Next, add the trag glue. Do this a teaspoon at a time, mixing with your hands in a large bowl until all ingredients are wetted. For cone incense you'll need a very stiff, dough-like texture. If it is too thick it won't properly form into cones and will take forever to dry. The mixture should mold easily and hold its shape.
On a piece of waxed paper, shape the mixture into basic cone shapes, exactly like the ones you've probably bought. If this form isn't used, the incense might not burn properly. When you've made up your cone incense, let it dry for two to seven days in a warm place. Your incense is finished.
Stick Incense
Add more trag glue to the mixed incense and base until the mixture is wet but still rather thick. The trick here is in determining the proper thickness of the incense/trag mixture and in finding appropriate materials to use. Try homemade wooden or bamboo splints, broom straws, very thin twigs, or those long wooden cocktail skewers. Dip the sticks into the mixture, let them sit upright and then dip again. Several dippings are usually necessary; this is a most difficult process.
When the sticks have accumulated a sufficient amount of the incense, poke them into a slab of clay or some other substance so that they stand upright. Allow them to dry. One variation on stick incense making uses a stiffer incense dough. Pat down the dough on waxed paper until it is very thin. Place the stick on the dough. Roll a thin coating of dough around the stick. The incense shouldn't be more than twice the thickness of the stick. Squeeze or press it onto the stick so that it will stay put, and let dry.
When the sticks have accumulated a sufficient amount of the incense, poke them into a slab of clay or some other substance so that they stand upright. Allow them to dry. One variation on stick incense making uses a stiffer incense dough. Pat down the dough on waxed paper until it is very thin. Place the stick on the dough. Roll a thin coating of dough around the stick. The incense shouldn't be more than twice the thickness of the stick. Squeeze or press it onto the stick so that it will stay put, and let dry.
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