Pentacle Vessel/Bottle
Buy some black sculpey clay (if you can't find that, acquire fimo, or another soft, modeling clay substance). Roll the clay into a ball about the size of a shot-glass. Make a hole in it with your fingers so that it starts to resemble a tall bowl, pinching inward the open sides so that your ring finger fits in the hole. It should look something like a bottle with no neck (a cork will go into the hole) ; then, with some more clay, (a tiny amount), roll it into a "snake" like one does with play-dough as a child. Make a small, thin pentagram (five-pointed star) on the bottle and enclose the star within a circle (in other words, make a pentacle). Make it perfectly; if you mess up, peel off the pentagram and try again. Bake it in the oven at 275 degrees F for about 12 minutes. Watch it so that it doesn't burn. Stick a small cork in the opening when it's done. Then, you have a magickal bottle for salt, herbs, potions, or anything magickal.
Alternatively, you may choose to make some dishes for your altar, perhaps for salt or water. Instead of forming a bottle after your clay is rolled into a ball, flatten it into a bowl shape with your fingers and continue as outlined above.
To Make A Smudge Stick
Branches of Rosemary, sage, pinon ,pine, or juniper (or a mixture)
colored cotton twine
sharp shears
Put everything on a table and proceed to trim your pieces into lengths of 6" to 8" inches. Unroll a piece of twine long enough to wrap a decent size bundle from top to bottom. Starting from the tips of the branches, bind them in a criss-cross manner to form a stick. Continue wrapping until you reach the base then wind the twine tightly around the stems, tie a knot, and clip the excess. Let it dry out so it will burn well. To use, light it and gently shake it over a fireproof container to put out the flame. These make excellent gifts and look & smell great displayed in a big earthen bowl.
Making Your Own Herbal Paper
By Breid Foxsong
Materials
You will need several sheets of typing paper (any old paper or paper you can recycle- be aware that if you use different colors of paper it will show), a bowl, hot water, a fork, two kitchen towels, a metal screen, a wooden frame, a stapler, a rolling pin, and two tablespoons of ground herbs of your choice.
Procedure
-Tear several sheets of paper into pieces the size of a penny or smaller.
-Place the pieces in a bowl and cover with hot water.
-Stir to make sure all of the paper is wet.
-Let stand overnight.
-The next day, tear the paper into pieces as small as possible and then stir with a fork for several minutes. (You now have made pulp.) This can also be done in a food processor if you don't mind adding the mechanical energies, but like any magical tool, you are better off doing it by hand. As you stir, add in the ground herbs. They need to be ground or finely chopped so that they don't create flaws in the paper. Experiment with various herbs, keeping in mind their magical qualities. The pulp should remain a thick mush in texture. If this is part of a spell working, chant or focus on your purpose as you do this.
-Prepare a metal screen (like those used in windows or screen doors) by stapling screen to a wood picture frame. You can use a small window screen if you like. The dimensions can vary, but it should be larger than you want the finished paper.
-Smooth out an even layer of pulp (approx. 1/8 inch thick) onto the screen by hand.
-Let the water drain for a couple of minutes.
-Flip your screen over so that your paper pops out onto a clean kitchen towel.
-Cover the paper with another kitchen towel so that you have a "sandwich" of paper between the two towels.
-Use the rolling pin to press out more water and flatten the paper.
-Carefully peel off the top towel. Turn the wet paper over onto either a smooth counter top or on a piece of glass (you can use a window for this) paper side down, and then carefully peel off the remaining towel.
-Let the paper dry overnight or longer.
-If you want to smooth the paper for writing on, spray the dried paper with a fine mist of water. -Place a clean smooth rag over the damp paper and iron it with a slightly warm iron until the paper is dry. You can use your paper for gifts, for spell work, for stationery or just for plain fun! Enjoy!
Twig Pentagram
-5 twigs of desired wood and size
-Ribbon, raffia, or cord of choice to bind
-Optional decoration ideas: rosehips, seed pods, pinecones, holly, mistletoe, herbs
Lay out and bind twigs where they cross and decorate. Voila!
These would make great ornaments, tree toppers, or wall decorations depending on size. Could also be incorproated into a wreath to make a pentacle. Grapevine wreaths(like sold at crafts stores) work well for this and could be decorated at and for any time of the year.
Pentacle Dreamcatcher
A pentacle dream catcher is not difficult to make. It requires a circular ring; even a large curtain ring will do. You will also need some thread, string, or heavy crocheting thread to weave the design upon this ring. If you really want to be decorative, you can string tiny beads on the thread and attach little feathers where the string is wound around the ring.
To begin, tie one end of the thread to the ring. Wind the thread around the opposite side of the ring three times at a slight angle from the original attachment, pulling it tight. This will be part of the left leg of the pentacle. Each time you attach the thread to the ring, wind it three times.
Now wind the thread about the ring a short distance from the 1st tying. Your design should look like an inverted V-shape. Pulling the string to the let side of the ring, wind it about the ring a little more than half-way up the side. Adjust it until it looks like the lower angle of the cross-arm of the pentacle. Now stretch the thread across to the opposite side and wind it about the ring. For the finishing angle, pull the thread back to the point of the beginning.
If you carefully check the angle of the thread each time you prepare to wind it at another point on the ring, you can adjust the design. Make a small loop for hanging at the top of the pentacle. If you want to string beads on the thread, do it on each section before you wind the thread around the ring. I've seen one pentacle dream catcher decorated with a Samhain artificial cobweb and a tiny spider in the center.
Dream catchers do work. They are symbols of personal control over dreams. And the subconscious mind which creates dreams only understands symbols.
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