Wicca Spirit Newsletter Crafts

Shrine of Universal Living Spirit

Wicca Spirit Newsletter

Magical Stepping Stones

- source unknown

It is important to create walking paths in your garden for a number of

reasons. It's a great way to create a design, other than with plants,

in your garden. It shows you and others where it is safe to walk so

plants won't be stepped on a crushed. Lastly, the soil won't become

pressed down when people walk too close to the plants. If soil DOES get pressed down, the plants will not grow as well since their roots will

not get enough of the needed nutrients, water, and air.

Here are the easy steps to make stepping stones:

1. Construct 13" square wood frames out of 2x4 pieces of scrap wood.

2. Purchase concrete mix (ask at you local hardware store about the

different types of concrete that will work for this project), mix it

according to directions and pour it into the frames. The frames should

be laid on a flat surface with plastic under the frames.

3. Here's the creative part. Draw designs into the concrete. Think back

when you were a child, or have your child help you. Make hand prints,

flowers, vines, rainbows, write words like "Jamee's garden," "Welcome," “I luv gardening," etc. into the stones.

4. Allow the concrete to set for 3 days or overnight (if using a fast-

drying concrete), then remove the frame.

5. Set the stones into the garden.

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Make Your Own Runes

-source unknown

Some people are particular about their runes and do not loan them out

or let anyone touch them. Runes are traditionally made from wood and

bone. These materials were the easiest to make Rune staves with.

Be creative. Runes may be made from non-traditional ceramic, glass,

oak, shells, and stone! My favorite set is made of cherry wood. I

scanned my personal cherry set of Runes and use them throughout my

entire site. The set above is oak cut from a 1 1/8" dowel.

The cherry wood set was cut from leftover cherry wood from furniture

building by my husband. They were cut into small rectangular 1" by 3/4" pieces on which I burned the Rune symbol with an electric wood burning tool. While burning each Rune, I did a meditation while learning each one and it turned into a Rune Ritual and a period of self empowerment.

If you want your Runes to be traditional, use wood from trees or bone,

ivory, or deer antlers. Runes can also be made out of sea shells, clay

dried and/or fired, glass, stones collected from sacred places such as

the Mississippi River (like a friend of mine plans on doing), or wood

from any of the sacred trees. I always use discarded branches and deer

naturally molt their antlers every year. Rune sets can also be

purchased from metaphysical stores, festivals and independent vendors.

To give you an idea what kind of wood you would like to use to make

your Runes out of, you can check out the meanings and myths associated with the different kinds of trees.

Runes should be stored in either handmade or store bought bags with

draw strings. They should be large enough to hold all of the Runes plus

allow a hand to go into the bag to pull a Rune out. The bag used to

store the Runes can be made from natural materials like cotton,

leather, wool, or silk. You can use manmade materials, too. I have made bags from blue jean material, velvet, wool, and synthetics.

The easiest way to get started in Rune divining it so ask a "yes" or

"no" question. An upright Rune is "yes" and an reversed Rune is "No."

Mix the Runes up in the Rune Bag and select one with the left hand,

usually referred to as the Pagan hand. One school of thought is that if

you are right-handed, the right hand is active and conscious, while the

left-hand is passive and subconscious. If you are left-handed, then the

left hand represents the active and subconscious, while the right hand

represents the passive and subconscious.

When using the traditional 24 Germanic, Anglo-Saxon or Fresian runes, there are eight runes that when turned either way always read the same and cannot be reversed. If you get one of these, place it back in the bag and draw another. You can repeat the process three times and if you still don't get a Rune that can be reversed take it as meaning it's not

time to get an answer to that particular question. Do not ask silly

questions or questions concerning death. These are questions of fate

and are not in our realm to know.

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Poppet Magick

-source unknown

Most people (particularly non-Pagans) think of Voodoo dolls all stuck with pins when the idea of poppet magick comes up. But using stuffed dolls or poppets to represent a person as part of a magickal spell isn't limited to Voodoo, and certainly isn't a sinister form of black magick. Poppets are often used in healing magick, when a particular person is being considered.

A small cloth person-shaped doll, sometimes stuffed with herbs or stones will work just fine. Next time you are doing a spell, you could try using a poppet for a change. You can even use them to represent yourself.

Directions for making a Poppet:

Cut two pieces of cloth in the shape of the Poppet. Any kind of material and appropriate color can be used. (traditionally around 6 inches tall).

Sew around the doll's seam, leaving one side open for turning and stuffing. Leave the head open for this purpose.

To represent eyes, mouth and heart, make a large stitch with heavy white thread where appropriate. You can also draw the eyes, mouth, and heart with fabric paint or a colored pen if you prefer.

Turn inside out and stuff with cotton or rags. Herbs appropriate to the purpose for which the poppet is to be used for, hair or nail clippings from the poppet's namesake, or small pieces of clothing may be added as stuffing.

Sew up the open side by hand to close and complete the poppet. You can leave it as a simple "naked" poppet, or you can go crazy and really dress it up and make it look like the person being targeted.

Recommended Rules you might want follow:

When attempting a spell in which another person is involved, that person should be made aware that magick is being directed toward him or her.

When you begin work with a poppet, tag the poppet with a name tag and never change this identification tag. if you have the time it is even more powerful to take thread and stitch the name onto the body of the Poppet.

If you change your objective, create a new poppet and start over.

Using the same poppet can lead to magickal contamination, which can ruin your spell or bring about the wrong magickal affect.

If you are working with more than one poppet at a time, be sure that each poppet has a name tag affixed to it before any ritual is begun (to avoid confusion).

Traditionally, some people repeat the ritual every day for nine consecutive days, or until the wish or objection has been attained. However, feel free to design your spell in a way that suits your own personal needs and objectives.

Love, money , and protective spells should begin during the time when the moon is waxing (from new to full moon).

People usually have their defenses down when they are sleeping. Therefore, to maximize results, try doing your ritual/magick after midnight if possible (or when you know the person is sleeping). This is always a good idea if the person receiving the magick is a non-believer and thus has built-in resistance to even white magick.

When you've finished using the poppet, bury it in a place where it won't be found, or burn it and throw the ashes to the four corners of the earth (do this in a secluded place where others won't see you). The poppet must be buried or destroyed to avoid anything, or anybody, from getting hold of the poppet and using it for other purposes, which can still affect the person who the doll represents.

Before you burn or bury the poppet you may wish to remove personal items like hair, nail clippings, clothing, etc. from the poppet just to be safe. Always remember the Harm None Rule and the Rule of Three when doing spell or ritual work of any kind!

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The information provided here was forwarded some time ago with no author or credit given. If you know the author please contact us and we will give appropriate credits.

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Crafts & Crafting

Volume I Issue 2

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