Crafts and Ideas

Besoms

Directions # 1- You will need a straight branch, approximately 12 to 18 inches long and 1/2 inch in diameter (if you can't find a branch, a dowel will do), scissors, raffia and a bowl of salt water. You will also need bunches of any of the following plants: cedar, fennel, lavender, rosemary, or broom. Ideally, these plants should come from your magickal garden. Assemble your tools and materials and create a sacred space to work in. Charge the branch and plant materials by taking each in turn in your hands and sending purifying energies into them. Visualize a white cleansing light emanating from your hands and being absorbed by the branch and plants. Take the raffia and tie three circles on one end of the branch while you say:

"I bind you in purification."
Now take several stalks of the plant materials, leafy ends down, and place around the end of the branch with the three loops of raffia (to form a round broom shape). Visualize the white light, and tie three loops around the branch and plants. Place another layer of plant material around the branch, tie three more loops while you visualize. Do this until your broom is as full as you want. Tie the end of the raffia three times around the branch and plants, pull the end through some of the loops and tie three knots. Snip off the excess raffia. Thank the branch and plant materials for their sacrifice. Sprinkle some of the salt water on the broom sweeps and visualize all negative forces melting away. Now walk to your door, open it and vigorously sweep close to the floor (you don't actually have to sweep the floor). Visualize all negativity being swept out the door. Now moving lockwise around the house, sweep each door and window and at the upper and lower corners of each room. When you've made your way back to the door, open it again, sweep out, then shake your broom vigorously three times to shake away anything that stuck to it. Leave it outside your door, do not bring it in again. At your first opportunity, take it apart and bury all the materials.

Direction # 2 - Materials needed: A straight branch, approximately 4 to 4-1/2 ft. long and at least 1 inch in diameter; raffia; salt water; Bunches of any (or all) of the following plants: Lavender, Rosemary, or Broom. Take the raffia and tie three circles on one end of the branch while you say:

"I bind you in the name of the Art."
Now take several stalks of the plant materials, leafy ends down, and place them around the end of the branch with the three loops of raffia (to form a round broom shape). Visualize the purpose of your besom, and tie three loops around the branch and plants. Place another layer of plant material around the branch, tie three more loops while you visualize. Do this until your broom is as full as you want. Tie the end of the raffia three times around the branch and plants, pull the end through some of the loops and tie three knots. Snip off the excess raffia. To charge first thank the branch and plant materials for their sacrifice, ask whichever Goddess/God seems appropriate to your work, and then sprinkle some of the salt water on the broom sweeps. Use your new besom immediately and store next to your altar when you are finished. (From: Strega <[email protected]>)



Broom Magic - Making A Besom
While tools are not always necessary or even sometimes desirable they are fun, and making those tools that you can for your own use, and for others is even more fun. You tend to invest more of your energy and creative essence in any tool that you have taken the time and patience to create. So with that in mind I am going to share with you how I made my Besom.

Making a Besom or witch's broom is not difficult and there are many good ideas around to borrow from and improve on. In choosing the wood you want to use wood that has protective properties and most important what feels right to you. Good choice's for wood are Ash (protection, prosperity, health); Birch (protection, binding, purification) - the traditional broom of the Witches was made of birch twigs; Dogwood (wishes, protection); Elder (binding, protection, healing) - though this is more often used for wands; Oak (protection, health, money, healing) and a tree scared to the Druid's; Pine (healing, protection, binding, money); or Rowan (psychic powers, healing, power, success, protection).

The wood of my Besom is unknown, I found it on our then new property and loved the shape and feel, it had been lying waiting for me to find it for years and looked akin to driftwood, which would also be a good wood to use. After leaving it natural for a long time I decided to sand it, it turned out with a dark, finely grained and satiny pattern. If you decide to finish your wood than strip it first and let it dry and then do any sanding necessary. After you find the wood that you want to use as the handle taking in account the size and length best suited to you, properly thanking the Goddess, cut very carefully, you don't want to kill the tree, only take what you need, and use a saw as your bolline will not work.

The next step is gathering the materials for the "broomstraws" the binding and any decorative touches. I suggest Straw as it can be easily obtained and attracts fairies. Wheat can also be used, but might shed more than you wish. The traditional binding for a magical, or Witch's broom is a Willow branch, it is very flexible and easy to work with. Straw can be dyed using herbal dyes, for black use alder, black walnut or yarrow. For blues, elder, indigo, woad, oregon grape. For brown use comfrey, fennel, hops, onion, pokeweed. For Golds use dock, goldenrod, safflower. For greens use barberry, bayberry, sage. Binding the straw: I use a double binding method for this. Before cutting the straw the length you wish add about two inches. I have found that it is easier to work with the straw if it has been soaked and then just left damp. Gather the straw with the ends even and pointing towards the top of the handle and distributed around the handle, bind the added two inches with strong twine, fold the straw down pointing in the right direction and bind with the Willow branch.

Personal touches. Now come the most fun making your Besom uniquely your own. If using pine you can add small pine cones strung with twine and attached to the binding, if using oak do the same with acorns. Slip lavender under the binding or heather, add dried flowers...this is your Besom to play with it. You can also decorate the handle anyway you wish, and if you can whittle or carve you can create a beautiful one of kind Besom.


Herbed Yogurt Soap
17 oz Coconut Oil
25 oz Olive Oil
25 oz Palm Oil
9 oz Palm Kernal Oil
1 oz Stearic Acid
13 oz Lye
10 oz Water
20 oz Whole Milk Yogurt
9 oz Shea Butter
4 oz Castor Oil
4 oz Avocado Oil
2 oz Kukui Nut Oil
3 T Calendula Petals (optional)
3 T Chamomile Flowers (optional)
3 T Lavender Flowers (optional)
2 T Marshmallow Root (optional)
Mix the lye with the water and put it aside to cool. Melt the coconut, olive, palm, and palm kernal
oil. In a microwave-safe bowl, nuke yogurt for about 1 min or until it's approx 85°. Mix lye and
oils when both are 90° (within 10°). Have yogurt ready because oils will saponify quickly due to
small ammount of liquid. Add yogurt as soon as you have the lye and oils mixed together, but not
tracing. In another microwave-safe bowl nuke avocado, castor, kukui, and shea butter with herbs
(if you're using them) until they are approx 85° and add at light trace. Mix to desired trace and
pour into molds.


HARVEST SOAP
12 ounces shortening
6 ounces coconut oil
2 ounces corn oil
2 ounces sunflower oil
2 ounces walnut oil
2 ounces grapeseed oil
6 ounces tallow
6 ounces honey beer
4 ounces lye
1/2 ounce wheat germ oil
10 drops vitamin E oil
1 cup oatmeal
2 tablespoons wheat germ
1 tablespoon honey
1 ounce Guinness, Porter or other dark beer or ale
Mix beer and lye together , stirring constantly, and set aside. Be careful this will foam up. Bring to
130 degrees to 120 degrees temperature. Melt fats together. Bring to 140 degrees temperature.
Mix oatmeal, honey, wheat germ and Guiness or more honey beer together and set aside.
Carefully pour lye mixture into fats, stirring constantly. Continue to stir till mixture thickens and
forms a light trace. Add wheat germ oil and vitamin E oil and stir to blend thoroughly. Add grains
and honey mixtures and stir to a thick trace. Pour into molds and let set 24 -48 hours covered
warmly. If the soap is still warm after this time allow to set till cool. Remove from mold and cut
into bars. Age 3-4 weeks.



Honey Hand Lotion
3/4 cup rose water
1/4 cup glycerin
1/2 tsp vinegar
1/2 tsp honey
Mix and blend well by shaking in bottle. Use often for soft hands
Lemon Loofah Soap

Makes one bar
Dried loofah sponge (1 square inch)
4-ounces MP base
1 tsp. liquid lanolin
1 tsp. aloe vera gel
15 drops lemon essential oil
1 drop yellow food coloring
With a pair of sharp scissors, cut off one square inch of loofah sponge. Shred the loofah sponge
into tiny pieces, either in a coffee grinder or with scissors, and set aside. Melt MP base. Remove
from heat and add the lanolin, aloe vera gel, lemon oil, and food coloring, stirring until well
mixed. Immediately add the shredded loofah and stir until evenly distributed. Pour into a mold
and let set for three hours of until hardened.

Rose Scented Moisture Cream:
Makes about 3/4 cup
1/2 cup rosewater
1/2 tsp.glycerine
2 tablespoons witch hazel
1/4 tsp. borax
2 tbsp. emulsifying wax or white beeswax
1 tsp. lanolin
2 tbsp. almond oil
2 drops rose oil
Gently heat the rosewater, glycerine, witch hazel and borax in a saucepan until the borax has
dissolved. In a double boiler,melt the wax, lanolin and almond oil over a gentle heat. slowly add
the rosewater mixture to the oil mixture, whisking as you do so. It will quickly turn milky and
thicken. Take off the heat and continue to whisk as it cools and then add the rose oil. Pour into
glass pots or jars.


OATMEAL MILK AND HONEY BAR
10 oz. olive oil
10 oz. coconut oil
10 oz. cocoa butter or shea butter
14 oz. vegetable shortening
6 oz. lye
8 oz. whole milk
8 oz. water
Mix the 16 oz. of liquid with the lye or mix 8 oz. of whole milk with the oils, then you would have
8 oz. water and 6 oz. of lye mixed together. Melt the oils slowly and I mix the oils and lye water
(milk) at 120. If you mix the milk with the lye be ready to stir, stir, stir, stir, and stir some more. It
will smell bad, I think, it don't smell as bad if you mix the milk with the oils. Stir the oils and lye
together and stir swiftly and if you have a stick blender use it to mix this together, when you first
see the sign of traceing put in 4 T. Honey and the 1/2 c. ground up oatmeal. Stir swiftly and be
ready to pour in the mold because it will trace really fast when you put the oatmeal in.


Lavender and Rosemary Soap
3 cups glycerin soap base (Neutregena is a glycerine soap. The base can also be bought at
most craft stores and online)
1/4 cup infusion of lavender flower and rosemary leaves
1 1/2 tsp lavender oil
1/2 tsp rosemary oil
1 tsp pulverized dried rosemary (optional)
Combine melted base and herbal materials. Stir until well blended, then pour into molds and
cool. Store in a cool, dark place. This soap can produce a mild yet stimulating effect on the skin.
It has antiseptic & anti-inflammatory properties


BASIC RITUAL SOAP BASE
Castile Soap-4ounce bar
Heat proof, non-metalcontainer
CottonCheesecloth
Oils to empower the soap and provide scent
Cut four ounce bar of castile soap into small cubes, no larger than 1/4 inch. Place in heatproof,
non-metal container. Heat 1/3-cup water until almost boiling. Pour the heated water over the
soap cubes. Let cool enough to handle comfortably. Mix the soap and water with hands to moisten
soap, the cubes should not be floating, if they do add more soap. Let the soap and water sit
for about 10 minutes until mushy. If the cubes of soap are still hard, set the container in a pan of
water and heat slowly until the soap is soft. While you are waiting for the soap to melt, mix
together whatever oils you are using and empower them with your magickal need. Add between
20-50 drops o the combined oils to the soap-water mixture after the water has cooled. Keep
adding drops of oil mixture until the scent is strong and you cannot smell the castile soap. Divide
the scented soap into 4 parts. Form into spheres with hands. Place each sphere on a 9-inch
square of cotton cheesecloth. Pull the ends tightly around the soap and gather them at the top
and twist. Tie the ends together with a strong string.
Hang the wrapped soap in a warm place until hard, approximately 3 days. When the soap doesn't
give when you press it with your finger, remove the cloths. The soap is now ready to use for
ritual baths. They can be stored in clean cotton cheesecloth.


Soap Crayons
1 cup soap flakes (Ivory works well)
food colouring
2 TBS hot water (I've used more)
Have one large bowl for mixing the soap in general and other small bowls for the different
colours you want to make. For a mold, you can use an ice cube try but I just shaped them into
fat crayons. Put soap flakes in large bowl and drizzle the hot water into the soap flakes, stirring
constantly. The mixture will soon me thick and hard to stir.Spoon the soap into the different small
bowls for each seperate colour. Add food colouring drop by drop and mix it into the soap until a
thick paste. Takes a few days to dry before using. WARNING: I mixed them by hand and my
hands were assorted colours. Wear gloves if you can.