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Gods-Eye
To make your own God's eye, you will need a quarter-inch dowel available at craft and hardware stores, a pair of scissors, and a collection of colored yarns (popsicle sticks work well too).
Cut the dowel into lengths approximately ten inches long. Holding the dowels together at their centers so that they form and equal length cross, begin wrapping your first yarn color around the center in an "X" pattern to stabilize the dowels.
Now begin slowly working your design outward. Wrap the yarn completely around one point of the dowel and then move on to the next point.
Periodically stop and push the yarn down against the center so that you have a tight weave. When you have wrapped the yarn within half an inch of the dowels, stop and wrap the yarn several times tightly around one point. You can then tie it off, leaving a loop from which it can be hung.
God's Eyes can be made of any size, depending on how you want to use them. Larger ones can be used for protection like a Native North American medicine shield, and smaller ones in Yule colors make excellent Yule tree decorations and can symbolize the return of the Sun. If they are decorative items to honor the Sun, then your work is done. If they are to function as protective talismans, then you should be visualizing their purpose as you weave them and consecrate them to their purpose later on.
Taken from
The Sabbats- A New Approach to Living the Old Ways
by Edain McCoy
Litha Door Ornament
Items You Will Need
Small broom, about 1' by 8"
Plastic seasonal flowers
{Roses, Wildflowers}
3 different colours of ribbon, about 12"-16" long
Some thin wire
{strip garbage bag twist-ties of thier paper coats}
Ornament oriented to the sabbat
Wire Cutters
Scissors
DIRECTIONS:
Using the wire cutters cut down the flower stems to a workable height. Using the wire, begin tieing in the seasonal flowers and berries at the base of the broom where the bristles begin. Manipulate the leaves of the flowers to lie flat against the bristles. This will give a good background for the colour of the flowers to show.
Lay your berries and or fruits in between the flowers and tie off with wire. Once you have all the foliage in, wire in the sabbat ornament of your choice.
To hide the wire tie the ribbon in a bow or whatever knot you prefer and let some of the excess drape around and under the the piece.
TO HANG: String a bit of wire through the top of the handle and hang on a nail in the door. If you prefer to hang your broom bristles up, then weave the wire through some of the bristles and really twist for strength. If you are hanging this on the front door, it's going to get a lot of traffic by it, so make sure it is secured well.
submitted by Sister BlackRaven
Solstice Dream Pillows
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.
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.
updated May 13, 2000
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