THE PAGAN YEAR.

Start your Yule gifts now & make your Yulelog, wreaths & Yule tree decorations. Crafts such as spinning of yarn & making ritual cords are done at this time, these cords should be 4 & a half feet long to compass a 9 foot circle. Use 9 strands of wool & braid them together. Make a corn Bride. Sew any robes, capes, altar cloths, sleep pillows, putsi's & poppets or start a magical quilt for your bed or as a present for some one. It is also time for basket weaving for those who cannot sew.

AUGUST.

Herb garden time, start one or clear the old one of weeds, plant seeds & corn & wheat. Replace herbs & buy new ones. Plant a tree or trees.

SEPTEMBER.

This is divination time, make your own runes or divination tools of all types. Make a magic mirror if you don't have one, do revision of all notes to do with divination, telepathy etc. Do exercises for astral projection, practise with your Zenner car ds. Do past life regressions. Practise with different kinds of pendulums. Purification of home, ritual tools robes, garden car, & garage done now. Best time to honour your household guardians or set up new ones or an Ushabati.

OCTOBER.

Gather ritual wood for Beltane fire now. traditionally they should be the nine woods of Beltane; Birch, oak, rowan, willow, hawthorn, hazel, apple, vine & fir, if these are not available in your area chose 9 different woods, 3 pieces of each, tie wit h a red cord or wool & keep safe till Beltane. Make wands & staffs now. This is a time to work with wood so try some wood carving, make a witches broom, do tree meditations & honour a tree by tying a red cord around it, then bury some of your hair at its roots as an offering. Make a priapic wand for Imbolc. Collect pine cones & make Winters image for Beltane fire. Dye & paint some eggs, decorate with runes & symbols. Make permanent Beltane fire pit if you do not already have one. Set up altar in the garden to honour the Goddess & God, Plant a standing stone in your garden or add a water feature to it, be it a birdbath or pond or fountain. Plant a tree, make Maywine. Decorate Beltane woods with ribbons & flowers. Make a May pole decoration o r set one up for the festivities. Remember that the May pole must be guarded after planting by the men, usually the unmarried one do this task. The May pole is decorated with red & white ribbons, tie pine needles around the top of the pole, the base is decorated with flowers.

NOVEMBER.

This is a time of the year to make protective amulets for home, self, & car. Example are the witch's bottle, Witch ball, thread bottle & protection sachets. ALL PURPOSE PROTECTION SACHET. Rosemary, Basil & Dill, place in red or white cloth, tie the b undle with red yarn & hang over front door after empowering.

WEATHER PROTECTION SACHET. Cedar, Mistletoe & Bay, place in white cloth, tie with white yarn & hang in the highest place in the home.

ANTI-THEFT SACHET. Caraway, Rosemary, Juniper, Mistletoe or Elder. Place in white cloth, tie with white yarn & hang it prominently in your home, visualize it barring the entrance to thieves.

THE YARN BOTTLE. Take a small glass bottle & place on your window sill or in a cupboard. Each time you see a loose thread pick it up & add to your bottle while saying: "Tangle up bane, tangle up bane, tangle up bane! This is my will, tangle up bane!" THE WITCH'S BOTTLE. Gather up Rosemary, needles & pins. Fill jar with these ingredients, & add red wine .Say the following as you work: " Pins, needles, Rosemary, wine. In this Witch's bottle of mine; Guard against harm & enmity; This is my will so mote it be!" Seal bottle & place in a safe place.

WITCH BALL: This was a large glass ball that had been silvered or had swirling colours, which was hung in dark corners of the home to banish the darkness & any bane or negativity. Modern witches now use the silver glass balls that are hung on the mod ern Christmas tree for this purpose. Witch balls can still be found in antique shops but are very expensive for they are collected by both witches & others because they are so rare.

DECEMBER.

Make a magical pen from a large feather. METHOD. Remove the barbs from the quill until it is comfortable to hold. Scoop out the back of the quill & remove the core. Cut a tiny notch on the front of the quill. Now cut a slit on the front of the quill , from the notch down cut the tip of the quill to form a point. Make some magical ink & paper. This paper can be used for greeting cards, such as Yule cards & Birthday cards, also used for spell work, & Degree certificates etc. Press herbs & flowers now, use an old telephone directory to press them in. Once dry the can be used in many ways such as decorations in your Book of Shadows, specimens for your Herb Book & in Wiccan craft work. Magic boxes can also be made at this time. Use shells to de corate the frame of a mirror used for water magic. Gather & dry your herbs, collect feathers now. Make a witches ladder, use 9 different feathers & 3 different coloured cords & braid them together, [red, white & black] Make the ladder on the full moon of December, stick the 9 feathers at intervals do wn the cord, then tie to form a circle & hang in the home for protection. Make a solar disc to hang from a tree in the garden, form vine in a circle & place two twigs across to form an equal armed cross.

At Litha make a wind wheel & tie to a branch or pole that allows free wind flow. Tie a vine in a tight circle, wrap with ribbon or leather strips & secure, then add long colourful ribbons to one side of the circle, attach a small loop to the opposite side & hang.

JANUARY.

This is the traditional time to collect seaweed for weather vane & other spells, shells are also collected for water spells, Wiccan craft work & jewellery. Different types of sea sand is collected for sand paintings & spells or to make sand spell bot tles. To create a sand bottle different colours of sand are layered in a bottle while visualizing need, place in a sunny window. Sea sand is also used to form patterns for meditation, sand candles & divination. Sea water is also collected for spell work & banishing rites. Spring water is also used in the same way. Also collected are sea bird feathers, seeds & pods that are washed out by the tide. The best time to go collecting is after high tide or a storm. While on the beach look out for round ed beach pebbles & the prized holey stone. [ A stone with one or more holes in it.] Also look for pieces of coral & what is commonly know as "see takkies" in Afrikaans.

It is also time for sea shell & seaweed braiding, set aside all shells with

holes in them for this purpose.[ spell work.]

The full moon of January is a time for carving a" Potato Mother" for Esbat

rite & having a potato feast afterwards.[ Rite available to those initiated

in coven.]

FEBRUARY.

Onion & garlic braiding time, hang for protection in home. Make a " Night

mare catcher."

Twist vine in a tight circle, wrap leather strips all round the circle &

secure. Form web across the circle with waxed thread. Decorate the circle

with feathers, protective stones & herbs,[tie herbs in tiny bunches & hang.]

holey stones, crystals, sh ells, bits of coral & seaweed are added. Hang

above your bed.

MARCH.

Make magical wines, beer, mead & herb vinegars now. Start collecting nuts &

seeds for craft work, spells & harvest festivals. This full moon rite is

dedicated to Dionysus ,so have a cheese & wine feast after the rite. Decorate

with grapes, vine leave s & lots of Pine branches & cones. Collect as many

pine cones now as you can, you will need them during the Pagan year.

APRIL.

Make a hazel nut protective circle. Use three long leather cords that have

been wet, tie a knot at one end & place nut between cords & tie another knot

until you have placed 9 nuts then form a circle & leave to dry. Hang in the

home or car for protec tion. Start collecting different kinds of pumpkins &

gourds now for Samhaine rite. Corn & wheat are also looked out for now. Start

collecting different kinds of beans for craft work spells & harvest rites,

store in glass bottles. It is corn weaving t ime, a good time to think about

the Yule gifts you will have to make for the festival. Harvest your herbs

now for winter. Clear out your magic cupboard & restock old herbs & spices.

Candle making starts now for those who wish to make your own magic candles.

Make a bird feeder for winter & hang in a tree, use a pine cone filled with

peanut butter & roll in bird seed. Make Samhaine fancy dress costume, mask &

posters. Make sweets & toffee apples for Samhaine.

BLESSED BE.