Crafts
ALTAR PENTACLE Buy a wooden disk at a craft store and paint it black (or use a magic marker); then with a gold-paint marker, draw a pentacle on the disk; add other symbols if you wish.
HANGING PENTAGRAM Find a bunch of small, fallen, tree branches and form them into a pentacle shape. Then use some brown thread and tie the branches together at different spots.
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.
WHEEL OF THE YEAR CANDLE This takes a whole year to make. You could actually do this in a year and a day... How symbolic! I recently had the idea and started mine on Mabon (the Autumnal Equinox, [1997]). You have to save some of the wax from the candles you used on each Sabbat and keep them in a special place for the whole year. As each Sabbat passes, add the next piece of wax. Since you used them for the Sabbat rituals, they have more power. Once the wheel of the year has made a complete cycle, melt the wax from the eight Sabbats together. Pour the melted wax into a candle mold, or cut a plastic cup in half; add a wick to the bottom of the cup and pour in the wax. Place it in the freezer to harden quickly. Keep it in your sacred space to bring a wonderful coming year. You could also do this with wax from the 13 Full Moons in a year.
WREATHS This is the perfect season (Autumn) to find a plain twig wreath and decorate it for Samhain (Halloween); then re-use it for the other coming Sabbats. I chose small ones and a large one. I decorated it with five, black, birthday candles, wheat, and herbs that correspond to Samhain. It gives the room, or house, a nice feeling for the Sabbat.
THE BROOM (BESOM) Since Samhain recently passed (referring to Samhain, 1997), you can purchase a nice, cheap, round one at a costume shop. I bought one at a craft store today to place outside for Samhain, but the one I use is homemade. You need a long, fallen, tree branch and either raffia packing material, or really thin branches. I poured a purification brew (water with thyme, sage, rosemary and salt) over the branch before I started; then I spread some purification oil or herbs on it. Attach the small branches to one end with glue and craft string. You can decorate it with symbols, runes, string, or leave it plain.