Hymn to Hekate

Hail Hekate, Dark Mother, keeper of hounds
You watch over the souls of all young things
Hear our prayer Lady listener of all
Who heard Kore’s scream of Terror falling into the arms of Hades
And alerted questing Demeter to her daughter’s passing
Mother of Mourmo, you transform Fear into physical reality
Shooting it into the whirling crossroads of Fate and Will
That we may no longer be overcome with Regret
Mistress of the Gnosis hound, you uncover that which would remain hidden
And rouse our souls in bacchant to examine the darkest deeds
Sending them to haunt us until we cast them away
Through the Courage of the all-seeing Dawn
Granddaughter of Phoebe and Koios,
Daughter of Asteria and Perses
Your Mother sheltered her sister Leto when under pregnant duress
She escaped Hera’s jealous wrath
To bring forth Artemis and Apollo
You cause our hearts to cry out “Mommy!”
Seeking shelter and rest in your comforting embrace
Midwife of new beings, watcher of herds,
You tag the sickness that we may heal ourselves
And replace the miasma with Strength and Harmony
Goddess of lost treasures returned,
We offer you the choice cuts first
To keep the Earth fertile, lest our foul deeds return to life
And pursue us for eternity
Guard our promises, Lady of the keys
Protect our gates and crossroads from surprise attacks, without and within
And send your dogs barking to scare away the intruders
Should we not fulfill our bargain in return,
May your hounds devour our souls

—Rev. Lady Bella Sundancer

Hymn to Medusa

Hail Lady Medusa, full-fledged raging gorgon Queen,
Your serpent-locks strike dread
Your pain is gut-wrenching in its sadness
Born terrifyingly beautiful of monstrous parents,
From the oceanic depths of the murky earth
You alone of three sisters were mortal
Seduced by Poseidon, cursed by Athena,
Endlessly pursued by terror, rage, despair, and malevolence
With one look you take it all in and the worst fiends
Are frozen into stone
In death, with one mirrored stroke by Perseus beheaded,
You are forever disembodied
Your blood created a mighty spawn
Fit to quake the mightiest heroes’ hearts
Lady Queen, you purify the bloody oath
And taking everything, you take no words lightly
For your sacrifice we give you our solemn word
That you may devour that which is unclean
Oh pale lady of the backbiting sweetness of revenge,
We pray to you to take away our deepest fears

—Rev. Lady Bella Sundancer

The obsession with light in nearly all people creates and reinforces a state of imbalance between our light and dark sides. As humans, we are created from opposing forces. This makes us all inherently light and dark in equal measure. If we focus our energy only on our light aspect, it can cause many problems.

The problems created manifest in many ways. For example, if someone represses their anger, they can become passive-aggressive. Their repressed Shadow lashes out with vengeance when it momentarily escapes its confines. Addiction is another very common manifestation of a repressed Shadow. The nature of the addiction, whether it be to drugs, alcohol, gambling, shopping, sex, criminal behavior, food, etc. is related to the nature of the person’s Shadow, especially the repressed portion.

Another issue that occurs is a loss of passion and vitality. As our intellect and emotions come from our light-side, our passion, drive and courage come from our dark-side. This starving of the Shadow can result in a person losing the will to live, losing focus in their life, and in extreme cases, can result in a new, stronger Shadow (a demon as some would call it) to enter the person’s life and take over as their Shadow, consuming the starved old Shadow. I have personally seen this happen.

It is important to learn about the nature of your Shadow and to feed it the measure it needs. This does not mean that you should indulge in absolutely everything that your Shadow seeks, as that will cause an imbalance in the other direction, which leads to ruin. Instead, work with it and develop a sincere relationship with it. Don’t just try to learn about it to learn to control it. Know that it is a natural part of yourself and if you try to hurt it, you are hurting yourself.

There are many rituals that can help you discover the nature of your Shadow. Here is a simple, powerful one that can help you identify your shadow and open a dialogue of understanding with it.

1. Setup a dark sacred space for your ritual using whatever method you prefer. Use dark imagery, such as any dark deities you work with, black or dark clothing, and one black or red candle.
2. Banish the space in a deosil (clockwise) direction of all obstruction and limitations and any beings that may restrict you from learning about your Shadow.
3. Cast a widdershins circle (counter-clockwise) using a wand. You may also use your first two fingers (index and middle) together instead of a wand.
4. Bless yourself in your usual fashion with the four elements. Use a dark incense, such as Dragon’s Blood or myrrh.
5. Call the quarters in the manner you feel most comfortable, though in a widdershins direction. Ask for their blessing and for their protection. Ask them to protect the circle and not let any entities enter other than the ones you call.
6. Call your Ancestors, God and Goddess. Some suggestions for deities for this would be Hestia, Hecate, or Persephone and Hades (or their counterparts in your pantheon). If you prefer to not name deities, you may simply call them Dark Father and Dark Mother. Ask for their help in meeting and learning about your Shadow. Also ask for their protection from fear.
7. Sit or lie in a comfortable position and relax all parts of your body. Let all tension and energy drain from your body to the earth below you (through the floor if there is one under you). Breathe deeply with your stomach. Feel the air move down the whole length of your torso to your belly.
8. You can also accomplish the necessary relaxation by tensing up a part of your body, hold it a few seconds as tense as you can, and let it relax as much as possible. Do this with every part of your body, one at a time. Start with the top of your head and move down to the bottoms of your feet.
9. Call to your Shadow. You may do this in a whisper if you prefer. Ask for it to show itself to you and allow you to learn about it. Ask for it to teach you its name, if it wishes.
10. Focus on the center of your body. If you have trouble with this, it is an indication of an energetic blockage (which can be helped by Getting in Touch With Your Chakras). You can gently place your left hand on your center to help your focus.
11. Imagine a blackness in your center, growing from the tiniest of points. Feel the inky-black energy grow, but do not be afraid. It will feel heavy, drawing you down into the chair, floor, or earth below you. Allow it to fill your body with its leaded black weight.
12. You may feel your breathing become difficult. If this happens, remember that the Gods, Ancestors and Quarters you called all are there to help and protect you. They will not let you be harmed. Fear is the greatest danger here, for if you allow fear to take over instead of the inky-blackness of your shadow, you can increase the separation between you and your Shadow. Just focus on breathing deeply, allowing the air to flow smoothly from your nose to your stomach and feel the fear leaving your body as you exhale.
13. Let the darkness within you just be there for a bit. Allow yourself to become used to it, as it is one manifestation of your shadow.
14. As you become comfortable with this, you may start to sense images, sounds, smells or body sensations. These may be uncomfortable for you, such as pieces of painful memories. Allow these to come and go as they will. Do not try to resist them, as they are part of your Shadow.
15. A figure may appear to you, or a beast of some kind, another manifestation of your Shadow. Or you may feel a disembodied presence within you. Speak to it in your mind. Ask what its nature is. What type of Shadow is it? What does it enjoy? What does it need to live fully and grow? How can you develop a deeper relationship with it? What is its name?
16. Do not judge its answers. Since the Shadow works with your darkest desires, passions, fears, etc. you may find its answers disturbing or repulsive. Don’t let this bother you; simply acknowledge them.
17. When you are finished, thank your Shadow for allowing you to meet it. Ask it to help you integrate and balance yourself with it better.
18. Thank the Gods, Ancestors, and Quarters you called for their help and dismiss them in your usual fashion. Make sure to dismiss the quarters in a deosil (clockwise) direction.
19. Open the circle by taking it back in the wand or your hand in a deosil direction. Touch the wand or your hand on your root chakra (Muladhara) and send the energy to strengthen it. This will help you integrate what you have learned.
20. Document what you learned. You can do this in any form, such as writing prose, poetry, drawing a picture, or whatever other form you feel will help you best remember the details. Much of what you saw and learned my be disturbing or disgusting to you or to others. This is ok. Your journal is only for your eyes. If you prefer to write it in a code, this is fine as well. Just remember that it is very important that you document your magical experiences like this so you can review it later and gain further insights.

There are many different kinds of Shadows, so don’t go into this with any specific expectations as to what you will find. When you learn about your Shadow and allow it to be an active, balanced part of your life, you will find many of your fears will cease to have power over you. You will find it easier to work on enhancing other parts of yourself because your Shadow will not be blocked from the process.

This time of annual transition is a perfect time to start working with your Shadow. This begins a process of balancing your light and dark aspects and developing them in equal measure. When you accept your Shadow and understand it, you are freed from two of the most paralyzing forces in our society, fear and guilt, the forces designed to separate you from your Shadow and your inner core strength and vitality.

If you are full of depression, self-hatred, and other negative emotions, the negative energy will re-enter the circle through you. This does not completely negate the effect of a cleansing ritual, as that ritual removes the residual energy and blocks out other sources of negativity.

There are many ways to cleanse oneself of this. One simple, yet very powerful, method is to work with Lady Medusa in a circle. Medusa is a gorgon, a Dark Goddess, who can absorb negativity. Here is how you can send your negative emotions to Medusa:

1. Within the room that already has a circle (such as one created by doing the cleansing ritual I posted or any other magical circle method you wish to use), create a second circle that is much smaller around yourself. This circle can be cast the same way as before.
2. On each side of the circle, invite the elements to stand guard and bless the inner circle. Air goes in the east, Fire in the south, Water in the west and Earth in the north. If you don’t know where the actual directions truly are (which can be difficult inside an institution), work as if the room door is in the south.
3. Close your eyes and invite Lady Medusa, the snake-haired gorgon, and Lord Hades, God of the Underworld, into the inner circle. Ask for them to come and help you rid yourself of unnecessary negative emotions. You may use your own words, or if you wish, a hymn such as that written by my wife to Hades. Visualize Medusa in front of you, with her snakes moving around and her dark face, next to Hades.
4. Next, allow your negative emotions to rise up. The sadness, the hatred, the depression, whatever comes is ok. Talk about it with Lady Medusa. You can do this silently if necessary, but it is better to verbalize it somehow. You can whisper it out. The ideal is to scream it out and let it all go at once, but I understand that you may not feel comfortable doing this in an institution with others around. The important thing is to vent all those emotions, thoughts, etc. to Medusa. She is a gorgon; she can take all the negativity you can unleash onto her and more. She does not get angry at you for spewing anger at her. She is a Dark Goddess, she feeds on the anger, sadness and negativity you give to her.
5. When you have pushed all of the negativity you can muster to Medusa, thank Her and Hades for taking all of it down to the Underworld, where it will be transformed into something positive.
6. Thank the elements for their assistance and wish them farewell.
7. Take the inner circle down by outstretching your arm and feel the energy of the circle go back into your arm. Move around the circle in a widdershins (counter-clockwise) direction pulling in the whole inner circle.
8. Touch the floor and send the energy of the inner circle (which will contain some residual negativity) down to the earth, where it can be absorbed and transformed, the same way a dead plant or animal becomes fertilizer for new life.
9. Sit or lay and rest a bit before moving on to do something else. Deep breathing and feeling the warmth of Hestia and Apollo that is in the room within the larger circle that remains will help. Feel free to be like this as long as you need.

You may need to do this a number of times. Since this is an intense ritual, I don’t recommend you do it daily. Probably once a month is good if you have a lot of negativity. Otherwise, just do this ritual when you feel there is too much built up and you have a need. It may take time to feel it’s effects, but you will notice your heart become lighter and you can start to see the beauty in the world around you, even in the things that are not normally seen as beautiful.

Many Pagans and Wiccans focus so much on the light-side that they ignore the dark. The dark has an important role in the universe, and this is one such way it can be immensely useful.

Hymn to Hades

Hail Hades Lord of Death
All the Lords are with thee
From the deep dark depths of your realm
You come charging forth like a bat out of hell
Time is of no essence to you
Light and Darkness are trinkets only
You favour the Plutocrat with wealth
The sparkling gems of your generosity
Shimmer in the vastness of earth
Your realm is torture for some, peace for others
Souls in endless streams board the ferry
And cross into the vast arms of your care
You are the ever jovial collector
Souls, wealth, life, death, it all comes back to you
Your ever-silent Queen is ever-faithful
By your side she is a surprising counterpart
The blood red pomegranate of death you serve with zest
No one can resist its lure, at best
Refuse it for a time
You are the beginning you are the end
Lord of Alpha and Omega
We sing your praise oh Lord
In hopes of a comfortable passing

—Rev. Lady Bella Sundancer

I received an email from a loved one of an inmate in jail. The inmate was having a lot of difficulty with depression and the negative energy that permeated the facility was making it difficult for her to improve. She asked me through her loved one for a cleansing ritual that she could do for herself without any tools at all (per institution rules) to reduce the effect of the negativity. Here is what I suggested to her:

In general, Hestia and Apollo can help you, as they bring the divine light. Hestia is the Goddess of hearth and home, bringing warmth, nurturing, and light from below that can warm the soul in even the coldest places. Apollo is a God of light, joy, music and the arts and brings light from above. Apollo also brings rationality, which can help keep wild emotions in check (though it’s important to not eliminate emotions altogether). Prayers to either of them can be of benefit. If you follow a different pantheon, you may substitute similar deities from your pantheon.

Here is a simple ritual that can call them to help cleanse your cell and bring light and warmth:

1. Take 10 deep breaths (or more) with closed eyes. This can be done either standing, sitting or laying down as long as it is comfortable. Feel the ground (floor) firmly underneath, supporting from below. Feel the air above.
2. Ask for Lady Hestia and Lord Apollo to join you in the room and help you cleanse the space of negativity and darkness and to warm you up and give you light. If you prefer, you can call them with a hymn. Here are a couple hymns to these Gods written by my wife, Bella Sundancer: Hymn to Hestia and Hymn to Apollo. Here is an Orphic Hymn to Apollo (no Orphic Hymns were recorded to Hestia).
3. Rub both hands together for at least 5 seconds, as if to warm up on a cold day. Feel the divine warmth heat up in them and visualize a glow of cleansing light and fire emanating from them.
4. Slowly separate your hands and feel the excited energy between them. It normally feels like a tingling sensation, though some people may feel it differently. This is the universal energy that flows through everything, the creative energy of the Gods.
5. Hold one hand out in front and turn in a widdershins (counter-clockwise) direction around the room. Visualize the fiery light of the Gods shooting out from your outstretched hand like water from a firehose. Feel it washing away all negativity and darkness, pushing it through the walls and out of the room. Go around the room three times.
6. Announce out loud (though it may be as quiet as a whisper if necessary), “All negativity is banished from this room. So mote it be!”

Since prisons and jails are very negative places, it is good to follow-up a cleansing ritual with a circle to help seal it from letting the negative energy re-enter.

1. Ask Lord Hermes, God of boundaries (among other things), to protect your space with a circle of positive energy. If you wish, you may call Him with your own words or with a hymn: Bella Sundancer’s  Hymn to Hermes or Orphic Hymn to Hermes
2. Hold one hand out with the first two fingers extended (index and middle fingers together) and feel the energy shooting out of your fingers.
3. Slowly turn around in a deosil (clockwise) direction and visualize a white light forming a circle around your room, including all corners and edges. The energy would go through the walls so the whole room is enclosed.
4. Go around three times and visualize the circle turning into a sphere hermetically sealing the room from negative emotions, demons, and anything else that needs to be kept out.
5. Draw a pentacle in the air with your first two fingers extended together in each of the four corners, asking the protection of the pentacle to help maintain the energy of the circle.
6. Draw another, larger pentacle at the door, asking it to only allow in positive energy and beings.

The circle will not keep out physical people, but it will help to cleanse them of negative emotions and energy as they enter. Since the energy in the cell and the facility is quite negative, it is best to repeat the ritual daily (either in the morning when you wake up or in the evening before going to bed). As time goes on, the energy in that room will start to naturally attract positive energy and deflect negative energy, so the effects are cumulative.

You may also want to try a few other daily rituals, if you are so inclined: Dialexis to Latreia, Dialexis a Stauros and Dialexis Phos.

This article will discuss the important topic of soul ownership.

Most Pagans don’t think about who owns their soul at all, even though it is one of the most important distinguishing characteristics for the Pagan religions. The Abrahamic religions talk about this constantly. Much of the internal moral struggle their members face is on this topic. They see the choice as being between God and Satan. It is a purely binary choice, either one or the other. They portray it as a choice being made during every moment of every day, since the temptation to sin is so great, and to sin is to give your soul to Satan by following what he says.

The problem with this thinking is that it eliminates the third, hidden choice. The occult (meaning “hidden”) choice.

The occult choice is yourself. Pagan religions, particularly those who follow the darker aspects, see the choice as being between the Gods and Yourself. Either you give your soul to the Gods or you take it and own it yourself.

It is written in Genesis 3:5, “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”

There were two trees in the Abrahamic Garden of Eden. The Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge. They see the choice as being Life or Death, God or Satan. The Tree of Life is the light path where you give your soul to God (IHVH), doing his bidding as you give up all of your will. “Thy will be done in earth,” as it is written in Matthew 6:10.

The other tree is the Tree of Knowledge. This is associated with Satan and Death and is the tree that Adam and Eve ate from, causing them to be banished and marked. The secret to the Tree of Knowledge is the knowledge that you don’t have to give your soul to anyone. You can own it yourself. You have Free Will.

In Pagan religions, we can serve the Gods (or choose not to) while retaining full ownership and control of our free will and our souls. When I serve Lord Hermes, I am not giving up myself to Him. He is not choosing my actions for me and I don’t blindly do as He asks. I am still responsible for my actions, even those done in His service. (See Serving the Gods)

This is a fundamental difference between the Pagan religions and the Abrahamic religions. Abrahamic followers strive to give their will, their soul, to their God. The believe strongly that their will is never theirs and cannot ever be their own. They must give it to either one deity or another.

Pagans see it as a choice between giving their soul to a God (or number of Gods, though that would make life extremely difficult) or keep it for themselves. Most choose to keep it themselves. They choose the path of Free Will, not (any) God’s Will.

This raises an interesting theological question, that of mingling Christianity (or Judaism or Islam) with Paganism. Can one be a Christian-Pagan, Muslim-Pagan or Jewish-Pagan? I will leave that answer open for discussion.

What do you think?

Few can argue that Michael Jackson did awe-inspiring acts. He not only sold a lot of albums and Pepsi, he had a significant influence on the course of modern music and dance. Many artists and dancers credit him as their muse, though they use different words such as “influence.” Now that he is free of his earthly body, he can be the muse of even more on a higher level.

Another criterion for being a true hero is an intimate connection to the divine, usually through either heredity or a gift. Michael Jackson had a divine gift. The joy and happiness he brought to millions (or probably billions) of people is unequaled except by maybe Elvis Presley. His life was devoted to experiencing and sharing joy. He was a vocal virtuoso and a genius of dance at a level that cannot be attained through practice and training alone. To reach a level as he, it takes a divine gift.

The biggest problem for him was that the world does not operate on the same level as he. He was unable to truly connect with the world. He did not belong in society. As a result, his behavior was frequently confused and inappropriate to society’s standards. Sometimes it was downright naive.

He lived in higher planes, primarily Yesod, rarely returning to the earthly plane. Yesod is the sephira of illusion and dreams (and delusion) on the Hebrew Tree of Life. He was frequently accused of living in a fantasy world. The accusations were true. His world was one of eternal joy, but yet he was physically in the plane of Malkuth (kingdom/earth). He was at times able to reconcile the two and become a bridge. When it happened, it was electrifying to all who witnessed it. When he failed at creating and maintaining the bridge, it was disastrous to him and to those who were close to him.

Though I was not really a fan of Michael Jackson beyond Thriller, I always admired him as a living hero. He lived his life according to what he wanted, even when others told him to follow their norms and conventions. Being conventional was very much against his nature, as it is with most who truly connect with divinity. He honored his Great Work of expressing and sharing joy as best he could, even if he didn’t necessarily think of it in those terms.

I cannot say that I understand all that he did and all that the media accused him of doing. But that is part of the Mystery of the Hero. All heroes are human and do supremely stupid things sometimes (as we all do). That is what makes them approachable by the rest of society. They would be impossible to relate with if they did not. Take King David, seen by both Jews and Christians as a true hero. He performed epic tasks, such as slaying the great Goliath. But he was human and did things that cost him dearly, such as seducing Bathsheba (and getting caught).

We can connect with Michael Jackson (the hero) through his missteps. We can’t do this with modern, sanitized “heroes” who have no sins. Just think of what you might have in common with sanitized heroes as George Washington or Thomas Jefferson. Their stories (as taught in schools) are so lacking in human folly that we just think they were a different kind of person who we cannot possibly aspire to be. Thus, we long for the “good ol’ days” that never were.

Our society is suffering from a serious lack of true heroes, people who we can be inspired by. The stories told today about supposed “heroes,” such as Jack Bauer, Jean Luc Picard and others promoted by the media try to show what we should aspire to, but leave us with no bridge to connect with them. People are left feeling completely inadequate and powerless. Who can always know what to do and never make more than minor mistakes, such as they? Who in real life can possibly solve their problems within a 1-hour episode? Or even within 24 episodes?

Though I am saddened by his passing from this earth, I have great happiness that Michael Jackson can now live on in a land of eternal joy. He is now free to share it with even more people on a deeper level through his heroic spirit. Anyone who wishes to share the joy and happiness he expressed can ask him for assistance through prayer and spellwork. They can pay homage and offerings to him on their hero altar if they so choose. And through his passing, he lives on as the hero he was destined to be.

The King is dead! Long live the Hero!

I do not wish to bash these, as they do serve an important purpose. But I’ve been uncomfortable with them because I’m concerned that they unintentionally help to perpetuate a dependence in the people they help. The larger issue is to help prevent a Catch-22 between situations where someone is truly without the basics of life and getting them to the point where they leave their dependence behind and forge ahead to enact their will.

When someone is completely without food or shelter, they cannot focus on anything else. They need these things, so it is good that there are charities and individuals who wish to help such people. The problem is that after a while, the person may become comfortable in their situation of having their food and shelter provided for. Just look at long-term welfare recipients.

So what can be done to help someone who has a way to provide for their immediate needs, but not enough to really follow their will? They live in poverty, but are not able to get the capital to rise up. What will help them get off the charities and government roles and into a position to contribute to society and in turn help others?

I have found a great charity that can help those who wish to devote themselves to following their will and getting out of poverty without making them dependent.

Kiva is a charity that connects people who wish to help others (with as little as $25) to poor, exploited or vulnerable people who wish to start or grow a small business. The difference between this and most other charities I know of is that Kiva does not give hand-outs, but microloans.

If someone wishes to start or grow a small business to help their family and community, they are commonly unable to raise the funds to make it manifest. They might need to buy equipment or inventory but are just living paycheck-to-paycheck. Banks turn them down (as they do most small business owners who ask for a bank loan) and their families are unable to invest. Many others who lend money to the poor charge exorbitant interest rates and require minimum payments that guarantee default to scam the borrower from what little they have.

These aspiring business owners can apply for a microloan (normally $10,000 or less) through a microfinance institution (MFI) that partners with Kiva. The microfinance institution is a company that acts like a bank that focuses on lending to poor, excluded and/or vulnerable people to alleviate poverty or reduce their vulnerability.

Once approved by the MFI, the MFI submits the entrepreneur’s profile to Kiva where it is shown to people like you and me. We can browse the global list of entrepreneurs (which now includes entrepreneurs in the United States) and choose one or more to lend $25 or more to.

Kiva does not take any of the money lent; they pass all of it on to the loan that is given to the entrepreneur. Instead, Kiva asks for an optional donation to help cover their costs. The MFI does charge the entrepreneur interest, which the MFI keeps for their expenses. Kiva screens the MFIs to ensure they are legitimate and that the interest they charge is reasonable for the loan size and the circumstances.

Through this program, many people with limited means can follow their dreams. As with any loan, there is no guarantee that the loan will be repaid, but that is part of the journey. Some people will fail and need to try again. Those who succeed will repay your loan so you can either loan again to someone else, or withdraw the money.

Kiva is a great way to help others help themselves. They cannot become dependent on it long-term, but it will help them get started. It also allows the recipient to keep their respect and dignity in a way that a hand-out doesn’t because they can (and are expected) to repay the loan on terms that they can meet.

There is a Kiva lending team for Wiccans and Pagans called Wiccans, (neo)Pagans, Witches and Fellows that you can join to show your spiritual affiliation as you lend, giving and additional benefit of good publicity for Paganism.

Join over 70 Pagans, Wiccans and Witches today and find $25 to lend to help someone get ahead at Kiva.

PS: I was not solicited to write this post, nor am I receiving any compensation of any kind other than the joy of sharing this charity with you.

Ostara Eggs

We colored the eggs with frozen blueberries, paprika, frozen spinach and grape juice concentrate. We didn’t strain the colorants, as some other sites suggested, figuring that it would be neat to see what patterns develop. The results were very interesting and mostly different than what we expected. You can see our eggs in the picture above (click on it to see a closeup).

For example, we drew designs in crayon but they were completely obliterated by the boiling water. It didn’t diminish the magic, though, because we explained to the kids that the designs’ energy went inside the eggs.

The paprika eggs look very spotted with orange, like strange and beautiful egg-shaped planets. The frozen spinach did not color the eggs much, leaving only light greenish vein-like lines.

The blueberries did make a nice purple hue to the eggs. They had a slightly spotted pattern with pieces of blueberry stuck to them (see the purple egg in the lower-left corner of the picture). They also had interesting cracks in the shell, caused, I’m sure, by my putting too much vinegar in the water.

The grape juice concentrate produced the results closest to what we predicted. The color was a deep, creamy violet with spots (see upper-rightmost egg).

After the eggs were finished, we did a very short Ostara ritual that our 4 children (all 6 and under) enjoyed.

Ostara Ritual

The ritual consisted mainly of a blessing of the eggs. First, I took a small dish of sea salt and charged it with the Element of Earth. Each child took a pinch (or two or three) and sprinkled the finished eggs with it, blessing them with the power of Earth.

Next, I took a small dish of water and charged it with the Element of Water and each child sprinkled it on the eggs (over and over again). The children really loved blessing the eggs with the elements.

Lavender incense was used for the Element of Air, which I lit with the Element of Fire. All of the children helped me wave the eggs in the incense smoke. They also carefully waved the smoke around the eggs to bless them.

Last, we asked the Gods to bless the eggs with the power to help us grow over the coming summer. We wanted to grow closer as a family and for our children to grow more to know themselves and how to better live in this world.

Then we ate the eggs, taking that energy into ourselves.

The ritual took a total of about 10-15 minutes, which we’ve learned is perfect for our kids’ short attention spans. It was a fun way to celebrate the change of the seasons and to experiment with new things.