Kally's Cauldron

Another busy day today so this is going to be short and sweet. I'm sure no one's complaining LOL

The besom is a perfect symbol for Samhain so why not make your own? I have yet to actually sit down and do this but I'm hoping to have one made in time for our Samhain celebration this year. These instructions are quoted directly from "Sabbats: A Witch's Approach to Living the Old Ways" by Edain McCoy.

Making a Besom

If you would like a Besom of your own, they are fairly easy to find in craft stores, country markets, or folk art fairs. You can also invest your energies into making one, a good idea if you wish to use it in place of a Wand or other ritual tool.
To make a Besom you will need a four-foot dowel one inch in diameter, a ball of twine, scissors, and straw or other long strands of pliable herbs.
Take the straw, or another herb you have chosen for the bristles, and allow them to soak overnight in warm, lightly salted water. The water softens the straws to make them pliable, and the salt soaks out former energies.
When you are ready to make your Besom, remove the straws from the water and allow them to dry a bit, but not so much that they lose the suppleness you will need to turn them into your Besom.
Find a work area where you can lay out the length of your dowel, and begin lining the straws alongside the dowel. Starting about three inches from the bottom, lay the straws, moving backward, along the length of the dowel. Begin binding these to the dowel with the twine. You will need to tie them very securely. You can add as many layers of straw as you wish, depending on how full you would like your Besom to be.
When the straw is secured, bend the top straws down over the twine ties. When they are all gently pulled over, tie off the straws again a few inches below the original tie. Leave the Besom overnight to allow the straw to dry.
The dowel part of the Besom can be stained, painted, or decorated with Pagan symbols, your Craft name, or any other embellishments you choose. Dedicate your finished Besom in your Circle as you would any other ritual tool.

As promised, I have two Mabon suggestions for today since I missed last week. It's a little late for this year's celebrations, but hopefully you can make use of them for next year.

Firstly, I'd like to suggest our annual tradition of apple-picking. It kind of goes without saying that visiting an orchard is well-known for autumn but I wanted to put it out there anyway, along with some photos of our trip this year. We actually went the day after Mabon because that was when we had time! Here's a little info that you might find useful:

Apples are one of the easiest fruit to pick and use. They're big and easy to pick, they can be eaten fresh, cooked, canned, frozen and made into many tasty and healthy dishes. Apples are fat, sodium, and cholesterol free. A medium apple has about 80 calories. Apples originated in the Middle East more than 4000 years ago! They were the favourite fruit of ancient Greeks and Romans. Apples arrived in England at around the time of the Norman conquest and English settlers brought them to America in the 1600 and 1700's.

When selecting apples, they should be firm and bruise-free. The color can be anything from dark green, to yellow, pink, orange, bright red, dark red or even a combination. It all depends on the variety. And color is not really how you tell when an apple is ripe. Apples should be crisp and firm.

The key will be to ask the farmer which ones are ripe. He will know because it is calculated from the number of days since the trees flowered. And he will track that date carefully, if he's a good apple grower! The farmer will also know what characteristics to look for in the particular varieties that he is growing.

Apples ripen from the outside of the tree towards the center, so the apples on the outside of the tree will ripen first. Picking apples directly from a tree is easy. Roll the apple upwards off the branch and give a little twist; don't pull straight away from the tree. Don't shake the trees or branches. If the apple you are trying to pick drops, go ahead and pick it up. They’re still good!

You really need to choose the type of apple that is best suited for your purpose. Apples can be suited for eating fresh, cooking, baking, applesauce, storing, etc.

Once picked, don't throw the apples into the baskets, place them in gently, or they will bruise and go bad more quickly.
Don't wash apples until just before using to prevent spoilage.
Keep apples cool after picking to increase shelf life. A cool basement is ideal, but the fruit/vegetable drawer of a refrigerator will work, too. Kept cool, fresh-picked apples will generally keep weeks, but it DOES depend on the variety. Red and Yellow Delicious apples do not keep well, for example; but Rome, do! High humidity helps to to keep the apples from shriveling, but don't let them get actually wet. A wet towel placed nearby helps to keep the humidity up. A refrigerator is fine for small quantities of apples.
Source-pickyourown.org


Then, after picking all those yummy apples, here's a recipe to include with your Mabon feast (with just a little magick thrown in for good measure!)

As a time of celebrating hearth and home, I believe that Mabon is a great time to work protection magick for ourselves, our families and our homes. The following recipe contains blueberries which are perfect for this purpose. I love this crisp because it’s seasonal and the tartness of the apples balance out the sweetness of the blueberries. Ensure you’re focusing your intent of protection for your family into the recipe as you prepare it.

Green Apple and Blueberry Crisp

6 cups sliced, peeled apples
300g blueberries
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tbsp lemon juice
¼ tsp cinnamon
Topping:
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup rolled oats
½ tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 tbsp butter, melted

In large bowl toss together apples, blueberries, granulated sugar, flour, lemon juice and cinnamon; spread in 8-inch square baking dish.

Topping: In bowl, combine brown sugar, flour, rolled oats and cinnamon. Pour in maple syrup and butter; toss until moistened. Sprinkle over fruit.
Bake in 350F (180C) oven for 45 minutes or until golden and fruit is fork-tender. Let cool on rack for 15 minutes.


Have a great weekend!

Mabon Corn Doll

I got this idea from Patti Wigington over at about.com. Traditionally, these dolls are made at Imbolc (as a symbol of the Goddess Brighid) or Lughnasadh as the Harvest Mother but I prefer to make mine to put on my Mabon altar because although fresh corn is supposed to be available here starting in July, I don’t find it really hits the markets until after August 1st.

I just winged it but about.com has excellent instructions here.


Have a great weekend!