Candle Magic: Tricks to Make Tea Lights Float in Water

Floating candles are absolutely lovely as decorations for summer parties, but they are generally more expensive than tea lights and less easy to find in the shops. But there is a way to turn ordinary tea lights into floating candles.

You can buy little glass tea light holders that are designed to float in water and keep the candles upright and dry. All you do is pop the tea light into the glass floater then carefully place it into a bowl of water. What’s more, once they are lit the tea lights stay alight for longer than usual because the water cools them down slightly.

I was given a bowl with four floating glass tea light holders a little while ago and I decided to use it when I had friends around to celebrate my birthday. At the top of this post you can see a photo I took with the candles in it, burning prettily.

Actually, what I originally wanted to use were a set of four lovely tea lights in the shape of flowers, but they were too heavy and sank into the water immediately. So, for my party, I used plain tea lights, which were fine.

A couple of days later I decided to experiment. I dissolved a couple of tablespoons of salt into the water in the big glass bowl. Once I had done that, the water supported the glass floaters with the heavier and more decorative tea light candles just fine – as you can see in the photo to the right.

It isn't magic really, of course, it is just science that I vaguely remembered from my school days. Adding salt to water makes it denser – or thicker – which means it is easier to float things in it.  In science terms, it is the relative density between liquids and solid items that determines whether they float or not, rather than just the weight - but all you need to remember is that adding salt to water means it will support floating things better.

The picture bottom left is one of a set of floating glass inserts for tea lightsthat I spotted on Amazon. It looks pretty much like the ones I've got.

Links and previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2016/05/craft-using-wax-sand-for-candle-making.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2016/02/review-pagan-portals-candle-magic.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2016/05/thanks-to-my-friends-for-wonderful.html
https://porch.com/advice/create-custom-scented-candles-home
Glaskönig Floating Glass Inserts for Tea Lights Diameter 7 cm (Pack of 3)

Spell: Yuletide Potion for Luck, Love and Happiness

Here's a spell to make a lovely potion that is ideal to share with friends at Yuletide gatherings or to warm you up on on a cold winter's night. The ingredients in it have magical properties associated with warmth, luck, success, abundance, protection, love and happiness as well as the power of the sun.

Ingredients
A bottle of red wine (cheap red wine will do)
A little spring water  (about a wine glass full)
A large orange
The seeds from about six cardamom pods
Nutmeg (a pinch or two after it is grated - not too much as it can make the potion bitter)
Cloves (about five)
Cinnamon (between half to one teaspoon of powdered cinnamon)
Honey (to taste, but I like about  two teaspoonfuls personally)

I prefer to grate the nutmeg myself and crush the other spices with a pestle and mortarbut you can buy them already in powder form.

Put the wine and water into a saucepan, grate the zest of the orange into it, then squeeze the juice of the orange and add that. Add the crushed, powdered or grated spices and the honey.

Heat it all up in the saucepan, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon in a clockwise direction. When the potion is nearly boiling turn the heat right down as you do not want it to boil too much. Keep the potion on a very low heat for 10 minutes, stirring constantly, always in a clockwise direction.

As you stir, ask Bacchus, God of Wine, to bless the potion. You could also say these potion-making words:

"I bid this potion brew for me
As I do stir, so mote it be."

After 10 minutes, strain the potion into a Thermos jug or flask and leave it to stand for another five to 10 minutes. Then pour into pottery gobletsor mugs and serve to your friends for Yuletide cheer!

Note: The picture shows a bough of fir tree that I picked up from the ground a wintry woodland walk. It is decorated with my cauldron, a green and red garland, my advent candle and my favourite pottery goblets!

Links and previous related posts
Alfi 0105 021 Insulated Thermos Jug Rounded 25 Years 0.94 L Black
Jamie Oliver Keep It Simple Pestle and Mortar
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/11/reasons-to-be-merry.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2010/03/i-was-teenage-maenad.html

Children of Artemis Masked Ball

Children of Artemis has just announced it is to have a Masked Ball on the 19 June at Scream Lounge, Croydon, in Surrey.

The Masked Ball is a new event for 2010 and will be a fun social evening featuring the Daughters of Gaia and DJs from Witchfest.

The organisers say that tickets for the event are limited so it is worthwhile booking early if you want to go. Tickets cost £7.50 or £6 for CoA members. For more information and to book tickets, visit http://www.witchfest.net/masked_ball.htm

CoA is also offering people who attend events a chance to win back the cost of the tickets. If you have bought a ticket for one or more CoA event this year, you have a chance to win a refund of your ticket price. The money paid for any ticket selected in the draw will be refunded.

The special draw will be held at the Masked Ball, everyone who has bought a ticket for either Witchfest International 2010 or The Artemis Gathering 2010 will be included in the draw.


The Masquerade Eye Maskpictured above is available from Amazon.

Pagan events, festivals and lectures

Monday 14 December; Shaminism and Time; Shaman UK discussion and social evening with a journey for those who want to make one. From 6.30pm - 9pm at The Open Centre, 188 Old St, London EC1V 9FR. Cost £9 waged, £5 unwaged. Booking essential. For more details or to reserve a space email Zoe on info@shaman.uk.net.

Wednesday 16 December; Saturnalia party at The Moot With No Name. Venue Devereux public house, 20 Devereux Court, off Essex Street, London WC2. Meet from 7.30pm, event starts at 8pm. Admission £2. For more details, visit http://www.theatlantisbookshopevents.com/page13.htm

18 -20 December; Midwinter Bear Feast. Festival inspired by Sub-Arctic animistic and shamanic traditions. This year's event is fully residential, with accommodation in a Celtic roundhouse and Viking longhouse. Rituals and performances will be held in a reconstruction of a Bronze Age tribal parliament from the Isle of Man. The location is in Cranborne, East Dorset, England. Tickets are £45 each and meals, entertainment and accommodation are included in the price. For more information and to book tickets, visit http://www.beartribe.co.uk/

19 & 20 December; Yuletide Fayre at Westgate Hall, Canterbury, Kent. Winter Solstice Celebration featuring traditional music, seasonal plays and festive food from 11am to 4pm. Entry free. For details visit http://www.magicalfestivals.co.uk/.

Reasons to be merry...

Fancy a month-long party?

According to Pagan Calender, today is the start of Brumalia - 30 days of feasting in the run-up to December 25.

In Rome, Brumalia was a feast of Bacchus, the god of wine. It was celebrated for 30 days, starting on on November 24 and ending just after midwinter solstice. The name Brumalia comes from the Latin word bruma, which means "shortest day".

Although Brumalia was based on an earlier Greek festival that took place on December 25, the Romans liked to do things bigger and better - particularly when it came to parties - and decided to have a month-long feast.

Information website About.com states that features of our modern Christmas celebrations originated in the feast of Brumalia. The website isn't specific about which features - but I'd hazard a guess it is something to do with consuming quantities of booze :)

The I Love Bacchus Mug pictured above is available from Amazon


Note: Please don't drink and drive - having an accident wouldn't be much fun

Links
http://www.pagancalendar.co.uk/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brumalia
http://atheism.about.com/library/glossary/general/bldef_brumalia.htm
I Love Bacchus Mug

Halloween - lost under a mountain of plastic tat?

I don't think Halloween has ever been quite so commercial in England as it is this year.

When I was young, Guy Fawkes Night - or Bonfire Night - was the big autumn event. Shops were full of fireworks and plastic masks of a bearded bloke to put on the Guy - a life-size manikin made of old clothes stuffed with newspapers or straw and destined to be burned on the bonfire.

Rather than going Trick or Treating, kids would cart their creation around in an old pram, asking "Penny for the Guy".

Bonfire Night celebrates the foiling of a terrorist attack, known as The Gunpowder Plot, to blow up the Houses of Parliament on November 5, 1605. Guy Fawkes, a mercenary hired by Catholic conspirators to handle the explosives, was discovered and executed along with his fellow plotters.

In some parts of England, in particular Lewes in Sussex, Guy Fawkes Night is still a big event, but in most places Halloween has taken over. And even in Lewes, this year's Lewes Bonfire Council is urging non-residents to stay away.

Fireworks can still be bought, but from far fewer outlets, yet every shop is full of Halloween fancy dress costumes, spooky partyware, ghoulish sweets and plastic buckets in the shape of pumpkin lanterns. For adults, every pub is advertising a Halloween theme night and every big building with any kind of history seems to be running a ghost tour.

I have never seen quite so many Halloween events advertised before. I suppose the reason could be that this year Halloween falls on a Saturday, when most people want to do something fun anyway. It could be that shops, pubs and tourist attractions have been so badly affected by the recession that they are making the most of anything that will draw in custom.

Or maybe we have all had such a year of real fear through job uncertainties and financial worries that make-believe fear of ghosts is a safe outlet for our emotions. Yes, it is OK to be scared - and it can even be fun sometimes.

My feelings about the commercialisation of Halloween are mixed. I do love an excuse for a fancy dress party and I enjoy hearing ghost stories. I don't even blame shops for selling stuff there is obviously a demand for - although I would like to see less on the shelves that is hard to recycle.

However, I do feel a slight sadness that some of the deeper meanings of this festival are being lost under a mountain of plastic tat.

Most Wiccans and many modern pagans celebrate Samhain, rather than Halloween. They see it as a time to honour our ancestors and to remember loved ones who have passed away. It is a time of reflection and introspection rather than frivolity and fun. It is said that the veil between this world and the next is thin, and sometimes spirits can communicate across the divide.

Christians honour the dead at this time of year too - with All Saints Day on November 1 and All Souls Day on November 2. Many of them get quite upset at Halloween parties that seem to revel in things un-Christian, such as witches, vampires, ghosts, zombies and devils.

But I wouldn't want to be too much of a party-pooper. I think there can be a place for all kinds of celebration at this time of year, when the days are getting colder and the nights are drawing in. According to some accounts the Irish in historic times held Samhain, the start of winter, as a time of feasting and fun, so why shouldn't we?

Personally, I intend to both honour my ancestors and celebrate with my friends. I shall spend some time remembering my father, who died almost exactly three years ago. I shall light a single candle for him and sit quietly to see if I feel his presence. Then, later, when the candle has burnt down, I shall leave gloomy thoughts behind me, put on my red shoes and go out and party.

Do you think Halloween is too commercial these day? I have put a poll at the bottom of the page of A Bad Witch's Blog so you can vote.

Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes_Night
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2008/10/herne-wild-hunt.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2008/10/halloween-controversy.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2008/10/how-to-celebrate-samhain.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/10/pumpkins-jack-olanterns-mangel-wurzles.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/10/samhain-halloween-open-rituals-and.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Saints
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/10/english-heritage-gets-scary-for.html
Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain
Death Makes a Holiday: A Cultural History of Halloween
Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night
Halloween: Customs, Recipes and Spells

God of the Week: Vulcan

This Sunday, August 23, is Vulcanalia. This is not an event where Star Trek fans dress up as Mr Spock, it is an ancient Roman festival of the God of Fire - Vulcan - so I decided to choose him as The Bad Witch's God of the Week.

According to Roman mythology, Vulcan was the son of Jupiter and Juno, the king and queen of the gods, but he was such an ugly child that his parents rejected and abandoned him. He was found by the sea-nympth Thetis, who raised him as her own in a beautiful garden under the sea, where he was very happy. Eventually, Vulcan discovered he had powers to control fires of all kind - from the destructive force of volcanoes to the beneficial fires of the forge - and he became skilled at using this for smithing. Although he himself was ugly, he could create the most beautiful jewellery and ingenious devices with his hammer and anvil.

Perhaps Vulcan's ugliness is the reason I had difficulty finding suitable images of the god to use on my blog. People make statues and pictures of beautiful deities, but not ugly ones it seems.

There were plenty of pictures of the Avro Vulcan delta wing jet bomber used by the Royal Air Force in the Falklands conflict and as part of a nuclear deterrent in the Cold War. There were plenty of pictures of Kawasaki Vulcan V-twin powered motorbikes. There were also pictures of the big gun M61 Vulcan six-barreled, air-cooled, electrically fired Gatling-style cannon, which fires 20mm rounds at an extremely high rate and was used by US military forces on aircraft.

Vulcan has certainly given his name to some serious macho heavy machinery and weapons of war, which is in some ways appropriate for the maker of weapons to the gods, but rather denies Vulcan's gentler side, which he also had.

Perhaps that is made up for by Vulcan also giving his name to the Star Trek planet inhabited by coolly-logical aliens with advanced mind powers, a deep sense of spirituality and not known for being particularly aggressive. And there were plenty of pictures of Mr Spock to be found - including the wonderfully retro album cover of Mr. Spock's Music from Outer Space.

I haven't heard this album, so I don't know what the music sounds like, but I'm imagining something relaxing and cerebral with ululating theramins - quite the opposite of the loud and ferocious track Vulcan by Indian heavy metal band Kryptos on their 2008 Ark of Gemini album. This is definitely about destructive side of Vulcan, God of Fire, with the words:

"Ready the force for battle,
Blood, iron and steel,
Invoke the secrets of fire,
Shadows upon the oaken wheel.

Stoke the furnace of truth,
Rekindle the desire and sin
For I am the amoral
The hammer on mortal free will."

That musical contrast reminded me of the last scene in Disney's 1941 cartoon Fantasia, where the Night on Bald Mountain segues into Ave Maria. In the first wild and ecstatic piece, the nocturnal demon Chernabog rises from the dormant volcano and calls ghosts, skeletons, witches and spirits from their graves, then summons fire and lava to make them dance before dropping them into the fiery pit.

As dawn breaks, his revelry is ended. The gentle refrains of Ave Maria usher in a candlelit procession of white-robed figures as they pass through forests at the base of the mountain and Chernabog sinks back to to the mountain's deeps from whence he came.

The animator's original plan was for the candle-bearers to enter a church, but Disney decided this was too religious and opted for the forest setting, which to my mind leaves it open to the more pagan interpretation that this scene shows the contrast of night and day - or a wild partying followed by the need for calm meditating - rather than necessarily showing the fight between the forces of the Christian god and devil.

And maybe that thought is a good omen for this weekend. I've been invited to two parties tonight and I'm still trying to decide what one to go to, but whichever it is I certainly hope it's a good one. Then tomorrow, maybe I'll light a candle and meditate on the gentler aspects of fire for Vulcanalia - perhaps while listening to some chill out music and sipping a hangover cure.

Links
Mr. Spock's Music from Outer Space
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcanalia#Worship
Vulcan
Fantasia [DVD] [1941]
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032455/

Greenwich Witch and Keyboard Kittens

I was looking for some music for a 1920s' theme party, when I found a piece called Greenwich Witch by Roaring Twenties' pianist Zez Confrey, which seemed pretty good for dancing the Charleston.

I'm not quite sure which witch Zez named his number after, but I can imagine some slinky young thing in a black fringed dress and bob haircut twirling a long string of beads or sipping a cocktail and casting her spell on those around her in the borough described as "one of the coolest 'uncool' places there is in London", by blogger The Greenwich Phantom.

Zez apparently had a unique piano style inspired by a cat at his grandmother's house that he saw running up and down the piano keyboard. His first piece "Kitten on the Keys," released in 1921, was named after this and became a big hit. He went on to compose many other pieces in the same style.

Perhaps it was an early version of the internet fad Keyboard Cat

If anyone knows what or who The Greenwich Witch really is, do let me know.

Links
http://www.thegreenwichphantom.co.uk/
http://www.archive.org/details/GreenwichWitch
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zez_Confrey
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charleston_%28dance%29
http://keyboardcat.com/

Aglaia: Goddess of the Week

The Bad Witch's Goddess of the week, picked at random from The Concise Mythological Dictionary by Peerage Books, is Aglaia. It describes her as:

"The "brilliant, shining one", the youngest of the three graces, or charities, and sometimes represented as the wife of Hephaestus"."

In Greek mythology, three graces, the goddesses Aglaia, Euphrosyne and Thalia, were the daughters of Zeus. They were seen as personifications of pleasure, charm, and beauty.

Specifically, Aglaia represents splendor, Euphrosyne is the grace of Mirth and Thalia brings good cheer.

The graces were called upon in ancient times to grant their blessings to parties, dances, banquets and other social events. They were the companions of the muses and were the attendants of Aphrodite and Eros, the deities of love.

Aglaia, through her marriage to Hephaestus the smith, also helped inspire artists and craftsmen to create wonderful works.

Oddly, Aglaia is also the name for a genus of mahogany tree with species growing in places such as China, the Philippines and Borneo. Perhaps it gained its name because it is such a splendid type of tree, with beautiful wood, scented flowers, edible fruit and even uses in medicine.

Links:
The Concise Mythological Dictionary
http://www.pantheon.org/mythica.html
http://www.godchecker.com/

http://towerweb.net/alt-lib/myth/three_graces.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aglaia_(Greek_mythology)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aglaia

Midsummer party

Midsummer might be over a week away but celebrations are starting early.

Pentacle Media, which publishes Pentacle Magazine, is hosting A Midsummer Night Frolic on Saturday 14 June at The Mucky Pup, 39 Queens Head Street, London, N1 8NQ,

The evening of music and dancing is for all pagans, but entry is by ticket only. The party begins at 7pm and goes on until 1am.

To buy tickets or for more information, visit the website: www.pentaclemagazine.org/pn760/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2429