To Walk a Pagan Path: Practical Spirituality for Every Day (30 page)

example, should be aware that the ancient Egyptians associ-

ated the color white with death. Likewise, in some cultures

the color green is associated with sickness and misfortune.

Just as we do not all communicate verbally in the same lan-

guage, we do not all share the same magical language!

For ritual candles used in worship the choice of color will

usually be entirely subjective since you are not using the can-

dles to evoke specific energies. For altar candles, unless your spiritual path decrees otherwise, it is best to let your heart be your guide. We have three ritual candles on our household

altar: one to honor our gods and goddesses, one to honor

our ancestors and one to honor the elves (natural or worldly

spirits). The colors of these candles change from one year to

the next; the only criterion being what appeals to my híred-

menn and me at the time. This may work for you, too, or

you may prefer specific colors for your altar candles. Wic-

cans very often use specific colors to represent the elements

f 224 2

pagan crafts

around the perimeter of the ritual area: green for earth, blue

for water, yellow for air and red for fire.

JOHN BARLEYCORN

He stands in our garden, leaning slightly back with his gaze

lifted to the heavens, his arms joyfully outstretched. It looks as if he might burst into song at any moment. His shirt is

faded and there is a hole in his jeans. I am conscious of him

standing near as I gather a basket of squash and golden ears

of corn. He has stood in that same position since May Day,

and will continue to hold vigil there throughout the rest of

the summer and autumn.

I am talking about the effigy of John Barleycorn, a scare-

crow that my inhíred builds each year as a representation of

the life of the field. I have been doing this for twenty years now. I was building scarecrows before Earendel Inhíred existed; before I moved east to Pennsylvania. The tradition of

John Barleycorn has been a part of my life for a long time.

Today, for me and my folk, that tradition has become well

defined through years of repetition. When we first gather for

May Day, we build a scarecrow as a part of our rite welcom-

ing the beginning of summer. One of us sews up John Bar-

leycorn’s head, while somebody else brings and assembles the

wood framework for his body. Everyone helps, and everyone

critiques our collective progress as we fill out John’s gluts,

thighs and biceps with handfuls of straw. After the scarecrow

is built, each person comes forward with a small piece of

cloth that he or she has embroidered one or more runes on.

The runes convey what that person hopes to bring into his

or her own life through the coming summer. You could say

f 225 2

pagan crafts

that the runes represent what that person hopes to “harvest”.

These rune cloths are then carefully stitched to John Barley-

corn’s garments. After this the scarecrow is paraded to a gar-

den where he will stand until October’s moon grows full.

Last year John Barleycorn stood in the back garden at the

home of two of my híredmenn. This year I am fortunate to

have him here.

Scarecrows have been around for a long time, and have

been associated with Pagan spirituality for almost as long.

2500 years ago Greek farmers carved wooden scarecrows in

the image of the god Priapus, the son of Dionysus and Aph-

rodite. The scarecrow that my tribe builds represents John

Barleycorn, who is not actually a god, but a personification

of the harvest. He is also the subject of an old English folk song.

A summer scarecrow is inexpensive to build. You will

need:

• A seven or eight foot long wooden pole

• A second, shorter pole, about three feet in length

• Nails

• An old shirt and pair of long pants

• A hat (discount stores often sell cheap wicker hats in the

spring)

• An old pillowcase, sheet or some other scrap cloth

• Needle and sturdy thread (quilting thread works well)

• Scissors

• Bale of straw

f 226 2

pagan crafts

The trickiest part of this is making the head. Cut two

pieces of cloth in the shape of a head from the pillowcase

or sheet. Make this a little larger than your own head, and

leave a long “neck” at the bottom. The neck can be unnat-

urally long, as any excess length will be hidden in the scare-

crow’s chest.

Stitch the two cloths together, leaving the bottom of the

neck open to stuff straw in. After you have done this, turn

the “head” inside out. This will hide the stitching. At this

point it will look less like a head and more like a limp sack. If you wish, you can paint or embroider eyes or other facial features on the head piece.

Next, assemble the framework for the body. Using a

couple of nails, fasten your poles together in a cruciform

arrangement. The shorter pole will be the “arms” of your

scarecrow, while the long pole will support the neck, body

and one of the legs. The extra length of the longer pole is to

allow you to bury the bottom in the ground. You want John

Barleycorn to stand up, of course!

f 227 2

pagan crafts

Pull the pants onto the framework, drawing the bottom

of the longer pole through one pants leg. After this, put the

shirt on over the framework arms. Now, using your sturdy

thread, put a stitch through the back of the pants and shirt

where they come together at the waist. The back of the shirt

should be inside the pants as you do this. This stitch is just to help hold the clothing in place.

Pull the “head” over the top of the longer pole. Tuck the

neck inside the shirt, and then put a stitch through the back

of the shirt and neck. Leave the front of the shirt open for

now.

You are now ready to begin stuffing your scarecrow. One

bale of straw is much more than you will need, but that is

how it is sold. Use the left over straw to mulch your garden.

Begin by stuffing the extremities: the legs, the arms and

the head. Several people can be doing this at the same time,

with one person filling up the head while somebody else

stuffs straw down the pants legs, and still another person

stuffs the shirt arms. You may want to tie off the ankles of

the pants and wrists of the shirt with lengths of twine to help hold the straw inside the clothing.

When the extremities are packed with straw and well

shaped, fill the chest cavity. Button up the shirt, leaving only the top two or three buttons unfastened. Close these off after

you have stuffed the chest.

Finally, give John Barleycorn his hat. You will want to fas-

ten this to the head with a couple more stitches. Even if the

hat seems secure, it can disappear with the first high winds if it is not stitched to the head.

f 228 2

pagan crafts

If you do not yet have an inhíred or coven, if there is

no tribe to celebrate with, building a six foot tall straw man

might be a little too ambitious. A smaller scarecrow can be

made using children’s clothing or even doll clothing.

Does your garden consist of a few pots of herbs and leaf

lettuce on your apartment balcony? Buy a shirt and pants

ensemble for a 12” male fashion doll and make a micro-scare-

crow. Instead of buying a bale of straw, stuff the little guy with a few handfuls of dried grass.

I mentioned earlier that my híredmenn affix runes to our

scarecrow every spring. This is our own custom. Any cus-

toms or practices involving your scarecrow should be mean-

ingful to you and relevant to your spiritual tradition. We also let John Barleycorn stand in different gardens so everyone has

a chance to have him for a summer, but your group may not

want to do this. You may have a special site considered be

holy and sacred for all of your kinsmen, and prefer to set up

the scarecrow at that same site every year.

At the end of the year we also have a custom for dispos-

ing of the scarecrow. We use a lunar calendar, so our end-of-

summer rite takes place when the Winterfylleth moon grows

full, which is almost always in October. Celtic Pagans might

want to do this at Samhain.

Just as our scarecrow is “born” at the beginning of sum-

mer, he “dies” at the beginning of winter. We set up a small

pyre in a fire pit, and John Barleycorn is placed in a standing position over this. Following a ritual in which we honor and

praise our ancestors, we set the pyre ablaze and offer John

Barleycorn to our gods.

f 229 2

pagan crafts

In many urban areas, burning a straw man in your back-

yard is likely to bring the police to your house. Make sure

you are not breaking any laws.

SOLSTICE WHEELS

Celebrate Midsummer by making a sun wheel! This is a

northern European symbol of good fortune, related to the

fylfot and the Brigid’s cross. The swastika is a form of this

symbol that fell out of favor after it was conscripted by the

Nazis and used as an emblem for their regime.

The sun wheel is an equal-armed cross inside a circle:

Just as the scarecrow can be created and displayed in dif-

ferent ways, so can this solar image. Have your coven or kin-

dred build a large sun wheel and burn it as an offering on

a Midsummer bonfire. (As with the scarecrow, be sure it is

legal to do this in your neighborhood.) Or have everybody

create personal sun wheels to keep on household altars. Or

have a contest to see who can craft the most attractive sun

wheel. Or, by yourself, make sun wheels to give to your

friends and family as Midsummer gifts.

I could go on and on like this, but you get the general

idea.

If you have a talent for craftsmanship, you can gather

vines and build your sun wheel from scratch. But not all of

f 230 2

pagan crafts

us have that degree of talent, so instead I am going to tell

you the easy way to make a sun wheel.

Begin with a grapevine wreath that can be purchased at

any well stocked craft store. This will be the circle of your

sun wheel. That is the easy part. Now you have to go out and

find some wild vines.

Or maybe not. While you are at the craft store buying

your wicker wreath, look around to see if they have any-

thing that can be used for the equal-armed cross. We have

used grapevine ribbon, or you can twist several lengths of

round basket weaving reeds together. The material used for

the cross of your sun wheel needs to be moderately flexible

but stiff enough to hold its shape.

If your local craft store does not have anything suitable,

wild vines work very well. We usually use wild vines because

(1) they are free, and (2) they grow like weeds in western

Pennsylvania. On the other hand, purchasing reeds or rib-

bons from your craft supply store may be easier than forag-

ing for vines if you live in a desert region or in downtown

Manhattan.

Whatever the central cross will be made of, use narrow

cloth ribbon to tie the vertical and horizontal pieces togeth-

er. Then weave the four ends of the cross into the grapevine

wreath at equidistant points, and tie these in place with more

ribbon.

If you wish, you can decorate your sun wheel with even

more ribbons, feathers and colorful dried flowers.

f 231 2

pagan crafts

MAKING SCENTS

Most Pagan people use incense in their rites, and those who

practice magic may also make use of other forms of aromat-

ics. The word incense comes from the Latin
incendere
, meaning “to burn”, for incense is a blend of aromatic substances

intended to release a fragrance as it smolders. These aromat-

ics are herbs and other plant materials, often blended with a

small amount of essential oil.

Commercial incense sold in the form of cones or sticks

have been combined with a binding agent to hold its shape,

and usually with another substance to ensure that it burns

easily. The name of a commercial incense may describe its

dominant aromatic (lavender incense, patchouli incense), but

just as often it will be marketed with an exotic name like Jun-

gle Love or April Rain.

The popular Indian incense known as Nag Champa is a

combination of frangipani and sandalwood.

The one advantage of commercial cones and sticks are

their convenience. Strike a match to the end of the incense

and your part is done. But when we put little effort or

thought into our actions the reward is equally meager. Mak-

ing your own incense also places you in greater control of

what aromatics you are burning.

In my opinion the best way to make your own incense is

to prepare it as loose incense. Loose incense is nothing more

or less than cone or stick incense without the extraneous

binding and burning ingredients added. It consists entirely

of the aromatics, finely ground and blended together how-

ever you choose. You do not need to do anything special to