Notebooks and Divination Tools

I posted a photograph of my Book of Shadows on a previous post but I never mentioned my love of notebooks, note writing and list making. I make lists for almost everything - from to do lists to wish lists to shopping lists to lists planning events and every kind of list in between. I also make random notes, whether it be something that I've thought of, remembered or read in a book, I'll get it written down somewhere.

Here's a selection of my notebooks, all but the pink and blue ones are notebooks I have "on the go" at the moment.

The top left one is a Health and Beauty book from Paperchase that I keep all sorts of recipes, techniques and tips in on topics ranging from relaxation to first aid. The bottom left one is my Divination notebook where I keep records of any Tarot readings or Rune castings that I do. The bottom middle book is my Pagan notebook, it has draft versions of Book of Shadows pages, spell planning notes, notes on books I own plus a few lists like what essential oils I need to get, what books I would like and what not. The last one is my prayer book, its only small, perfect for carrying in my handbag.

I've been going through my "Witchy" (as I call them) things and thought I would share some photographs of my divination tools. All hold very special places in my heart, especially the clear quartz ball as it was given to me by a witch in Yorkshire (a story I will tell another time!). The amethyst Runes are mostly used for magic rather than divination but I thought I would include a photograph of them anyway. The Tarot deck is the "Tarot of a Moon Garden". The pendulum is made from amethyst, although its quite hard to tell as the photo came out a bit dark.

I hope that you like the almost finished design of the blog, I do have a few more things to do but its almost done.

Have a wonderful weekend, as a finishing note here is a video of my hamster stuffing her face which I took this morning -

Salt Dough

Over the last week or so I've been searching for statues of the Goddess and God, nothing caught my eye except one which was extremely pricey. I asked on the Black Cat Wicca forum what others use to represent the Goddess and God (if they do at all of course), there were some wonderful replies and suggestions including glass bottles.

As I only wanted something simple I thought that maybe I could purchase some clay and mold my own, then it dawned on me - salt dough! I've never used salt dough before and I wasnt sure whethe it would be suitable but I have to admit, I'm quite impressed with the results. I ended up making symbols rather than statues mind you!

Salt dough is very easy (and fun!) to make and you're likely to have all the ingredients in your cupboard. It can be air dried or oven dried and then painted. I'll be using poster paints as thats what I have in and then glazing them using PVA glue.

Salt Dough

Ingredients:
One part salt
One part water
Two parts flour

Method:
Mix it all together! Thats basically it to be honest, mix all the ingredients in a bowl and nead into a ball. If its sticky, add more flour, if its dry add more water.

The dough will look like this -
















Drying can be done in one of two ways - air drying, which can take a couple of days or more or oven baking. to oven bake, preheat the oven to 50C, cover the dough with foil and place in the oven, after thirty minutes turn the heat up to 100C. It should take about 3-4 hours but obviously it depends on the size and thickness of the dough. Check and turn regularly.

I personally prefer air drying, although it takes longer it means that I havent used electicity or a machine to make them - baking them is just a convenience, not a necessity.

If you have any left over dough dont panic or throw it away - it can be stored in the fridge for up to a week, just wrap it up in clingfilm and put it at the back of the fridge. Stick a label on it if you have children or a husband that will eat anything.

Here are mine so far, I will be going over them with a nail file just to get rid of any bitty parts and then painting them. I will update you with images of the painted ones once they have dried.



Elements and Horned God

Triple Moon Goddess (my personal favourite). The colour difference between the ones above and the triple moon goddess symbol is because the above photographs were taken two days after making them so they are almost dry.