Our First Little Witch

Our Second Little Witch 

while giving a reading at the Coral Castle.

Breastfed til 18months

Started solids at 5 months

No preservatives all homemade food.

Great Links For Pagan Kids

Pagan & Proud

http://www.proudtobepagan.com/kidshome.htm

Pooka Pages

http://www.pookapages.com/

1. Ostara Ritual

2. For this ritual, you'll need the following:

   • A bag of jellybeans
   • Marshmallow Peeps -- chicks, bunnies, etc.
   • A chocolate rabbit for each particpant
   • A glass of milk for each participant

   Arrange your ritual supplies on your altar so they look pretty. Kids can do this -- typically the chocolate rabbits end up in the center, surrounded by an army of Peeps and several rings of jellybeans. A quick note -- you might want to perform this ritual well in advance of mealtime, or all the kids will be too full of candy to eat a real dinner.

3. First, give everyone present a handful of jellybeans. Point out the different colors in the jellybeans, and what they can represent. As you call out each one, eat the jellybeans in that color. Feel free to be a bit goofy. Say something like:

   Behold, little jelly eggs, small symbols of the season,
   How we adore you!
   Green is for the grass that springs from the land! (eat all the green jellybeans)
   Yellow is for the sun shining above our heads! (eat all your yellow jellybeans)
   Red is for the tulips that grow in our garden! (eat your red jellybeans)
   Pink is for Aunt Martha's new Easter hat! (eat your pink jellybeans)
   

4. Purple is for the crocuses that sprout along our driveway! (eat the purple ones)

   Continue this until all the colors are gone -- if you really want to have some fun, make the kids take turns naming off the colors and what they mean to them. When they're all gone, call out:

   Hail! Hail! to the mighty jelly bean of Spring!

5. Next, hand out the marshmallow Peeps. As you do, say:

   Behold the Peep! The Peep is life, brought back in the spring!
   Little Peep chickens, we honor you! (bite the Peep chicks)
   Little Peep bunnies, we honor you! (bite the Peep bunnies)…

   Continue this until the Peeps are all gone -- it's probably a good idea to limit each kid to just two or three Peeps at the most. When the Peeps have all vanished, call out:

   Hail! Hail! to the mighty Peeps of Spring!

6. Finally, distribute the chocolate rabbits. Say:

   Behold the great chocolate rabbit!
   As he hops through the land, he spreads joy and happiness!
   O, how we adore the chocolate rabbit and his great big chocolate ears! (eat the rabbit's ears)
   Praise the chocolate rabbit, and his delicious chocolate tail! (eat the rabbit's tail)
   Honor this chocolate rabbit, and his chocolate hoppity legs! (eat the rabbit's legs)
   He is a wonderful rabbit, and he is special indeed! (eat the rest of the rabbit)

   When the rabbits are all gone, say:

   Hail! Hail! to the mighty chocolate rabbit of Spring!

7. Give everyone a glass of milk, and raise your drinks in a toast to these three symbols of the season.

   To the jelly beans!
   To the Peeps!
   To the chocolate rabbit!
   We drink in your honor!

   Drink your milk, and sit back to enjoy the sensation of being stuffed with ritual candy.

What You Need:

• Jelly beans
• Peeps
• Chocolate rabbits
• Milk

This ritual was found online and written by Patti Wilington:)

An Egg Full of Blessings Spell
(Right click on the picture below and save it on your computer.  Then you can print it out and color it!)

The egg is a special pagan symbol of spring & rebirth.  The little yellow round yolk represents the sun.  The white that surrounds the yolk symbolizes the moon.  And the shell is the winter ice cracking and thawing to reveal new life all around us.

 Take a raw egg and dye it a pretty color.   When this is dry, you can also go back and paint magic symbols on it. 

Next, use a spoon or knife to crack a bit off each end of the egg and dump out the contents (the raw egg part).  et the it on a windowsill where the moon will shine on it at night and the sun will find it in the morning.

The next day, when the inside of the egg is dry and it’s seen both moonshine and sunshine, tape up one end of the egg.  Use the hole on the other side to fill your egg with lavender, glitter and confetti. Afterward, tape up that end of the egg as well.

On Ostara, take your egg, shout “Blessed Be!” and smash it on someone’s head so that the shell cracks and the egg’s blessings rain down on them.  Make a bunch of eggs and bless lots of people.  You can even bless yourself!

Better do your blessings outside though.  This is a pretty messy spell!

This is from www.pookapages.com

 Pooka's Beltain Basket 
by Lora Craig-Gaddis

Pooka rolled and rolled, back and forth, crushing the tender young catnip leaves with his body and releasing their intoxicating scent. He purred loudly and, if you must know, drooled slightly.  He didn’t even care that his normally shiny clean, black fur was now covered with garden dirt!  His catnip was growing, right where it did every year.  Life was good!

He staggered to his feet and a growling in his tummy sent him to the kitchen window of Elsie’s cottage.  He leaped to the sill almost misjudging the distance and tumbling backwards into the bushes. 

Elsie was busy at the little wooden table weaving honeysuckle vines into a basket.  She glanced up as her cat thudded heavily to the floor. 

“I’m hungry!” said Pooka. 

“Into the catnip again?” she asked. 

He gave her a loopy grin. 

Elsie laughed and shook her head.  “There’s some stew in your bowl.” 

“Yes!”  Pooka cheered.  He headed for the bowl next to the stove, and then paused.  “What are you doing?” 

“Making a basket,” Elsie said. 

“Why?” asked Pooka.  “Don’t we have enough baskets?”

“This one’s for Nathan and his Grandmother for Beltane.  It’s a May Basket.”

“A May Basket?” 

“Mmm-hmm,” Elsie nodded.  Her deft fingers wove the tendrils of vines in and out of the wooden supports.  “In the old days, people gave them to each other as presents.” 

“Just the baskets?” asked Pooka. 

“No silly!” Elsie said. “After you make the basket, you fill it with flowers and goodies!” 

“I want a May Basket!” cried Pooka. 

Elsie just laughed.  “Well, tomorrow is May Morning so who knows?  Maybe you’ll get one too!”   

The next morning, before the dawn had broke, the little witch kissed her sleeping cat.  He was curled up in a little black ball on the patchwork quilt of her bed.  He batted her face away with his paw.  “Too early!” he growled. 

“Hmmm…”  Elsie stood there for a moment, then leaned down and whispered in his ear: “May Morning - Rise and shine!” 

Pooka’s head popped up.  He was suddenly awake. “Happy Beltane!” he said. 

 Elsie hugged him.  “Happy Beltane.  Now, come on – we have errands to run before the ritual’s begun!” 

The little cat scampered down the stairs and into the kitchen ahead of his witch.  On the table were several honeysuckle baskets and he just KNEW that one was for HIM! 

He leaped onto the table and poked his whiskers into each basket until he found it.  Sure enough - Fish, a catnip-filled ball for him to bat around and thick, sweet cream as well!  Pooka felt he’d died and gone to Summerland.  Overcome with happiness, he rubbed his little black body against Elsie. His tail slapped her nose, but he didn’t notice and she didn’t care.   

“Happy May Day!” she grinned. 

Together, in the early hour, they delivered baskets to their special friends.  Nathan and his grandmother found theirs filled with flowers and little cakes and herbal tea bags.  Edgar, the crow, found shiny tinsel and small gold chains intermingled with early crab apples.  And for Thistle, the fairy, there was Sweet Woodruff wine in tiny bottles, candied violets and Rose Pastilles. 

Afterward, they all headed for the sacred hill and danced around the pole erected there in ages past.  They picnicked, sang songs and played games. The sun’s bright face shone over the green hills and everyone knew that the warm and growing half of the year had begun!

 -The End-

 Did you know?  The ancient Celts divided the year into two parts – Winter, the cold, dark half began at Samhain and Summer, the warm, sunny half began at……

You guessed it!   Beltain!