Pinecone Crafts for Mabon

This can be as simple or as elaborate as you’d like. Some twine and pinecones can be used to make a simple garland or swag to hang from a banister or under a mantle—understated, rustic, and beautiful. Or, you can paint the pinecones, spray them with the season's colors, add glitter and other embellishments, and string them together with colored ribbon. You may wish to add other symbols of the sabbat. You can hang garlands over or around tables, on walls, stair banisters, mantles, and so much more. You can also drape them on the sides of your Mabon altar if you are looking for a way to add some in-season décor. You’ll want to cut your ribbon or twine to about 1.5 times the length you need for the space to account for securing the pinecones and the slight droop of the garland when hung.

Depending on how intricate you want to get, you might want to whip out the tools for these. You can do something simple, adding string to a single pinecone and hanging it as an ornament over the table or your altar. You could also use wire wrapped tightly down the center of the pinecone. Create a hook at the bottom to hang gems, bells, or other decorative objects. Make a loop at the top to hang the ornaments. Perhaps hang them between slats on the banister for an added seasonal flourish. You can also create ornaments that match your garland using the same ribbon. Group ornaments together, hung with string/wire/ribbon of differing lengths, creating a chandelier-like shape to hang over a table or altar.

Though there are several ways to make wreaths, starting with a wreath base is often the easiest. Craft stores sell them in many forms, including foam, wire, and woven wood. What base you’ll want depends on what you envision for your wreath. Will this be a wreath made out of just pinecones? Will you decorate them at all? Add lights? Do you want to add fake or natural leaves or flowers of the season as well? Other symbols? Will the pinecones cover the wreath or only a portion?

A woven wood wreath base is a great way to leave part of the base undecorated and still have a seasonal, beautiful look on those portions. Or you might wrap part of the wreath base in twine or burlap, having the pinecones only on the bottom right quarter of the wreath. Add a burgundy or merlot-colored ribbon to the top.

How is a fire starter a decoration, you might be thinking? They just go in the fire! Well, before they are in the fire, they are near the fire, and with these pretty fire starters, you might leave them as decorations for a while before using them.

You’ll need pinecones (fully dried out), candles, string, a double boiler (or bain-marie or two pots – you can even use an old coffee can so you don’t risk damaging a pot you use frequently), wax paper, and scissors. If your candles aren’t scented, you may also want to use some essential oils (or add a few drops of essential oils to imbue the fire starters with different energies).

Lay out the wax paper. Wrap string around each pinecone, knotting it at the top and leaving about an inch and a half off the top. Melt the candles in the double boiler. Remove the wicks and wick bases beforehand if you can by breaking the candles. If not, you can fish them out as you melt the wax. Once the wax is melted, add any essential oils you’d like. Then, using tongs, coat the pinecones one at a time. Make sure they are fully coated, including the string. Once fully coated, place on the wax paper to dry, pulling out the string tip so it won’t dry flat against the pinecone. Repeat for all your pinecones. Using different colored candles will give you different colored coated pinecones. For extra color and better firepower, double coat the pinecones—once the first coat is dry, remelt the wax and dip again.

Display in a basket next to the fireplace, near the door, or anywhere you like!

Many of the crafts listed can be used as centerpieces one way or another. But if you want something designed specifically for a table, that is easy to do with pinecones too. You’ll need a tall, wide, clear glass vase, decorative stones in the colors of the season, ribbon in a seasonal color, such as burnt orange or maroon, and, of course, pinecones!

Place the colored stones at the bottom of the vase. You can layer them by color, making an ombre effect as they rise. Or mix them together for a more natural look. Place the pinecones on top of the stones, filling the vase to the top. Use some spray glue to spray the pinecones at the top, and add some glitter for a bit of added shine and sparkle. Tie the ribbon in a bow about a third of the way down from the top of the vase. You’ll have a striking centerpiece that brings in the colors and symbolizes the season.

No matter the type of craft you opt to make for Mabon using pinecones (maybe you decided to make several!), blessing the décor adds to their power and heightens the energy of your space for the sabbat. Use this spell to bless your craft before placing it in your home as decoration for the sabbat.

'With my own hands, I made this craft

A part of myself lives within it

Let it be blessed for Mabon

Let the energy of the sabbat radiate from it'

Direct the energy from the incense and the candle into your craft (as they have similar energies for the blessing) using your wand or athame. Recite this incantation:

'This craft I made will adorn my home

While here, it becomes a part of it

Let it be blessed for Mabon

Let the energy of the sabbat radiate from it'

Continuing to use your wand or athame, direct the energy from the oil into your craft. Recite this incantation:

This craft I made represents the sabbat

It protects the celebrations that will occur here

Let it be blessed for Mabon

Let the energy of the sabbat radiate from it

Visiting sacred places that have higher spiritual, mystical, metaphysical, and magickal energy can be an amazing experience in and of itself. But if you really want to connect to the energy and power of the place, performing a meditation ritual or spell there is an unintrusive way to do so. Certain areas are still in use by those actively practicing their religion, some are popular tourist spots that draw large crowds, and others are in the middle of nowhere with few resources around. So, doing a meditation ritual instead of intricate spell work allows you to connect to the magick of the space without intruding on any other visitors or risking harm to the site.

That isn’t to say you can’t bring any supplies! If you have a portable altar kit made (Wicca Magazine has a how-to article on creating one), you can definitely use that. Or bring crystals or other objects that have meaning to you or share energies with the site you are visiting. For example, if the site is strong in the Fire element, you might bring a crystal or object to imbue with that power or that has Fire as a correspondence.

The most important thing to do before visiting a site and doing a meditation ritual is to research the history and current use of the site. You need to know if the site is sacred to a culture or religion outside your own, actively in use for religious purposes, or if there are restrictions on activities and items you can bring in. You may also wish to research the best time of day to visit, both for crowd sizes and energy surges. Is the site’s energy strongest at sunrise? Does night hold stronger mystical powers? You want to visit when you can best connect with the energies of the site.

Next, plan your meditation. If the site is sacred to another culture (either current or past), make sure the beginning of your meditation offers acknowledgment and respect to that culture and religion. Have a plan for bringing and using any crystals or other tools. If visiting alone or at risky times, have a safety plan in place.

For the meditation itself, begin with any acknowledgments and respect for the culture whose site you are at. Then, move into an acknowledgment of the site itself and its energies. The meditation path is yours from there. Are you on a journey, seeking assistance from the energies of the space? Are you just looking to connect with and express gratitude to the world at large through a sacred space? Do you need some healing or closure that might only be found through the assistance of powerful energies in a sacred space? Whatever your reasons for meditating, feel your body, mind, and spirit connect with the site you are at and visualize the energies around you. And don’t discount the benefits of a walking meditation for larger sites.