Your little goblins will love these!

Prepare and set your favourite colour jelly according to packet instructions.

Once the jelly is set, cut into small cubes.

Cut the tops off navel oranges and use a sharp spoon to carve out the insides of the orange (like a pumpkin, but smaller and much quicker!)

Carve little jack o’lantern faces into the individual oranges.

Once finished, fill each orange with your jelly cubes and replace the orange top.

Happy Halloween! Mwahahahaha

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As millions around the world watched the live rescue at the San Jose de Copiapó copper-gold mine unfold last week, I was, too, glued to the TV, with my heart racing faster than one of Bart Cumming’s horses and my tissue box well within reach as I witnessed relieved miners being winched up to safety.  A truly amazing story of hope, faith, courage, strength, bravery and joy!  A story that affected me greatly, knowing that my dad also goes down to potential dangers in a South African mine every working day.

Whilst the whole story is undoubtedly incredible, an incident that took place just moments before the mine collapsed on 5 August 2010 is equally astonishing – a white butterfly saved the lives of two of the miners, Jorge Galeguillos and Frank Lobos!

Included in a two-page letter Mr Galeguillos wrote to his brother, also a miner, were the words:  “We had been up to the workshop and as we were driving back down, a slab of rock caved in just behind us.  It crashed down only a few seconds after we drove past.  Just ahead I saw a white butterfly.  After that, we were caught in an avalanche of dirt and dust. I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. The tunnel was collapsing and the rocks buried a backhoe. A water tank lower down was almost completely buried too.”

If the pair had not let their curiosity slow them down and stop to admire the butterfly, they would have been crushed by the falling rocks.

Eleodoro Galeguillos’ response:  “Down in the mine, I don’t really know what that butterfly was.  Maybe it was a little angel passing in front of them, a little God saying, ‘Hurry up, there’s danger down here’.”

Whether a spiritual miracle or a scientific coincidence, the fact is that the presence of the little white butterfly saved two lives that day, in the most unlikely of places you’ll ever find one!

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The art of mirror gazing (scrying) is called catoptromancy, a term that refers to the use of reflective surfaces for the purposes of divination.  Scrying mirrors can be used to make contact with spirit guides, to access knowledge for healing and self-improvement, or to define the past, predict the present, and perceive the future.  As a portal into other realms, it can also be used to aid astral travel, and during ritual to communicate with deity.

Scrying can be practised at any time, but best results are often gained in the quiet of night after the hustle and bustle of the day’s activities.  It is not necessary to construct a fully consecrated circle for scrying; it is enough to simply create your sacred space by visualizing a circle of white light surrounding and purifying the appointed working area.  In a quiet darkened room, place your mirror on a table or altar with a dark cloth beneath it.  Light a candle, one on each side of the mirror, but in such a position they don’t reflect on the mirror’s surface, and if you wish, burn an appropriate blend of incense to stimulate the psychic senses.  Switch off all other light sources except for the two candles, and seat yourself comfortably in front of the mirror.  Take a few minutes to relax while you tune into the atmosphere created.  When ready to start, first ground and centre yourself then call your guides or guardians to protect the work from unwanted or misleading influences.

To begin, when looking at the mirror try not to just stare at it, but look through its surface as if gazing into a dark and endless tunnel.  After awhile, images and colours will begin to take form, they may even appear and take shape outside the mirror surrounding it on all sides.  When you first start scrying be patient, keeping your first sessions to about 10 – 30 minutes, and gradually work it up to hour-long sessions as you learn.  The art of scrying is interpreting what you see in the images and colours as they take form.  This in a way it is a little like dream interpretation, and initially you may wish to consult one of the many books on the subject to help define the images you see.  At the end of the day however, the real interpretation will be what those images mean to you personally.

After you have completed your scrying session, re-ground yourself and close your sacred space.  You may wish to keep a journal and note down any visions you received during your session and later compare them with a list of dream interpretations.  The more you practice, the more familiar the images and their meanings will become, but you may need to meditate on them for awhile to reveal any hidden meanings.

In conclusion, there are many differing ways and methods of scrying in addition to the one above, so it pays to experiment and use what works best for you.  Whatever tool or method you use, be it your own personalized mirror, a crystal ball, or simply a bowl of coloured water; it can with time and patience become a font of wisdom and knowledge.  As Ostara, the Spring Equinox approaches, a time of fresh beginnings, who knows what future truths can be divined?  Believe in your abilities and may you find what you seek.

by George Knowles

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