Wicc'ed Ways-Cracked up!

Actually, it's more of a pop.Have you ever opened a cracker--one of those paper wrapped tubes where you pull a string and...CRACK! It opens to reveal some silly gifts?

A relatively new Yuletide tradition, people started popping crackers in the UK back in the 1850's at Christmastime (although they became popular for other occasions as well). Just like other Christmas/Christian traditions, the beginnings of the Cracker is far older and, yes, magical.

Have you ever pulled a wishbone? After a feast of fowl, the center breast bone of the bird was saved and dried for three days, or until it was brittle. Two lucky folks--yes, a wishbone is considered a luck charm--would take hold of each end and...CRACK! The person holding the longer end would get their wish (hey, no one wants to get the "short end of the stick!").

Crackers work the same way: two people take hold of each end of the string that holds the cracker together, and they pull. CRACK! The paper breaks open, and out tumbles a paper crown, a toy and a piece of paper with a joke or motto on it. What is the significance behind these three gifts? (There's that number again!)

For us, the crown represents the God; we are in his season now. Originally, love poems were written on the piece of paper that was included in the cracker. As time went on, jokes (usually bad ones) and trivia (usually weird factoids) replaced the poems. Words have always been important to Pagans--words are powerful things, written, spoken or thought (check out SPELLWORX and BOOK OF SHADOWS for more on this!).

And the toy? As PUCA told us, the traditional Christian story of the Magi is about three magicians who, according to their reading of the stars (astrology works!), were seeking a very important person in history to give him gifts. After the magicians found Jesus, they didn't go back to wherever they came from to become Christians--they went back to being magicians. Their story is the origin of giving gifts at Yuletide, and so, a toy fits in that cracker quite nicely even though technically, the Winter Solstice is not a sabbat for gift giving.

You can make magical crackers out of recycled materials and fill them with magical items for a bright Yule!

You will need:
Glue and Scissors
Ribbon and String (or cracker snaps--you can find them at craft shops)
Cardboard tubes (from paper towels, toilet paper etc.)
Catalogs and Old Magazines

Carefully wrap the sections in a catalog or magazine page and use some glue to hold it in place. When the glue is dry, crimp (bunch carefully) the portions between the tube sections and tie them with ribbon--before you tie off the second one, don't forget to put your prizes in! You can use stones, shells or small bags of herbs to fill your cracker. You can also write fortunes or affirmations (positive thoughts) for the coming year on small pieces of paper to tuck inside.