Winter Spell Against World Hunger

World Hunger is a problem that affects all of us. We've all seen the images on television of poor, starving children in poverty stricken countries and are moved to donate, in whatever way we can, to charities and organizations that do their best to try and help alleviate the problem.

Here at home, most of us are more fortunate. There is enough food to meet our needs and then some. And we are and should be grateful for it.

Being in the depths of winter my mind also wonders to the creatures outside who have to endure long days and nights of below freezing temperatures. Being a bird person, I have feeders outside to help these little winged ones make it through the winter. I realize that they can probably fend for themselves, but isn't it nice to know that you can make their lives a little bit easier?

I found the recipe and spell below in Dorothy Morrison's Everyday Magic. Isn't it wonderful that we really can put the magick in every day?

1 large jar of peanut butter
1 medium bag of wild birdseed

Empty the peanut butter into a microwave safe bowl and put it into the microwave for one minute, checking and stirring the peanut butter every twenty seconds. Remove the peanut butter from the microwave and stir in the birdseed, adding a little at a time. Continue adding the birdseed until stirring becomes difficult.

Turn the mixture out onto a cookie sheet covered with waxed paper and shape it into a rectangle approximately half an inch thick. Wrap the mixture in waxed paper and place it in the freezer for one hour. After an hour the mixture will have set enough to cut it easily. If not, return it to the freezer and check it every fifteen to twenty minutes. Cut the rectangle into 2-inch squares.

Note that I shaped my treats into balls and then pressed them with the bottom of a glass. I think Dorothy's way is the time-saving method!

Thread a yarn needle with yarn or ribbon. Draw the needle through the center top of a square, cut the ribbon leaving about 8 inches of length, and tie it off. Continue the process until all the squares have a length of yarn or ribbon through it. Return the squares to the freezer and leave them for 24-hours.

The next day, take the squares outside and tie them to tree branches for the birds to eat (or you can put several into a suet feeder like I did). When the last one is tied, open your arms to the sky and chant to the Sun and Sky:

"I feed the birds a festive meal.
I nourish them with foodstuffs real.
And as they find this pleasant feast,
So will my human siblings eat.
Remove the hunger from all life,
So that Your human children thrive.
Give them plenty - fill them up
With nourishing food on which to sup.
Kill starvation, it must die,
This I will - by Sun and Sky!"

Now make yourself a nice cup of cocoa (with marshmallows of course!), perch yourself by a window and watch all the little birds come for dinner!