Collage Ritual

You are responsible for a fast approaching ritual. (And blog post!) It’s not close to one of the big seasonal observances. It’s not close to the Full Moon or Dark of the Moon. What’re ya gonna do??

Something not related to any of those. I recently priestessed a ritual where I invited each coven sister to create a collage representing who she is, or what she aspires to be, or a valentine to herself, or whatever will make her happy. The intent was shameless self-indulgence, accompanied with wine of course.

Collage in our magical practice

For years the Crows have gathered a day or two before Valentines Day to make valentines for each other and present them at the end of the evening. COVID required us to make these valentines at home and then mail them to each other. It’s one of the many ways we, as Wiccans, express love.

Years ago we also began creating a coven Tarot deck. It was a marvelously messy activity at our fall retreats. We’ve also made our own personal decks. We glued small pictures onto playing cards. Rebekah wrote a post about making Tarot decks. You can read it here.

These activities require each of us to collect cool magazine photos that might have any potential application to valentines, Tarot cards, or collages on any subject. I have animals, mountain and desert scenes, galaxies, Stonehenge, flowers, birds, butterflies, dragons, scantily clad warrior men or women, castles, giant battle robots, also totally abstract images. Beware. Collecting images can be addictive. I’ve separated out ones especially suited for coven valentines.

All of these activities are ways of creating connection. Sometimes it’s a connection to ourselves and our dreams. Other times it’s a connection to one another. Another collage ritual that we did several years ago involved making a collage not for ourself, but for another member of the group. They were a tribute to the woman’s strengths and interests, with some spellwork for happiness stirred in.

That sisterlove ritual, as well as making Valentines every year for many, many years are part of the glue that holds us together as a group. One of my favorite songs about connectedness is Roots of my Heart, from our first album, Crow Goddess.

The roots of my heart go deep underground
and entwine with the roots of your heart.
I will find you deep in my heart,
I will find you deep in my heart
   

music & lyrics © Cynthia Crossen.

Preparing for the collage ritual

For the recent collage ritual, I sorted through the full collection and pulled out mountain and desert images that represent some of who I am. Also various small images that can be superimposed – a dragon, a frog, a crow, a Phoenix (the one from Harry Potter), and the like. I directed my sisters to go through their own collections and come to cut and paste.

At the last minute, I went to the library and made an enlarged color copy of a photo of myself to include. Seriously? Who does that? Who do you think you are? A certain ex-president? No, just a manifestation of the divine, as we all are.

Collaging in sacred space

We created sacred space and got to it. We got quiet. I laid out the pictures I’d brought. The crux of it was that extremely colorful picture of me in some of my best Mabon festival tie dye. It screamed self-indulgence. But a love of bright colors is part of who I am, and my directive for the ritual was to create a collage that represents who you are, etc.

I laid out the desert image, a small rustic log cabin, and some of our San Juan Mountains. I put the picture of myself in the middle. I wasn’t satisfied. It needed something else, a background that better fit with the picture of myself. As my sisters happily finished their creations, I realized I was going to have to postpone my completion. I have a history of being the last one to finish valentines as well.

• 

• 

We shared our creations. Alane took pictures of them to use with this blog. We closed the circle. I brought my collage makings home.

My collage transforms

I realized that the picture of me was so in-your-face colorful that it needed a similarly colorful background if I was going to use it. The mountain and desert scenes just didn’t fit. So next morning after breakfast, I went back through my big accumulation of images and pulled out ones that looked good with my photo. Then it was a matter of choosing the one(s) I’d use.

That’s while I re-charged the laptop to continue with this blog post, weeded out my new background selections, had lunch, and continued weeding. I put some desert canyon pictures with the desert arch that was a part of the earlier ritual composition. Those might become a separate collage. The same with the little log cabin that represents my homebody-ness.

I got the new choices down to two. Then I assembled one with the picture of me and various smaller pictures that could be added. After a while I did another assembly with the other background. Either one will be totally different than what I had during the collage making ritual, and what Alane photographed. Finally I settled on one and began gluing enthusiastically, without the hesitation I’d felt before. That in turn went onto black poster board.

I pulled out some other decorative items like sparkly stars and sparkly sticky-back sheets that I can cut to shape, usually valentine hearts. Also a couple images of spiral galaxies, a dark fairy, a couple keys to represent Hekate, to go onto the black poster board. I’m much happier with the finished product than I would have been if I’d pressed through with my original pictures.

During the ritual, the other Crows used tule mesh, glitter, glitter glue, little stick-on jewels along with their pictures. Ribbon or lace is another option. So is text. They had a bit of uncertainty about what they were supposed to be doing. Doesn’t matter. It’s for yourself! Make it how you want it. If you need permission to include a picture of yourself, here it is.

The Crows are a women’s coven, so I’m using she/ her references. It could just as well be he/ his/ him or they/ them/ their. Go for it, and have fun.

You can visit the arts and crafts section of our online Book of Shadows for more ideas about crafts for the Craft. Our cookbook is in that part of the website, too, with many recipes for the kitchen witches among our readers. One way or another, may your magic be full of creativity.