Regardless of whether you and your family celebrate Ostara, Easter, or dye eggs as a secular springtime activity, here are some ideas for dyeing eggs this year
Get PAAS kits from the dollar store.
Easy, foolproof, only $1 but there is a limited choice of colors in a kit. Odds are I’ll still buy a kit as a “backup measure” but I really want to spread my wings a little bit creatively this year.
Use water vinegar and food coloring.
1 cup boiling water
1 TBSP white vinegar
20 (or more) drops food coloring.
Add colors 1 drop at a time until you reach shade you desire.
Since I have boxes of both traditional food coloring and neon food coloring this one is a definate!! If nothing else I want to make some really vivid red eggs – not pink, not almost red, screaming red.
Use natural ingredients you probably have laying about the house.
1 cup of “dye”
2-3 tsp of white vinegar
Dye suggestions:
purple grape juice, your favorite vibrant hued herbal tea (steeped longer than you might ordinarily for drinking), red wine, black tea, green tea.
This is a maybe. Most of the sources I’ve read indicate a much longer soaking time that we are used to, up to overnight!!! But I may try it with a few eggs just to see how they come out.
Eggs as Magic
Use a white crayon to draw runes, symbols, words on your eggs before dyeing them.
Match the color(s) you dye your egg to its purpose.
Example of Layering:
- draw symbol on white egg – dip egg in yellow
- dry egg and draw symbol on now yellow egg – dip egg in red
- dry egg and draw symbol on now orange egg – dip egg in blue
- egg will be a muddy marbled tone, depending on luck, the whim of the Gods and other natural forces your egg will either look very cool or really awful, I get more of the former than the latter
Treat your “magical eggs” with a sense of reverence. Dry them lovingly. Eat them with true intent.
Egg magic is perfectly matched for any purpose associated with fertility, growth, new beginnings, and anything you want to see yourself “birth” in the coming months. However, it can work for any purpose. Feed yourself “self-love”, feed yourself “wisdom”, feed yourself “inspiration”.
Take it a step further. Break your goal/dream/wish down into a series of steps and eat one egg a day.
2 day spell: God and Goddess
3 day spell: Maiden, Mother, Crone
4 day spell: Earth, Aire, Fire, Water
For the next two please keep in mind that eggs are only considered safe to eat for 7 days after they are hard-boiled.
7 day spell: chakra opening
7 day spell: North, South, East, West, Above (connection to Divine and the world of spirit), Below (connection to the mundane world), Within (your innermost truth)
Wondering what to do with all those eggs you dyed? Again, pemember that they are only good for 1 week after you hardboil them.
Enjoy!
Mama Kelly
