Lots of items can be made out of gourds such as ladles, birdhouses and musical instruments. Gourds have great resonance so musical instruments made from them can sound wonderful! You can make percussion, woodwind and stringed instruments from gourds. So decorate your harvest holidays with gourds and later dry them out and make instruments from them. One type of instrument that is easy to make are rattles or maracas, and that is what I’ll be describing how to make. It does take patience while letting the gourds dry out. I suggest using several gourds because during the drying process, one may simply rot. Also, more than one rattle is very nice. I have one for each direction. You might designate one for each deity with which you work. You may choose one to use for healing and one to clear space. You can make some available to offer company when they come over. Rhythmic instruments such as rattles are great to use during rituals. They can be used for calling Quarters, invocations, as an aid for trance and meditation, raising energy, cleansing, healing and for music and dance. The list goes on. There are many ways to go about making these musical instruments, and I will be describing one of these ways.
To begin with when shopping for gourds I consider the shape I want for the purpose. For rattles I look for gourds that look like maracas with handles. After using them for decorations, I set them up to dry out over the winter. I used a small saw in a pumpkin carving kit to make a small hole in the bottom of my gourds. Another way to prepare them is by using a drill to make the holes. (See picture below.) I used a metal barbecue skewer to scrape the pulp inside. Then I let them hang in a bucket so the liquid will drain out. (See picture below.) I let them dry outdoors so that the mess and the fungal spores will stay outside. They also dry best when the temperature is 65 degrees Fahrenheit or cooler. Periodically I scrape out the inside of the gourds and wipe them with a paper towel.
Pick a nice spring day to work on the dried gourds outdoors. Put on vinyl gloves and with a little dish soap, water and a scrubber clean up the outside of the gourds. Dip them into a solution of bleach and water (1 part bleach to nine parts water) to kill the remaining fungal spores. Allow to air dry. You may decide remove the seeds or not. If you remove the seeds, varnish the inside of the gourds. Either paint the varnish with a long handled paint brush or use a spray sealant. Allow to dry overnight.
Now for the fun parts! You may have decided to use the existing seeds in the gourds for your rattles. Put your finger over the hole, shake a gourd and listen to how it sounds to test it. Or you may put pebbles, seeds, rice or beans in the hole of a rattle. Remember to test it for sound. Unless the hole is very small and you decided to use the naturally occurring seeds inside the gourd, stopper the hole with a tiny spare cork and seal it with wax or glue. See video.
Then you may decorate the rattles. Note that they will have lost the fun pigment that they had as gourds. One way to decorate them is with acrylic paint. Let the ridges, bumps and texture of the rattle dictate the design. You may paint the entire surfaces of the rattles, or you may use a few strokes or dabs of paint. You may decide to decorate them with a wood burner. I would suggest using a wood burner only on smooth and not bumpy rattles. First lightly use a pencil to make the design on the rattle. If this is your first time using a wood burner, keep your design simple. Wood burning is an art form that takes practice. Use a lower temperature setting on the wood burner. Know that even at this lower setting the wood burner is still very hot! Please take safety precautions. Whether you painted them or wood burned them, apply a sealant to the rattles afterwards. Again, you may use a brush with liquid sealant or spray. I strongly suggest that you do that outdoors. For fun you may choose to tie colorful ribbons around the handles.
Enjoy making gourd creations such as rattles!
On the day of this post the moon, having just been full will be a waning gibbous. It is time to think about what you want to have less of in your life.
I will continue to post on Wednesdays.
Auburn Greene
Suggested Investigation:
Hennessy, Regan. “How to Make a Rattle Out of a Gourd.” Garden Guides, September 21, 2017, gardenguides.com/95069-make-rattle-of-gourd.html.
Inman, Sandra. Wiccan Percussion – How to Use a Magickal Rattle. Youtube.com/watch?V=b4Ct7N3_FT0.
Summit, Ginger and Jim Widess. Making Gourd Musical Instruments: Over 60 String, Wind and Percussion & How to Play Them, Echo Point Books & Media, 2016.
My Inner Wiccan 