In Mexico and the American southwest, there is a beautiful Easter custom, also pagan in origin, revolving around cascarones. Cascarones (cahs-cah-roe-nays) are eggshells that have been carefully hallowed out, painted, filled, and then resealed with tape. Traditional fillings for them include perfume, confetti, lavender, and sage—all pagan symbols of spring. The cascarones are taken out on Easter morning, when the object is to catch your loved ones by surprise and hit them over the head with an egg. As the insides rain around you, you are blessed with the love, luck, and new life of the season.

To make your own cascarones, you will need a dozen eggs, acrylic craft paints and brushes, clear carton sealing tape, and items such as those mentioned above to stuff the eggs with, and a use for the one dozen egg innards you will have on your hands when you are finished.

To empty the eggs you will need to make a small hole in both ends without cracking the rest of the egg. Do this by gently tapping on the ends of the egg with the round side of a spoon. Holding the egg over a bowl, gently blow on the larger end of the egg and push out the yolk and whites.

Rinse out the eggs in a small stream of cool tap water, and replace them in carton to dry overnight. They can then be carefully painted and decorated.

Tape up the bottom holes with clear sealing tape and replace the eggshells in the egg carton. Carefully stuff the shells with any herbs, confetti, etc. you wish to use. A small kitchen funnel is helpful. When they are full, seal the top hole. Use the minimum amount of tape needed to cover the holes or your eggshells will resist cracking open.

Excerpted from Sabbats: A Witch's Approach to Living the Old Ways, by Edain McCoy