Wishing Customs
Sunset
Gently pinch yourself and make
a wish as the sun sets.
(Star Island, New Hampshire)
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Star
Everyone knows the traditional
Star Wish
"Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight...."
A lesser-known version is to select a star,
say "Last star I'll see tonight," in the chant, wish,
and then close your eyes and turn away, making sure
you don't see any more stars that night.
(England)
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Count nine stars for nine
nights in a row
(if it's cloudy, you may have to start over),
each night reciting out loud as you count:
"One, two, three, four, five,
Six seven, eight, nine;
Wish be mine."
Then silently make your wish. Some say that on the
last night you should add, "And so should it be."
-verses and text from
The Wishing Handbook: More Than 500 Ways
to Make Your Wishes Come True.
Gloria T. Delamar, Running Press, 1999.
A shoaler since 1984, Gloria
T. Delamar (Glo) is the author of nine
books, a creative writing teacher, former columnist, editor of two Web
Sites, and amateur photographer who enjoys "playing with images."
E-mail WritersAtoZ@juno.com
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Webs
The same year as the
publication of Mother Goose: From Nursery to
Literature (McFarland, 1987), Glo founded Mother Goose Day (May 1),
which is ow listed in most events calendars. In 1988, the Mother Goose
Society Web Site debuted; it was featured in the New York Times computer
section 5/13/99 and given a three-star-rating award by ABC's of
Parenting. It has history, recipes easy enough for kids, and links to
other related sites. It's for parents, grandparents, babysitters, kids,
teachers, librarians, (surely that includes a lot of shoalers!) and
anyone else with an interest in the warm tradition of Mother Goose.
http://www.gbalc.org/MotherGooseSociety
Glo and her husband, Bill, are both on the board of directors, and past
presidents, of the Philadelphia Writers' Conference. Glo is editor of
its newsletter Pen Points, as well as of its Web Site.
StarArts's creative shoalers may want to check out the writing-related
excerpts from the newsletter, copyright information, fun stuff about
language and writing, a "Q & A Forum" where one can post questions or
respond to others' questions, and the "Versery Post" to which one can
submit light verse pertinent to the writing life (4-16 lines).
http://www.pwcgold.com
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