How to make #ashes for #AshWednesday, part two: ashes become a fluffy gray powder after being run through the sieve. In #Hawaii we offer the ashes in one of two ways, either as powder to be sprinkled on the head or to be smudged across the head in the form of a #cross. To better facilitate the latter, I add #OliveOil to a bit of the powdered ash in a separate bowl (I use left over #healing oil), and mix it until it becomes a thick tar-like paste. This will make a solid cross that won’t rub off too easily (how I discovered this is a kind of gross story, tbh).

Again, church supply houses sell this stuff. But there’s a certain old knowledge that is lost when we buy stuff we can make for free.