crafts and me!

make a handmade
Family Chalice
Make a beautiful flaming chalice for rituals your family celebrates or new rituals you create.
by Sharon Taitz
Materials Needed:
  • 2" terra cotta pot
  • 2" terra cotta saucer
  • Acrylic craft paints, various colors
  • Rubber design stamps (optional)
  • Acrylic clear spray sealer/glaze
  • Heavy-duty craft glue, such as
  • Bond 527 or E6000
  • A tea light candle
Instructions:

1. Turn the pot upside down so its bottom is
facing up.

2. Glue the bottom of the saucer to the bottom (now the top) of the pot with some heavy-duty glue. The saucer should be right side up. Allow the glue to dry for one hour.

3. Using the acrylic craft paints, give the pot two coats of any base color that you choose. A lighter color will work best for showing the designs. Allow paint to dry for 15 minutes in between coats.

4. After the second coat has dried, decorate your chalice with painted designs, using contrasting colors. If you have some rubber stamps, brush a coat of paint onto a stamp and press it gently onto the surface of the chalice. Remember to roll the stamp along the curve of the chalice. Apply a new coat of paint to the stamp each time you stamp. Wash the stamp in warm sudsy water when you finish.

Why a Flaming Chalice?

At the beginning of UU worship services, many churches light a flame inside a chalice. This flaming chalice has become a symbol of our church.

The flaming chalice design was created 62 years ago for the Unitarian Service Committee, by a man from Austria named Hans Deutsch. At that time, the Service Committee was working to secretly help people escape from the Nazis. They needed a symbol to print on their papers to make them look important. The Reverend Charles Joy hired Deutsch to make a design for them.

Deutsch borrowed an old symbol of strength and freedom from Czechoslovakia—a chalice with a flame. The Rev. Joy wrote to his friends in Boston that the new symbol seemed to show the real spirit of the Unitarian religion. It showed a chalice, or cup, for giving a healing drink to others. And it showed a flame on top of the chalice because a flame was often used to represent a spirit of helpfulness and sacrifice. And so the flaming chalice became the official symbol of the Unitarian Service Committee.

Many years later, the flaming chalice became the symbol of Unitarian Universalist groups all over the world. By the early 1970s, enough Unitarian Universalists had heard the story of the flaming chalice symbol that they began to light a flaming chalice as part of the worship service. Over the years, this practice has spread over most of the United States and Canada.

5. Try using polka dots, stripes, swirls, stars, moons, or any design you like. Use designs that represent what you like or something that your family likes. Metallic acrylic paints are cool to use. You might want to paint the rim a contrasting color.

6. Be sure to print your name and the date with a thin permanent marker on the inside of the pot so you can remember who made it.

7. After you are satisfied with your design, give your chalice two coats of spray acrylic sealer/glaze. Allow 30 minutes between coats.

8. When the sealer is dry, place a tea light (the kind in a little aluminum or plastic pan) in the top of the saucer.

Enjoy your flaming chalice!

CAUTION: Never use a candle without the permission and help of an adult.

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