Kerry Morgan December, 2009

Tags: halloween, samhain

• Articles

Alison Shaffer November, 2009

The No-Time Before Beginning

We cannot always be rushing full speed ahead.

Druidry teaches us that there are cycles, seasons that turn over and shuffle through one another. At Samhain, summer’s end, we enter a time of darkness, before the rebirth of light on the winter solstice. Now is a time of dissolution, and sacrifice. And bad chest colds with persistent, aching cough. Amber and rusted-ruby bleed through the tree leaves along their brittle veins, and I notice how they scab around the torn edges of old holes chewed out by summer insects now sluggish or dead. Outside my window, rain shivers down through the evening fog and clings to every surface, and slips, and falls, and clings again; each leaf wavers limply in the breeze, damp but still shining, ablaze like the sun’s going-down. They are so devoted. They mimic her, like the rain; they fall. We are all going down, stepping gently into the dusk, into the coming dark.

Last year, I dreamt often of brilliant mountainsides, spattered with the reds, oranges and yellows of foliage. My dreams were suffused with autumn. I noticed the subtle shifts as the season moved, changes I had never noticed before. The blushing rouge at the beginning, like wounds or lips opening up here and there among the worn summer green, just beginning to spread from tree to tree. The quaking yellows and golds at the height of the season, the whole woods cut through by low, bright sunlight and seeming to glow, the limbs of trees dark like veins starting to show through a papery sky, reflected in the surface of half-hidden streams gliding through layers of yellow leaves that had already fallen. And then, even towards the end, how beautiful and subtle the browns became, some deep like wet bark, some light and feathery like sheaves of wheat or rustling like straw, the ochre, russet, everything in sepia tones. There was a stand of sycamores outside the local library that everyday seemed to have life, each day different, moods that hesitated and seemed to revise themselves shyly, while no one was looking. Sometimes they were bright against the backdrop of concrete buildings and city skyline, sometimes faded and gentle, hardly distinguishable, but quiet and present. It would be hard to explain how these sycamores alone seemed to be, for the first time, so real to me, so very much alive.

This autumn, I’ve spent too much time sick in bed. The wind elbows its way through the darkening evening like a disgruntled old man too proud to admit he feels ignored and forgotten. I have missed too many sunsets; I have slept restlessly, wheezing, through too many dawns. The brilliance and color I remember from last year? Replaced with cold-shouldered windows rattling unkindly against every draft, and a body that just cannot find a comfortable position amidst piles of pillows and layers of blankets. Sometimes, autumn is not romantic, or brilliant, or even eerie with the smell of old blood, the smell of ancient slaughter to thin the herds for winter, the smell of our ancestors, the memory of their warm bodies moving and sweating and churning just on the other side of the thinning gossamer veil between the worlds. Sometimes, autumn is dull and cramped, a voiceless throat and the practical drug store necessities.

We spend a lot of energy these days trying not to be sad, trying to avoid the risk of becoming sad, or sick, or vulnerable in any way. We do our best to placate, ameliorate, mitigate. We believe in a steady, if not perfect, state of health and happiness, despite the evidence, despite the change and flux that surrounds us constantly.

Sometimes, what we really need to learn is how to walk through sickness, and sadness, and come out the other side. Not singing or laughing, perhaps, but mindful and fully present all the same. We need to learn that this pressing onward, this walking through the thick of it, the heavy darkness, dense with grief and dissolution–this process is not beautiful, or romantic. Sometimes it is annoying and a bit mucous, and there is no moment when suddenly the way is clear and everything resolves into celebration and relief. Sometimes, we simply recover, gradually, so slowly that we barely notice, each day a little less difficult, each night a little easier to sleep through.

??

So I’m less-than-perfect tonight, with a sore throat and a headache that makes concentration difficult, let alone philosophy or spiritual musing. And I am wistful for last fall, for the home in that season I left in order to make a new home on the other side of sickness and frustration. But we make homes of our bodies all the same, in all their imperfections, as we make our homes in the landscape with its cycles and rhythms, its withering and renewal. But perhaps this is why birth, too, is so amazing — that we can make of our very bodies a home for an innocent new being — that, like those physical houses constructed out of sacrificed trees and broken stones, we can build that kind of sanctuary. We gestate within these old bodies a new self, like the god descending into the dark womb to wait the rebirth of light. A warm hearth, a place from which new happiness on this side of loss and hardship can begin again. Even when we have passed through illness and loneliness, been shaped by them and scarred by them, that we can still become a bridge to the new, to the newly born, to the beginning.

Now is a time of dissolution, and sacrifice. Now is the no-time, the end of one year, before another begins. We press on, through the darkness, the breath of our ancestors barely stirring us. The rain falls, in imitation of the leaves, the leaves who slide loose and fall as the sun goes down.

Blessings, readers, on this Samhain. See you on the other side.

Tags: druid, samhain

• Articles

Administrator October, 2009

Other Names:
celtic ~ Summer’s End, pronounced “sow” (rhymes with now) “en” (Ireland), sow-een (Wales) – “mh” in the middle is a “w” sound – Greater Sabbat(High Holiday) – Fire Festival Oct 31-Nov 1(North Hemisphere) – Apr 30-May 1 – The Great Sabbat, Samhiunn, Samana, Samhuin, Sam-fuin, Samonios, Halloween, Hallomas, All Hallows Eve, All Saints/All Souls Day(Catholic), Day of the Dead (Mexican), Witches New Year, Trinoux Samonia, Celtic/ Druid New Year, Shadowfest (Strega), Martinmas or Old Hallowmas (Scotttish/Celtic) Lá Samhna (Modern Irish), Festival of the Dead, Feile Moingfinne (Snow Goddess), Hallowtide (Scottish Gaelis Dictionary), Feast of All Souls, Nos Galen-gae-of Night of the Winter Calends (Welsh), La Houney or Hollantide Day, Sauin or Souney ( Manx), oidhche na h-aimiléise-the night of mischief or confusion(Ireland), Oidhche Shamna (Scotland)

Rituals:
End of summer, honoring of the dead,scrying, divination, last harvest, meat harvest

Incense:
Copal, sandalwood, mastic resin, benzoin, sweetgrass, wormwood, mugwort, sage, myrrh or patchouli

Tools:
Besom, cauldron, tarot, obsidian ball, pendulum, runes, oghams, Ouija boards, black cauldron or bowl filled with black ink or water, or magick mirror

Stones/Gems:
Black obsidian, jasper, carnelian, onyx, smoky quartz, jet, bloodstone

Colors:
Black, orange, red

Symbols & Decorations:
Apples, autumn flowers, acorns, bat, black cat, bones, corn stalks, colored leaves, crows, death/dying, divination and the tools associated with it, ghosts, gourds, Indian corn, jack-o-lantern, nuts , oak leaves, pomegranates, pumpkins, scarecrows, scythes, waning moon

Foods:
Apples, apple dishes, cider, meat (traditionally this is the meat harvest) especially pork, mulled cider with spices, nuts-representing resurrection and rebirth, nuts, pomegranates, potatoes, pumpkins, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, roasted pumpkin seeds, roasted pumpkin seeds, squash.

Goddesses:
The Crone, Hecate(Greek), Cerridwen(Welsh-Scottish), Arianrhod(Welsh), Caillech (Irish-Scottish), Baba Yaga (Russian), Al-Ilat(persian), Bast (Egyptian), Persephone (Greek), Hel(Norse), Kali(Hindu), all Death & Otherworld Goddesses

Gods:
Horned Hunter(European), Cernnunos(Greco-Celtic), Osiris(Egyptian), Hades (Greek), Gwynn ap Nudd (British), Anubis(Egyptian), Coyote Brother (Native American), Loki (Norse), Dis (Roman), Arawn (Welsh), acrificial/Dying/Aging
Gods, Death and Otherworld Gods

Herbs and Flowers:
Almond, apple leaf , autumn joy sedum, bay leaf, calendula, Cinnamon, Cloves cosmos, garlic, ginger , hazelnut, hemlock cones, mandrake root, marigold, mums, mugwort (to aid in divination), mullein seeds, nettle, passionflower, pine needles, pumpkin seeds, rosemary (for remembrance of our ancestors), rue, sage, sunflower petals and seeds, tarragon, wild ginseng, wormwood

Animals:
Stag, cat, bat, owl, jackal, elephant, ram, scorpion, heron, crow, robin

Mythical Beings:
Pooka, goblin,medusa, beansidhe, harpies

Essence:
Magick, plenty; knowledge, the night, death & rebirth, success, protection; rest, new beginning; ancestors; lifting of the veil, mundane laws in abeyance, return, change

Dynamics/Meaning:
Death & transformation, Wiccan new year,wisdom of the Crone, end of summer, honoring, thinning of the veil between worlds, death of the year, time outside of time, night of the Wild Hunt, begin new projects, end old projects

Work:
Sex magick, release of bad habits, banishing, fairy magick, divination of any kind, candle magick, astral projection, past life work, dark moon mysteries, mirror spells (reflection), casting protection , inner work, propitiation, clearing obstacles, uncrossing, inspiration, workings of transition or culmination, manifesting transformation,creative visualization, contacting those who have departed this plane

Purpose:
Honoring the dead, especially departed ancestors, knowing we will not be forgotten; clear knowledge of our path; guidance, protection, celebrating reincarnation

Rituals/Magicks:
Foreseeing future, honoring/consulting ancestors, releasing the old, power, understanding death and rebirth, entering the underworld, divination, dance of the dead, fire calling, past life recall

Customs:
Ancestor altar, costumes, divination, carving jack-o-lanterns, spirit plate, the Feast of the Dead, feasting, paying debts, fairs, drying winter herbs, masks, bonfires, apple games, tricks, washing clothes

Element:
Water

Gender:
Male

Threshold:
Midnight

Tags: halloween, october, samhain

• Correspondences

Boudicca Andarta October, 2009

Halloween Black Cat Magick: calling upon the Egyptian Bast

We know the day as Samhain, but the non-magickal call it Halloween.  And what is Halloween without the iconic black cat; fluffy tail, arched back and seated on the back of a witches’ broom.  Besides being associated with Witches, how did the infamous black cat get to be the unofficial ambassador for the holiday?  Well, many goddesses have had feline companions of one sort or another including the Norse Freya and the Greco-Roman artemis-Diana but the goddess that is possibly best known as a cat is the Egyptian Bast.

Bast, or Bastet, wasn’t always as we know her today, she started out as Sekhmet.  Over time, Sekhmet transformed herself to meet the needs of the people and became two separate divinities, one the fierce Sekhmet who was called upon for protection, and the other was the gentle Bastet who was called upon for personal assistance in matters of conception.  In either form, Bast was the daughter of the sun-god Re (sometimes said to be the eldest daughter of Amun), but in the guise of Sekhmet, she was the “rage in his eye” and acted as the instrument of his vengeance.  The Egyptian Trinity was Sekhmet-Bast-Re and Bast was honored and venerated during special holidays through the imbibing of wine, beer and sometimes grape-juice.

During the worship of Bast and Sekhmet, the cat became a symbol of the goddess energy.  Cats were venerated for two-thousand years and the earliest known portrait of Bast dates back to 3000 BC.  Initially, she was portrayed as a lioness (Sekhmet), but from 1000 BC onward she took the form of a cat (Bast’s son Mihos has the head of a lion, so perhaps he has more of Sekhmet’s traits than those of his mother).  Bast is the more peaceable and benign form of Sekhmet and has both lunar and solar energies.  Bast is usually pictured as a woman with a cat’s head but sometimes with a lion’s head (Sekhmet) and has nurturing, motherly qualities.

As the benevolent form of Sekhmet, Bast is associated with domesticity, fertility, pleasure, healing and protection.  Her symbols are the sistrum, basket and the alabaster jar.  During her worship, her cult center was at Bubastis.  The cat was considered sacred and there were cat cemeteries full of mummified animals.  During the Helenic period, she was synchronized with artemis and took the more Sekhmet form of Pakhet (“she who tears”).

THE SPELL:

This is a very simple spell where you will ask for Bast’s help in a personal situation.  Perhaps you are looking to conceive a child or need healing.  Or, you could call upon Bast to quell your “bad side” (Sekhmet), and request help with your temper.  And, either version of the goddess (the benevolent Bast or the vengeful Sekhmet) could use their claws to protect your or your loved ones (cubs).  Whatever you feel you need help with, you will simply speak from your heart to the Goddess.

Supplies: most likely you don’t have an alabaster jar lying about, and you may not have a Bast statuette, so you can use a simple basket to represent Bast.  For an offering to her, you can choose between beer, wine or even grape-juice.

Begin by either creating sacred space or casting a circle in the manner of yoru tradition.

Open up the spell by calling to Bast:

“On this day of the Celtic Samhain,

I call upon the Egyptian Lion;

The Trinity: Sekhmet-Bast-Re,

Please bless me on this day.”

Place the basket on your altar after saying:

“Sacred Black Cat of Halloween,

Traveling worlds seen and unseen;

I honor this day the Egyptian Bastet,

Symbolized here by this basket.”

Hold up your offering of wine/beer/juice and say:

“By the magick of your lives of nine,

I give to you this offering of wine.”

Place the wine either in the basket itself or directly in front of it and say:

“I give to you this libation,

in exchange for aid in my situation.”

Speak to Bast in your own words as to what in your life needs to be rectified.  Let it all out and cry if you need to.   You should meditate to try to get an answer, so perhaps you would like to have a pen and paper nearby in case you get some immediate guidance from Bast.  When finished, express your gratitude to Bast by saying:

“My thanks to you, black cat goddess,

Egyptian queen in a lion’s dress.

I wish a happy Celtic New Year to you.

Please guide me in the work I do.”

Be sure to leave the offering overnight and then dispose of the remainder in the morning!

SOURCES:

Egyptian Paganism for Beginners by Jocelyn Almond & Keith Seddon

Encyclopedia of the Gods by Michael Jordan

Halloween by Silver RavenWolf

Offering to Isis: Knowing the Goddess Through Her Sacred Symbols by M. Isidora Forrest

Tags: black cat, halloween, samhain, Spell

• Spells & Rituals

Hearthkeeper October, 2009

Blessed Samhain all of you and Blessed Beltane for those in the Southern Hemi. Wow has it really been a year… I started writing these article last October.. and how scared I was that they would bomb… but you seem to like them and I enjoy writing them for you..  so here we go..

Here is some basic Samhain correspondences to work with

Oct. 31st – Samhain (All Hallow’s Eve)

Altar Decorations: Pumpkins, gourds, seasonal fruits and flowers, a statue of the Triple Goddess in her Crone phase, broom, acorns.

Herbs:, dittany, flax, heather, mandrake, mullein, oak leaves, sage and straw, mugwort.

Spices: Thyme, rosemary, salt, pepper,  poultry seasoning

Incense: sage, apple, mint, nutmeg

Gods & Goddess’: The Crone, Hecate (fertility, moon-magic, protectress of all Witches), Morrigan (Celtic Goddess of death), Cernunnos (Celtic fertility God) and Osiris (Egyptian God who represents death and rebirth).

Colors: Black, Orange, Red, White

Gemstones: onyx, obsidian, hematite

Food: Apples, Pumpkin pie, nuts, cranberry(scones or muffins), ale, cider, mugwort tea, mead and meat

Tree: Birch, oak, alder and walnut

This Sabbat as well as the whole month of October is a time of change. The veil is thinning and contact with our ancestors is becoming easier and divinations of all kinds seem to work better now. It is customary to set an extra place at your supper table on Samhain Eve in honor of the departed. This is not a scary time, rather a time when the veil is thin and we can spend time with the spirits in warmth and love.

But this is also a time for the living. A time to prepare for the cold season, harvest the last of the summer crops and save them for next year, a time for family and friends to become closer, planning inside activities to enjoy while it snows; a time for cleaning and settling in, for putting away the summer and storing for next year.

So we will start here… contacting the ancestors and go on from there

Samhain Meditation

To prepare for this meditation, have your cauldron or bowl ready.

If you will be outdoors have small sticks that you can light for a fire in the cauldron.

If indoors, a votive, and a fire brick to put under your cauldron.

Place paper and pen near the cauldron.

Visualize yourself walking in a place of nature. This may be a place you already know, or it may be somewhere you create in your mind. Be aware of the crispness of autumn, the chill in the air, the changing colors of the leaves, the seeds that fall from dying flowers, the pine cones and acorns underfoot. As you walk, you come to a stone circle with a low stone altar with a large cauldron sitting on it in the center. On the altar you see articles that you know belonged to, your deceased ancestors, family members, and friends.

Next to the cauldron is a small collection of wood ready to be lit. Light the fire. (Or candle, if indoors).

This is your opportunity to contact anyone from your family, or among your friends, that you wish. Think of why you want to contact them. Is there any unfinished business with anyone that you would like to take care of now? Do you wish to ask forgiveness of anyone? Is there someone you need to forgive? Do you want to tell someone how much you love them and miss them? Do you wish to ask for help or guidance?

Next to the cauldron you see paper and pen. Sit quietly, take your time, and write letter. Allow yourself to experience any emotions that arise as you do this. When you have finished your letter or letters, burn them in the cauldron. As the flame turns them into smoke, know that as the smoke rises it carries your message. (If indoors, be careful).

Take a few more minutes to sit quietly before the cauldron. The cauldron represents the womb of the earth,  to which we return in death to await rebirth. Gaze into it. This is a time to receive messages. Take your time. You may have a thought, or image, come into your mind. You may receive the answer to a question, or be given some wise advice. You may not get your answer right now, it may take a few hours or even days for you to understand.

When you are ready to leave thank your ancestors for the help they have given, tell them you love them and know they will be there for you always.. Leave the circle, returning by the same path you took before. Take the blessings of the cauldron of life and rebirth with you.

Samhain for Family & Friends

This is a non-ritual way to celebrate Samhain, and children can join in.

You will need:

A candle for each individual to be remembered (small birthday candles or tea lights to be very effective)

A cauldron or other fireproof container filled with sand

A photograph or other mementos, or the name of each individual written on

paper

Apples

Food including pumpkin soup, pie, and so on

Tarot cards, scrying tools, and other divination tools.

Push each candle into the sand-filled container ,light a candle for each individual to be remembered. Place the name, photos, a poem, or other memento against the container of candles. When all are done, welcome the family members that have passed to come and share the feast with you.

After, when everyone is full, read poems, play music, sing, or whatever you like to entertain each other. Any children present may want to put on impromptu plays or read their own poems aloud.

Read tarot cards or practice other forms of divination.

Children may want to use an apple cut in half to make pictures, when dried you can place the names of each remembered family member in each apple..

Here is a Blessing for this sabbat.

Samhain Blessing
May the ancestors deliver blessings on you and yours…

May the New Year bear great fruits for you…
May your granted wishes be as many as the seeds falling from the maple…

May the slide into darkness bring you comfort and peace…
May the memories of what has been keep you strong for what is to be…
May this Samhain cleanse your heart, your soul, and your mind!

Until next time

Blessed Home and Hearth

The Hearthkeeper

Tags: kitchen, samhain, witch

• Articles

Sky_Emmons October, 2009

Light the Hill of Tara

The dark half of the year

Awakens

Those that dwell in the hallow hills

With flowers and candles

I honor you

Spirits of the Air

Take me on this journey

End my mourning

Take sadness away

Lift the veil of

Seperation

Of night and day

In the dark of the Earth

I plant the seeds

Of who I want to be

Great Goddess Cailleach

With her hammer

Hardens the earth

Turns the night

Thins the veil

The Crone

Now shines

Spreads her dark cape

To cover the hills

Cover the sea

Cover me in shadows

And I shall remember

There is nothing I want

There is nothing I need

In the darkness I surrender

In the shadows I am alive

Like the seed

Under the Earth

Tags: incantation, poem, Poetry, samhain

• Poetry

Anne Baird October, 2009

CERRIDWEN

Samhain/Halloween

Samhain (pronounced “Sow-en”) or Halloween is the most magical night of the year! Celebrated on October 31st, beginning at sundown, it is the greatest of the four Pagan Sabbats that divide the ancient calendar into winter, spring, summer and fall. Samhain means “end of summer.” The summer reign of the Goddess is now over; the Winter King is on his way.

In ancient days, Samhain was the Celtic New Year, a time of gathering in for pastoral folk. Crops were harvested and stored. Animals were driven in from summer pasturage and slaughtered for food, or housed in barns and pens. People came home to ride out the harsh winter with families. Their very survival depended on the harvest and on a tightly knit community.

On this mysterious night when the old year turned to the new, the veils between the natural and supernatural world were thought to have thinned. The ghosts of ancestors, heroes, heroines, villains, and a host of fairy and otherworldly creatures, returned to Earth. Leprechauns might appear. Trees might talk.

The wise Celt honored returning spirits by setting out treats on the doorstep for them. Empty chairs were set at dining tables in case an unexpected ancestor popped in for a meal. Jack ‘o Lanterns were carved and carried to frighten off unfriendly ghosts. Costumes were worn as disguises to throw vengeful spooks off the track.

Samhain was also a night of serious reflection. Speculation about and resolutions for the future were made.

In this image, instead of the traditional black-costumed witch, I have painted Cerridwen, the wise Welsh triple goddess. (Maiden, Mother, Crone.) Cerridwen is celebrated as the “keeper of the cauldron.” Her story is powerful, and even a little frightening.

Cerridwen had two children: a beautiful daughter, and a very ugly son. To compensate for her son’s hideous appearance, the loving mother brewed a potent elixir of knowledge in her cauldron, intending to give it to Afagdu, so he might have wisdom since beauty had been denied him. However, as often happens, the magical gift went astray.

A young boy, Gwion, whose job was to constantly stir the magic brew for Cerridwen, accidentally splashed three burning drops of the mixture on his hand. He sucked on his burned fingers to relieve the pain. Instantly, he knew all the secrets of the past and of the future, as the gift intended for Afagdu became his instead.

The enraged goddess pursued Gwion to punish him. Using his newfound magical powers, the boy turned himself into many different creatures as he fled, trying to escape the Goddess. Finally, he cleverly turned himself into a single grain of corn. But Cerridwen turned herself into a hen, and ate the kernel!

From this seed, she became pregnant, and in due course, bore another son. This boy was so beautiful that she couldn’t bear to allow the jealous Afagdu to kill him, as she had promised. Instead, she sewed the infant into a bag, and cast him into the sea.

But even the wrath of Cerridwen and the malice of Afagdu could not deny the destiny of this magical child. A Welsh lord named Gwyddno Garanhir rescued him, named him Taliesin, and raised him to become the greatest bard and poet the Celtic world has ever known. He joined the court of King arthur at Camelot, where he became chief harpist and adviser to the legendary king.

Despite this fierce history, his mother, Cerridwen is revered as the goddess of inspiration, rebirth, regeneration, and divination.

On this night of introspection and new directions, she looks deep into her cauldron of water to see what the future may bring. She is focused, fearless, and filled with a discerning spirit. So may we all be.

Anne Baird, Designer/Owner of GODDESS CARDS, is a self-taught artist who has been painting and writing since childhood. Her chosen media for her unique line of greeting cards is watercolor, with touches of gouache, ink and colored pencil.

Her GODDESS CARD line grew from a birthday card she created for her daughter, Amanda, in 2001. Amanda was disheartened at being a curvaceous beauty in the Land of Thin. (Los Angeles.) That seminal card declaring, “You’re a GODDESS, not a nymph!” evolved into a long line of love notes and affirmations for ALL women. At over 125 cards, the line is steadily growing.

Anne is inspired by the archetypal Legendary Goddesses, who have so much to teach today’s women. Her greatest inspiration however, comes from the Goddesses of Today, who write her with wonderful suggestions and thoughts that expand her consciousness and card line.

She has launched  an E-Goddess Card website, where the Goddess on the Go can send Goddess “e-cards”, enriched with music and stories, at the click of a mouse. (A virtual mouse.)

Tags: cerridwen, halloween, samhain

• Articles

Administrator April, 2009

Other Names:

celtic ~ Summer’s End, pronounced "sow" (rhymes with now) "en" (Ireland), sow-een (Wales) – "mh" in the middle is a "w" sound – Greater Sabbat(High Holiday) – Fire Festival Oct 31-Nov 1(North Hemisphere) – Apr 30-May 1 – The Great Sabbat, Samhiunn, Samana, Samhuin, Sam-fuin, Samonios, Halloween, Hallomas, All Hallows Eve, All Saints/All Souls Day(Catholic), Day of the Dead (Mexican), Witches New Year, Trinoux Samonia, Celtic/ Druid New Year, Shadowfest (Strega), Martinmas or Old Hallowmas (Scotttish/Celtic) Lá Samhna (Modern Irish), Festival of the Dead, Feile Moingfinne (Snow Goddess), Hallowtide (Scottish Gaelis Dictionary), Feast of All Souls, Nos Galen-gae-of Night of the Winter Calends (Welsh), La Houney or Hollantide Day, Sauin or Souney ( Manx), oidhche na h-aimiléise-the night of mischief or confusion(Ireland), Oidhche Shamna (Scotland)

Rituals:

End of summer, honoring of the dead,scrying, divination, last harvest, meat harvest

Incense:

Copal, sandalwood, mastic resin, benzoin, sweetgrass, wormwood, mugwort, sage, myrrh or patchouli

Tools:

Besom, cauldron, tarot, obsidian ball, pendulum, runes, oghams, Ouija boards, black cauldron or bowl filled with black ink or water, or magick mirror

Stones/Gems:

Black obsidian, jasper, carnelian, onyx, smoky quartz, jet, bloodstone

Colors:

Black, orange, red

Symbols & Decorations:

Apples, autumn flowers, acorns, bat, black cat, bones, corn stalks, colored leaves, crows, death/dying, divination and the tools associated with it, ghosts, gourds, Indian corn, jack-o-lantern, nuts , oak leaves, pomegranates, pumpkins, scarecrows, scythes, waning moon

Foods:

Apples, apple dishes, cider, meat (traditionally this is the meat harvest) especially pork, mulled cider with spices, nuts-representing resurrection and rebirth, nuts, pomegranates, potatoes, pumpkins, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, roasted pumpkin seeds, roasted pumpkin seeds, squash.

Goddesses:

The Crone, Hecate(Greek), Cerridwen(Welsh-Scottish), Arianrhod(Welsh), Caillech (Irish-Scottish), Baba Yaga (Russian), Al-Ilat(persian), Bast (Egyptian), Persephone (Greek), Hel(Norse), Kali(Hindu), all Death & Otherworld Goddesses

Gods:

Horned Hunter(European), Cernnunos(Greco-Celtic), Osiris(Egyptian), Hades (Greek), Gwynn ap Nudd (British), Anubis(Egyptian), Coyote Brother (Native American), Loki (Norse), Dis (Roman), Arawn (Welsh), acrificial/Dying/Aging

Gods, Death and Otherworld Gods

Herbs and Flowers:

Almond, apple leaf , autumn joy sedum, bay leaf, calendula, Cinnamon, Cloves cosmos, garlic, ginger , hazelnut, hemlock cones, mandrake root, marigold, mums, mugwort (to aid in divination), mullein seeds , nettle, passionflower, pine needles, pumpkin seeds, rosemary (for remembrance of our ancestors), rue, sage, sunflower petals and seeds, tarragon, wild ginseng, wormwood

Animals:

Stag, cat, bat, owl, jackal, elephant, ram, scorpion, heron, crow, robin

Mythical Beings:

Pooka, goblin,medusa, beansidhe, harpies

Essence:

Magick, plenty; knowledge, the night, death & rebirth, success, protection; rest, new beginning; ancestors; lifting of the veil, mundane laws in abeyance, return, change

Dynamics/Meaning:

Death & transformation, Wiccan new year,wisdom of the Crone, end of summer, honoring, thinning of the veil between worlds, death of the year, time outside of time, night of the Wild Hunt, begin new projects, end old projects

Work:

Sex magick, release of bad habits, banishing, fairy magick, divination of any kind, candle magick, astral projection, past life work, dark moon mysteries, mirror spells (reflection), casting protection , inner work, propitiation, clearing obstacles, uncrossing, inspiration, workings of transition or culmination, manifesting transformation,creative visualization, contacting those who have departed this plane

Purpose:

Honoring the dead, especially departed ancestors, knowing we will not be forgotten; clear knowledge of our path; guidance, protection, celebrating reincarnation

Rituals/Magicks:

Foreseeing future, honoring/consulting ancestors, releasing the old, power, understanding death and rebirth, entering the underworld, divination, dance of the dead, fire calling, past life recall

Customs:

Ancestor altar, costumes, divination, carving jack-o-lanterns, spirit plate, the Feast of the Dead, feasting, paying debts, fairs, drying winter herbs, masks, bonfires, apple games, tricks, washing clothes

Element:

Water

Gender:

Male

Threshold:

Midnight

Tags: holiday, sabbat, samhain

• This Month

Administrator April, 2009

Samhain: Shadowfest (Strega), Martinmas (Celtic/Scottish)

Samhain, popularly known as Halloween, is the Witches’ New Year.

This is the last of the three harvest Sabbats marking the end of the growing seasons.

Celtic custom decreed that all crops must be gathered by sundown on April 31st.

It is a time when the veil between the living and the dead is at its thinnest.

Deceased ancestors and other friendly spirits are invited to join in Sabbat festivities and be reunited with loved ones.

In Ireland it is still custom to leave candles in the windows and plates of food for the visiting spirits.

Keep a fire lit or a candle burning all night to honour and welcome the dead.

If clothes are left outside overnight, they will take on bewitching powers for all who wear them.

Darkness increases and the Goddess reigns as the Crone, part of the three-in-one that also includes the Maiden and Mother.

The God, the Dark Lord, passes into the underworld to become the seed of his own rebirth (which will occur again at Yule).

Many Pagans prepare a Feast for the Dead on Samhain night, where they leave offerings of food and drink for the spirits.

Divination

• Oracles and Omens

is heightened this night.

Jack-o-lanterns, gourds, cider, fall foliage can be used as altar decorations.

Samhain (pronounced SOW-in, SAH-vin, or SAM-hayne) is one of the Greater Wiccan Sabbats and is generally celebrated on October 31st, although some Traditions prefer the date of November 1st. The various names for this Sabbat are Samhain (Celtic), Shadowfest (Strega), Martinmas or Old Hallowmas (Scottish/Celtic), as well as Hallowe’en, Hallowmas, All Hallow’s Eve, Halloween, Day of the Dead, Feast of Spirits, Third Harvest, Samonios, All Saint’s Eve, Celtic New Year, Samhuinn, Celtic Winter, Samana, Festival of Pamona, Vigil of Saman, Vigil of Todos, and Santos. Though this Holiday is celebrated on October 31st, All Hallows Eve falls on November 7th, and Martinmas on November 11th. (Images to the left and below are by Anthony Meadows and from Llewellyn’s 1998 and 1999 Witches’ Calendars. Click on either image to go directly to Llewellyn’s Web Site.)

The symbolism of this Sabbat is that of The Third (and final) Harvest, it marks the end of Summer, the beginning of Winter. It is a time marked by death when the Dead are honored – a time to celebrate and "study" the Dark Mysteries. "Samhain" means "End of Summer". Its historical origin is The Feast of the Dead in Celtic lands. It is believed that on this night, the veil Between the Worlds is at its thinnest point, making this an excellent time to communicate with the Other Side.

Symbols for representing this Sabbat may include Jack-O-Lanterns, Balefires, Masks, The Besom (Magickal Broom), The Cauldron, and the Waning Moon. Altar decorations might include small jack-o-lanterns, foods from the harvest, and photographs of your loved ones who have departed from this world.

Appropriate Deities for Samhain include ALL Crone Goddesses, and the Dying God or the "Dead" God. Samhain Goddesses include Hecate, Hel, Inanna, Macha, Mari, Psyche, Ishtar, Lilith, The Morrigu/Morrigan, Rhiannon, and Cerridwen. Key actions to keep in mind during this time in the Wheel of the Year include return, change, reflection, endings and beginnings, and honoring the Dead. Other meanings behind this Sabbat celebration include the Wisdom of the Crone, the Death of the God, and the Celebration of Reincarnation.

Samhain is considered by many Pagans, Wiccans, and Witches (especially those of Celtic heritage) to be the date of the Witches’ New Year, representing one full turn of the Wheel of the Year. This is the time of year for getting rid of weaknesses. A common Ritual practice calls for each Wiccan to write down his/her weaknesses on a piece of paper or parchment and toss it into the Cauldron fire. Other activities might include

Divination

• Oracles and Omens

, Past-Life Recall, Spirit Contact, Meditation, Astral Projection ("Flying"), and the drying of Winter herbs. It is considered "taboo" by some to travel after dark, or to eat grapes or berries.

Spellwork for protection and neutralizing harm are particularly warranted at this time of year, because Samhain is considered to be a good time to boost your confidence and security.

Many Witches use their own personal Besom, or Magickal Broom as a part of their rituals. Some Besoms are structurally different in shape from the flat ones sold today, being round on the end and having a smaller sweeping surface. They can, however, be fashioned flat or however you personally desire. These Magickal Brooms are commonly used for cleansing and purifying Sacred Space, but can be used for many other things… such as using one in place of a Wand, Athame, or finger to project your personal energy when casting your Circle.

Tags: holiday, sabbat, samhain

• This Month

Lynn OBrien November, 2008

Samhain

The clouds gathered overhead, the full moon shone like a beacon on the brisk fall night. Cloaked figures gathered around a circle….a medicine wheel garden. Everyone wore a black cloak…everyone except the High Priestess, she wore a dark green cloak of the softest velveteen. Her features obscured by the drapes of the hood, she raised her arms to the heavens and called out to the Goddess she loved.

The rest of the coven followed suit, raising their arms as if to gently lift down a sacred and treasured object from overhead. Their voices joined the high priestess’s in praise and reverence. Candles flickered and the winds inside the circle calmed to almost nothing, while the weather outside changed none.

The light from the moon shone on the upturned faces of the night flowers, making them shine and glow with an eerie yet beautiful essence. Off in the distance you could hear the faint howl of a coyote….and the hoot of an owl. Animals of the woods gathered just outside of the circle’s reach, lending their own magick to the sacred ceremony taking place.

Just down the main path from the garden stood a small, church-type building. Once a house, it was made into a sanctuary for the coven, with a house off to the side for the high priestess and her pets. She had a producing garden of fruits, vegetables and herbs just outside her backdoor. Known by the coven as not only the high priestess but a healer and shaman, she made her own poultices, salves, lotions, soaps and so forth.

Tonight, on the night of the full moon, was the Samhain ceremony. Typically known to most others as Halloween, this was one of the most sacred of holidays observed by this coven and others around the world. A day to honor those who have passed over the Rainbow Bridge and to make the veil between the two worlds thin, the coven had much to honor and be thankful for.

After the circle ceremony was over, the group gathered at long tables inside the small sanctuary and feasted on dishes prepared by the coven members earlier in the day. Places were set for those who were feasting from a different world, honored and never forgotten.

wafted in from the other room, sometimes some good old fashioned rock and roll, sometimes newer, more modern pagan rock or quieter, calmer instrumental music played. The people were full of food, good memories and magickal energies. Each shared a story about one of the places that they had set at the table, bringing the spirit of that person to live for those in the room.

Children played and those who knew and understand the ways of the coven were able to take part in the ceremony outside earlier. After all was done, the children dressed up in their finest Halloween attire and traipsed off to go plunder the houses nearby for some sweet Halloween treats.

Watching from her lofty perch on the Moon, the Goddess smiled as she took the hand of her consort, the God. Her children were many in number, even if they were not close by to one another. Yet their energies kept them in touch, even if by the merest threads of magick. One day, their children would be great in number, spreading the word of the Goddess and God all over the world, so that everyone may hear and listen to the wisdom of the ages….Harm ye none, do as ye will!! So Mote It Be!!!

Tags: fiction, samhain, story

• Short stories