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Art & Academia for October 2025
Here are a few of the art and academia pieces I was captivated by this past October. I tried to keep themes spooky and or witchy for Samhain/ Halloween! Science Nobel Prize for Chemistry 2025: Hermione’s Enchanted Handbag Some of you may have heard the Nobel Prize laureates in Chemistry, announced on October 8th, 2025, work was likened to Hermione’s enchanted handbag. The reality might not be quite as fantastical as the enchanted bag from the Harry Potter series, but it’s still pretty freaking cool. This year’s Nobel Prize went to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson, and Omar Yaghi for their pioneering work on metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). MOFs are crystalline networks built by linking metal atoms with…
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Bloody Pawprints
The storm left streets wet and humming with leftover electricity. Down Booker Street, in the alley behind Dalrymple’s, where small bags changed hands under watchful eyes of neon, and blows were exchanged, a dark shape hunched by a dumpster. Gehenna’s fever dream palette—LED security lights mixed with bar signs, and the otherworldly glow that shrouded the city at night—traced a soft outline over the body. Black liquid that would be red in daylight oozed from the knife wound in its throat. Once again, the shape writhed. Something black and deformed tore at the air, its panicked wails might’ve been pitiful to the right ear. The thing lowered itself to the…
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Messages of the Mums: Reflections on Grief, Samhain, and Honoring the Departed
Hello friends, I hope you’re all doing well and staying warm during these last few days of spooky season. It’s cold where I live, as November’s soggy and cold climate approaches. I originally had an entirely different idea for a Samhain/Halloween piece, but life has a way of showing you what’s most important, and what you should share. I unexpectedly lost my oldest cat, Maxwell, who was only 5 years old, two and a half weeks ago, and my home and family has been reeling from that since. He was the heart and center of our family and household. Life has been difficult without him, to say the least. Grief…
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The Modern Merlin’s Corner: Samhain 2024 Special Edition
Welcome to a day filled with frights, ghosts, spirits and spooky vibes. This is Halloween. This is Samhain. A sacred day of honoring our dead, our ancestors, and helping the dead with unfinished business move on. This is a time to celebrate the cycle of life, death and rebirth. It’s a time to cast witcheries; protective and baneful; beneficent and malevolent alike. Let your inner Witch out, because it’s our season! The Dead Roam Among Us As I write this, an eerie, cool, yet warm, wind blows, making leaves fall all around. It’s the breath of the spirits coming to visit us, whether with good intent or ill. This Samhain…
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Samhain Correspondences
Evening of Tue, Oct 31, 2023 – Wed, Nov 1, 2023 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,…
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Stellar Applications
Current Astrology Using Hermetic Applications Welcome to this issue’s Stellar Applications…. In this issue of PaganPagesOrg we are celebrating Samhain, the season of divination and seeking answers from the ancestors. Traditional Samhain (aka: Halloween) is celebrated on October 31st and Astrological Samhain occurs this year on November 5th. The Astrology of Samhain The energetic astrological imprint of Samhain is one of mystery, intuitive gifts, secrets, passion and more. The solar month of Scorpio holds the space for the parting of the veils and the celebration of Samhain on either date; the more traditional of October 31st or the astrological point that falls on November 5th –…
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Samhain Correspondences
Evening of Tue, Oct 31, 2023 – Wed, Nov 1, 2023 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…
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The Halloweenification of Black Cats
As the proud kitty mama of my own feline void, we are going to discuss the associations that black cats have with witches and more especially, Samhain. Black cats are most often associated with Halloween, Samhain or witchcraft. In most Western cultures, black cats have typically been looked upon as agents of misfortune. In a lot of other cultures, black cats are seen as lucky. Bringers of prosperity and happiness. So just how did cats become so intertwined with witches? A number of Pagan deities hold the cat in high esteem. Bastet tops the list with being pictured as a being with a woman’s body and a black cat’s…
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Samhain Correspondences
(Horned God Harvest Doll/Samhain Poppets/Gothic Cernunnos Corn Husk Dolls created by Courtney Jameson available at CrimsonSageApoth on Etsy.) Samhain 2022 in Northern Hemisphere will begin in the evening of Monday, October 31 and ends in the evening of Tuesday, November 1 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,…
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Peeking in the Shadows: Crafting a Book of Shadows and Light
A Journey Through the Witch’s Wheel of the Year 2022! The Witch’s Wheel of the Year We Continue Our Journey Through the Witch’s Wheel and celebrate Samhain…. This time of the year, more than any other, is steeped in celebration of the occult. Occult in this sense, meaning that which is hidden – although I would add, in plain sight. Spirits, witches, supernatural creatures and being mindful of the convergence of the ancestor’s realm and the living come to life in a tableau that is magickal, mundane and commercial. The penultimate day is October 31st. and the celebration of Halloween, or Samhain as it is commonly known as a…
