Hallows Everyday 9

 I found this on the Facebook group Pagan Ways. I shall also begin a tradition of posting it every year and light a candle in remembrance.

Each year they parade her about, the traditional Halloween witch. Misshapen green face, stringy scraps of hair, a toothless mouth beneath her disfigured nose. Gnarled knobby fingers twisted into a claw protracting form. A bent and twisted torso that lurches about on wobbly legs.

Most think this is abject image to be the creation of a prejudiced mind or merely a Halloween caricature. I disagree, I believe this to be how witches were really seen.

Consider that most witches were women, were abducted in the night and smuggled into dungeons or prisons under secrecy of darkness and presented by the light of day as a confessed witch.

Few, if any saw a frightened normal looking woman being dragged into a secret room filled with instruments of torture, to be questioned until she confessed to anything that was suggested to her, and to give names or say whatever would stop the questions.

Crowds saw the aberration denounced to the world as a self-proclaimed witch. As the witch was paraded through the town, enroute to be burned, hanged, drowned, stoned, or disposed of in various, horrible ways, all created to free and save her soul from her depraved body.

The jeering crowds viewed the result of hours of torture. The face, bruised and broken by countless blows, bore a hue of sickly green. The once warm and loving smile gone, replaced by a grimace of broken teeth, and torn gums that leer beneath a battered disfigured nose.

The dishevelled hair conceals bleeding gaps of torn scalp from whence cruel hands had torn away the lovely tresses. Broken, twisted hands clutched the wagon for support. Fractured fingers locked like cropping claws to steady her broken body.

All semblance of humanity gone. This was truly a demon, a bride of Satan, a witch.

I revere this Halloween Witch and hold her sacred. I honour her courage and listen to her warnings of the dark side of humanity.

Each year I shed tears of respect.

Author unknown

Hallows Everyday 8

 

The ghosts swarm.

They speak as one

person. Each

loves you. Each

has left something

undone...

From "Unbidden" by Rae Armantrout

Hallows Everyday 7

  Between the heavens 

and the earth

The way now opens 

to bring forth

The Hosts of those 

who went on before;

Hail!  We see them now 

come through 

the Open Door.

Now the veils of worlds are thin; 

To move out you must move in.

Let the Balefires now be made, 

Mine the spark within them laid.

Move beyond the fiery screen, 

Between the seen 

and the unseen;

Shed your anger and your fear, 

Live anew in a new year!

Lore of the Door

Hallows Everyday 6

Although I honor my Ancestors daily and feel them with me, at this time of year the feeling is so much stronger. Nothing gets by them and I better be doing my work. They will get after me!

I like to choose a colored candle, a little beer, and make at least one family recipe per week in their honor. I light the candle, have a sip or two of the beer, and just sit and remember… the good memories… holidays, barbecues in the back yard, I just let those memories come to me. And it is good, this remembering.

However you choose to celebrate Hallows/Samhain, spend some time with them, those you loved most. And remember, not all Ancestors are of our blood. Many special people are part of this remembering. 

In remembrance!

Hallows Everyday 5

 

Samhain Tarot Spread

A little spread to assist with looking through the veil and understanding our journey. I do like to pull a daily oracle card, but this spread gives a bit more insight for a weekly read.

Hallows Everyday 4

 THE NIGHT OF HALLOWEEN

 The Harvest moon fills the sky 

A wicked witch goes flying by

                 Ghosts and goblins.skeleton's too. 

              Moaning and groaning, waiting for you 

                 Black cats prowl the graveyard plots 

                    Witches cook in cauldron pots 

                 Cemetery ghouls roam the ground 

                  Not one unopened grave is found 

                     Tombstones are an eerie sight 

                 Shadows dance in full moon light 

                    The haunted house on the hill 

                  Walk in there and you get a chill 

                     Jack-o-lanterns eyes so bright 

                  Trick or Treaters scream in fright 

                  It's a time like you've never seen

                  Tonight's the night of Halloween.

                              Unknown author

 

Hallows Everyday 3

 October’s Hunter Moon

What is the Hunter’s Moon?

The name Hunter’s Moon could have derived from the term “Hunting Moon” which was the term used by both the Mahican and Tunica peoples; this name is applied to whichever moon falls after the Harvest Moon, sometimes in October, and sometimes in November. The significance of the Hunter’s moon is that this time of the year signalled the end of the harvest season, and the beginning of relying on hunting to bring in fresh food until the next Spring.

Other Names for the Hunter’s Moon

Falling Leaves Moon – Ojibwe

Someone Stores Food Moon – Oneida

Kindly Moon – Chinese

Harvest Moon – Celtic, Cherokee

Blood Moon – Old English

Blackberry Moon – Choctaw

Moon when Quilling and Beading is Done – Dakotah Sioux

Hunter’s Moon Magickal Workings

This moon is usually the closest to the Sabbat Samhain, and therefore shares many of the same magickal connections & correspondences. Harvest season is ending or has ended, the Wheel is turning into the darkness of Winter and our days grow short as our nights grow long. The veil is thin, so communicating with other worldly beings is easier during this times.

Shadow Work

Self Reflection

Darkness

Ancestor Work

Gratitude/Appreciation

Working with Sprits

Divination

Psychic Messages

Dreamwork

Balance

Transitions/Change

Diety Work (particularly with Psychopomps, or ferriers/guides of the dead)

Hunter’s Moon Correspondences

Colors: Red, Purple, Black, Orange, Silver, Dark Blue, Gold

Crystals: Amethyst, Beryl, Black Touramline, Bloodstone, Carnelian, Moonstone, Obsidian, Opal, Quartz, Turquoise

Deities: Hekate, Hel, Persephone, Modron, Sid, Demeter, Morrigan, Xarpo,

Herbs: Calendula, Marigold, Angelica, Burdock, Pennyroyal, Thyme, Catnip

Fruits: Pumpkin, apple, pomegranate, pear, gourds, squash

Trees: Apple, Yew

Element: Air

Hallows Everyday 2

 This is the time of pumpkins, apples, cinnamon, cloves. So many good things that can be full of magick if you enchant the various dishes when cooking.

Pumpkin: a symbol of gratitude, big time abundance and prosperity - long term at that. Fertility, thanks again to all those seeds, whether fertility regarding children or fertility of ideas, creativity, anything you want to birth. Pumpkins are also protective. The dried fruit, seeds, and vines can be used in various spells to protect and ward. Decorating for Halloween by carving one makes a fine protective charm to keep at one’s door. Do remember NOT to wash the pumpkins with bleach or any other hazardous agent. After the pumpkin has given its best, place in the woods, bushes, anywhere animals might roam. A plentiful feast for our wild beastie companions.

Cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, allspice: these spices are powerful indeed. Fiery power for abundance, love, and protection are their main attributes. They also enhance mood, uplifting and energizing us. They are good for healing and also love spells.

Apples: the fruit of love, many goddesses, getting rid of bad habits, and protection.

It isn’t surprising that all these ingredients are used together! So when baking you holiday pies or creating a simmer pot to beautifully scent your home, intention, intention, intention!

Hallows Everyday

 Welcome October! Lovely October is here! And so begins again after a few years rest, my Hallows Everyday

Follow the crow and find the trail

of breadcrumbs, feathers, leaves and stones

to lead you from the summer lands into the autumn and unknown, yes go. 

- Terry Windling