Hallows Everyday 20

 "Season of the Crone"

Crone of Samhain's spellbound cold,

in Her cauldron of black are told

secrets ancient, truths and tales:

mystery Her light unveils.

She is wisdom, She is changes:

time and space She rearranges.

In Her hands, the card of Death,

for transformation is Her breath.

Crone of Samhain, Grandmother wise,

look into Her gargoyle eyes.

Let Her lessons teach you well:

life is but a magick spell.

- Ferina Dunwich -

Hallows Everyday 19

 Remember Witch, Remember

Take your feathers, leaves, and bones.
Add to them your roots, your stones.
Mix them in your cauldron's womb.
Dance for rain and add that, too.
Your time is now, each heartbeat rings:
Remember Witch, Remember.

You know the way, you know the song.
You've walked this path 

your whole life long.
Drumbeat sounding, heartbeat pounding
The One's before you, love resounding.
With every turn of season, moon
With every deosil swirl of spoon
You chant the words, you hum the tune:
Remember Witch, Remember. 

The stars are out, your feet are bare.
Your arms are raised into the air.
No one told you what to do.
You knew the way, the Way knows you.
So let it go. Release it down.
Heart and blood and bones to ground:
Remember Witch, Remember. 

—¤ Brandi Woolf 2017 

Hallows Everyday 18

 

Prayer and Offering for the Dead One of the most poignant and powerful things you can ever do is offer a prayer for the dead. This can be done at any time during the year. Between Hallows and the Winter Solstice is an especially powerful time for these offerings as well as the time of year when your loved one passed. What you need:  1 White votive candle.  Offering of your choice Picture of your loved one What you do: Light a white votive candle. Lay your offering on your ancestral altar, or next to a picture of your special loved one.  Hold your hands together in the prayer position. Say: From the dawn of your birth To the sunset of your death I honor you. From the mission you completed To your duties left undone I honor you From the seasons of your being Through the cycle of your life I honor you From your time beyond the veil Till your earth entrance back again May the Spirits support you May the Goddess surround you May my healing love reach you From this moment until the end of time. So mote it be. (author unknown) Place the offering (with the exception of incense) outside, on the ground or bury in the ground.

Hallows Everyday 17

 Samhain

October 31^st
“The Witches’ New Year”

Correspondences

Colors: Black, Orange, Red, Brown, yellow
Stones: Obsidian, Bloodstone, Onyx, Jet
Herbs, Plants & Spices: Bay, Cinnamon, Cloves, Ginger, Pumpkin, Sunflowers, Rosemary, Mugwort, Myrrh, Sage

Ritual

Sit skyclad or loosely clothed.
Light a white, black, orange or red candle and place so the reflection appears in a mirror or bowl of water. Meditate on the image, reflecting on and connecting with those who have passed on.
Take a bite of bread and a sip of wine or cider, alternating until gone. Blow out the candle.
Blessed Be.

Spells

TO REMEMBER A PAST LIFE

Set a white candle next to a mirror so the light from it can hit your face but you will not see the candle in the mirror. Turn off the lights and sit in front of the mirror.
Look into your eyes and say the words:
“Oracle of lunar light, Send me the second sight”
Repeat and concentrate until your reflection becomes that of someone else. Try to look at the face, body, clothing and surroundings to understand more about your past life.

Hallows Everyday 16

Song of the Samhain Goddess

 

Deep night in the forest,

Deep night on the hill.

The Old Wise One opens her cloak -

Inside, bitter smoke coils like a snake.

Heaped at her feet, orange pumpkins grin.

The bones of her hand shine through the skin.

 

Breath of Mystery rides the wind:

Honor me.

Breath of death cold on the back of your neck:

Honor me.

Breath of magic whirls around you:

Honor me.

Breath of endings and beginnings, always new.

Honor me now.

 

~Cait Johnson~

From Witch in the Kitchen

Magical Cooking for All Seasons 

Hallows Everyday 15

 Dear Ancestor 

Your tombstone stands among the rest; 
neglected and alone 
The name and date are chiseled out 
on polished, marbled stone 
It reaches out to all who care 
It is too late to mourn 
You did not know that I’d exist 
You died and I was born. 
Yet each of us are cells of you 
in flesh, in blood, in bone. 
Our blood contracts and beats a pulse 
entirely not our own. 
Dear Ancestor, the place you filled 
one hundred years ago 
Spreads out among the ones you left 
who would have loved you so. 
I wonder if you lived and loved, 
I wonder if you knew 
That someday I would find this spot, 
and come to visit you.

- unknown author-

Hallows Everyday 14

 

Victorian Halloween Games

Face in the Mirror 

For the Victorians, the most popular Halloween games involved predicting one's romantic future.

If you were a young lady and wanted to see your future husband, you would have stood in a darkened room with a candle and a mirror and by the 12:00 midnight, you would hope your future husband's face would appear in the mirror.

Nuts and Beans 

This is another romantic game during Victorian Halloween time.

Because Samhain is a harvest festival, the fruits of the harvest also played a large role in celebrations which are nuts, beans and apples and have been used to forecast the future.

Potential couples tossed nuts into the fire to see if they cracked and exploded for a tempestuous relationship, or if they burned together slowly for long-lasting companionship.

Couples also tossed a pair of hot beans into a pot of water--if they both sank the couple could hope for a happy future, if they both floated the couple could expect troubled waters, and if one sank and one didn't, they could expect not to marry at all.

Hallows Everyday 13

Scarecrow Samhain Blessing 

Left then right into a corn maze

As the sun flickers on October;

Laughter transforms to screaming

As we spot a scarecrow,

A pipe smoking but it’s not lit;

Trick me, treat me he says

By all means creep me.

Welcome, this field is not as it seems,

Flashlights on or the spirits will see.

Blessed be, blessed Samhain.

- Melani Udaeta -

Hallows Everyday 12

 

Samhain Night

And the campfires burn

And the moon bleeds red

And the trees are hushed

And the ground is spread

With the feast of the dead.

It is Samhain night.

The elder’s eyes shine bright

And she calls to the quarters

And the Lord and the Goddess

And the moon so pale

To pull aside the veil 

It is Samhain night.

Inviting forth our dearly departed

Arms wide and open-hearted 

To feed our soul

The wisdom our loved ones

Wish to disclose 

It is Samhain night.

It is the day of the dead

A cause for celebration 

The fire and the drums

Are a potent combination 

For an ancestral invocation 

It is Samhain night.

And the campfires roar

And the moonlight pours

Making trees cast shadows 

On the feast below

And they join hand-in-hand

With unearthly spirits 

Empty eyes aglow

It is Samhain night.

That the dead and the living

Roam the same earthly plane

And the Wheel of the Year

Groans and turns again.

-Silvana Franco -