Pagans celebrate Halloween as part of the country’s newest religion

By Robert Pigott

BBC News religious affairs correspondent

In a riverside meadow in the Dorset town of Weymouth, a witch is using a broom to sweep a sacred circle in the grass. 


The rest of the coven stand, some in hooded gowns, in a circle around an iron cauldron where a fire is burning.


They've met to celebrate Samhain, pronounced "sah-wen": the turning of the year from light into dark.


Many think of Halloween as a time of ghouls and ghosts, and for some retailers it has become the third most lucrative event of the year.


It is the time of year when some churches remember the souls of the departed.


For the witches of Weymouth it is one of their most important religious festivals, a time when they believe the barriers between the physical and spiritual worlds are at their thinnest.


They invite the spirits of north, south, east and west into the circle, and cut apples to share with the spirits of people who have died.


The leader of the coven, Diane Narraway, bids farewell to the goddess of light, and kneels before the head of a horned ram, holding her hands out as if to a flame.


"I kneel before... the horned god, Lord of Witchdom, as we welcome him back to reign over the dark months," she says.


The coven meets regularly to make spells, using a variety of potions and differently coloured candles in order to achieve particular ends.


Green is for money, pink is for love


They say the spells are exclusively positive, and should be seen more as prayers.


Anouska Ireland, a 35-year-old teaching assistant, is wearing a hooded cloak in pale blue - the colour of good health.


She says: "We sometimes use the cauldron to mix spells... it could be for the purpose of healing, and in harnessing positive intentions for someone who is unwell."


Sarah Sanford, a mother-of-three, uses spells to protect them.


"When my children are going to school I'll do a protection spell for them, so they get through the day all right," she says.......


For the Complete Story Follow This Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11652512

Honouring the Ancestors: Samhain and Beyond

 October 26, 2010 by Galina Krasskova

Samhain by Helene Grasset

There’s a great deal of focus around Samhain on honouring one’s ancestors, and honouring the dead in general. Whether we celebrate Samhain or Winter nights, that’s what this holiday is all about, right? Well, yes….but ideally the celebrations that mark the end of October, should be the culmination of a year spent regularly and consistently interacting with the dead, honouring them, and recognizing their role in the continuing evolution of our spirituality. Honouring and interacting with the ancestors isn’t just a Samhain “thing,” rather it’s an every day “thing,” and one of the fundamental underpinnings of a strong, nourishing, resilient spiritual practice.


Many traditions pay special homage to their ancestors, to those who have come before us, to those who, by their struggles and failures, victories and joys have contributed to the common threads of being we all share. Honouring one’s lineage is the first and one of the most important steps in developing a strong spiritual foundation. It is a place of beginning. We all have ancestors. We can all tap into that connection. Ancestors may include those connected to you by blood, but also those who, while a blood relationship might be lacking, were nevertheless close enough to be kin. These are our teachers, mentors, and friends—our spiritual kin. No one lineage is better than another. Paying homage to one’s ancestors is not, in any way, shape or form an excuse for racism, rather it is a means of honouring the process of one’s spiritual journey, honouring those whose actions and lives helped create our own, shape our own. It means honouring those who shed blood for us, so that we might remember and also learn to craft lives of honour. It is an acknowledgement that we are all connected through the Holy Powers, through the cycle that Hela governs. We honour the continuity of Divine presence throughout the course of our lives. We honour their strength, courage, wisdom, struggles even as we seek to learn from them.

In the Northern Tradition, we have several different types of ancestors. The word “Dis” (plural: disir) refers specifically to the female ancestors of one’s line. These ancestors are very important because they are guardians of one’s luck and one’s wyrd. Luck particularly relies heavily on the female line in passing from one generation to the next. Sometimes the word ‘alf’ (plural: alfar) is used for the male antecedents, but in contemporary Heathenry this is not all that common as it leads to confusion with the denizens of Alfheim, one of the nine holy worlds. So most of us just refer to them as our “male ancestors”…unglamorous but effective! One might also encounter the word “wight,” an anglicized form of the Old Norse ‘vaet’ (plural: vaettir). This is a rather ‘catch-all’ term for nature spirits, elementals, and land spirits. Some use it to imply ancestors, but that is not its most common usage. The Northern Tradition is an animistic one and these beings, somewhat analogous to what Shinto would call ‘kami’ are no less important than one’s ancestors. So we honor not just our dead, but the spirits of the places in which we live, of our home, of the land itself as well.

One does not evolve spiritually in a vacuum. The strength of one’s spiritual House depends on the integrity of one’s lineage. By this, I mean being in right relationship with our ancestors. This is attained by honoring them regularly, rightly, and well. One’s ancestors and the vaettir of our world can assist us in our journey and in our spiritual Work. We can learn much from them but only if we empower them to act with us. A house cannot be built without bricks. Bricks cannot be secured without mortar. Paying homage to one’s ancestors and the spirits of the land is the mortar and clay from which those bricks are formed. We begin in the physical because we are physical beings. Our own physicality, the sense of touch, of sight, sound, smell, and hearing are the primary filters through which we experience our world. The first step in growing strong and whole and heal in this tradition, is honouring those who have struggled to do exactly that before us. This process is helped by the fact that many spirits choose to stay as guides/watchers and protectors.


There are endless ways of making proper offerings. The first step one should take, is the construction of an ancestral altar. This should be a separate altar from anything given to the Gods – a simple shelf will do, dedicated entirely to the ancestors. In my main kindred, we have a communal ancestral altar with offerings from each person. It’s quite a gathering of energies, because we all come from different backgrounds: Celtic, English, Swiss, German, Lithuanian, Cherokee, African, Italian, Polish. We honor our spiritual lineage too. This means that in addition to those actually related to us by blood or adoption, we also consciously honor those people who may have had a tremendous influence on us, who were teachers, mentors, and guides. For example, my mother kept a picture of Wilfred Owen on her ancestral altar, because his war poetry helped her through a very traumatic time in her life. In addition to the shared kindred altar, most of us also have our individual ancestor altars.

For the rest of this article click here: http://www.patheos.com/community/paganportal/2010/10/26/honoring-the-ancestors-samhain-and-beyond/

Preparing for Samhain

Article from A Pagan's Blog

Tuesday October 26, 2010

I've been busy polishing our ritual script for Samhain (pronounced "Sow-win"), which we will celebrate the 30th. I hope every other Pagan reader of this blog will have an opportunity to observe and celebrate this time as well. I think it is one of our two most important Sabbats.


Wicca celebrates and honors the Sacred in all its manifestation throughout life, for it is the Divine as it manifests in the world that serves as our "sacred text." We focus on the meaning within phenomena as symbols of a larger context toward which they point. Life is a cycle, and we see it symbolized throughout the course of a year here in temperate zones. On the equator we would need different symbolism to bring this insight alive, a sign that variety is itself Sacred. Along with the Sacredness of variety, I believe our world's other most fundamental teaching about the Sacred is its eternal linkage of life and death. Everything that lives, dies.


Samhain is when we honor death, as six months previously we honored life at Beltane. Then light was rapidly increasing, each day longer than the one before. Now night is becoming dominant, each night longer than the one before.


In NeoPagan and Celtic traditions Samhain is the last day of the year, as sundown is the end of the day and the beginning of the next. For Wiccans such as myself, the time between Samhain and Yule is the time when death is the dimension of Spirit most present at least symbolically.


For the rest of this article click on the following link: http://blog.beliefnet.com/apagansblog/2010/10/preparing-for-samhain.html

Samhain Blot

Our Alter taken by Chris ~ The photographs are my maternal grandparents

I and some friends had a beautiful Heathen blot last Saturday. It had been a while since we'd been all together for a blot due to family things. Nearly all of us had suffered a death in the family, some closer to us that other. Originally it was going to be our usual Penda Blot but because of our-loses and that we'd not been together for a while we decided to focus mostly on Samhain.

We are only a small group, but we are very good friends who enjoys one another’s company and so we're not just a bunch of pagans but a circle of friends. Paul had added a segment about friendship and an oath of friendship. All this signified by both words and a special ring he had made that we all hold. We said the oath together and then individually made a toast to our circle of friends drinking mead from the horn.



Chopping board decorated by Chris and on the left the pictures of my grandparents



We always have a rune that is appropriate to the blot and we chant it to add power to the circle and to aid this myself and Chris rhythmically hit our drums starting slow and steadily increasing the speed of the chant. It can be a very emotional and powerful moment when we do this.

We also bring something written to share with one another. We go round reading what we have fetched. It can be a song, poem or what ever we feel is appropriate for the blot.

This was one of the best blots so far and most definitely the most emotional. And made all the more special because of the people I share the circle with!

Pumpkin Carving Link!

I did add a page on Pumpkin Carving. So follow the link to find it again!!!


Pumpkin Carving Template Downloads PDFs

A Solitary Samhain

Note from Pagan Hare ~ Just to say that this is not my own ritual as I tend to be rather free when I do mine!

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Many covens and circles celebrate this most sacred of pagan holidays as groups, often opening their circles to non-initiates and others who wish to participate. I find myself preferring a solitary ritual, perhaps with some socializing earlier or later in the evening. For me, much of the meaning of Samhain suggests such a practice, though traditionally it is a communal celebration.

Samhain is pronounced as sow-in (in Ireland), sow-een (in Wales), and sav-en (in Scotland). It marks the end of the harvest, the end of the year, and the death of the god. Self-reflection becomes not simply a custom, but a necessity. One cannot (or at least should not) allow the Wheel of the Year to turn without some kind of examination of what has occurred. How have I spent the last year? Did I grow or remain stagnant? Did I live according to the values I claim to embrace? These are questions which must be addressed in solitude and solemnity.

 

Just as Samhain ends the old year, it must begin the new, though many witches do not celebrate the New Year until Yule. Reflection should continue during this dark time, but reflection should be accompanied by a growing sense of the changes to be made and the light to be sought. I sometimes make many lists during this time -- lists of what I have accomplished and what I still want to accomplish, things I have neglected and those I have tended, and other similar lists. Samhain symbolizes both the past and the future, illuminated by the cycle of the seasons, forever linked as steps on the journey we must all make.
 

The Goddess tells us: "And you who seek to know Me, know that your seeking and yearning will avail you not, unless you know the Mystery: for if that which you seek, you find not within yourself, you will never find it without." We must look inside ourselves for self-knowledge and for the spirit that will sustain us in life's trials. Silence is one of the keys to seeking truth, for we cannot hear the answers in the midst of this noisy world in which we walk every day, nor in the noise of holiday celebrations however joyous.
 

Samhain is also said to be the time when the veil between the living and te dead is thinnest, allowing us some communication with those who have departed. How befitting this is for such a time of endings and beginnings. Reflections on death can be as instructive as the self-examinations just mentioned. When we think of those who have died, it reminds us of time passing by and of things we could have or should have done. These reminders, coupled with our lists of past and future actions, encourages us to take our New Year's resolutions far more seriously. We know our time is limited, and most of us have much to do in our alloted time. Most of us have to make a living somehow, but death reminds us that we had better spend some of that time in pursuit of our other dreams lest they be lost in the struggle merely to survive.
 

Samhain Ritual

The Samhain rituals I follow change a little from year to year. I don't like to have a set of mandatory words or actions that might prevent me from exploring new possibilities in meaning. However, I do include the traditional Samhain rituals of sharing a feast (even if I am alone) and some form of divination. Since it is best that you write/say your own words in performing rituals, I will only include an outline here.
 

Prepare your house or room
Use black and orange candles, pumpkins (carved or not) and other traditional "Halloween" items if you wish (most are actually traditional for Samhain).
Prepare a table for the Feast of the Dead. It should be covered with a black table cloth and set with black dishes (black paper plates will do just fine). Place a chair at the head of the table, drapped in black cloth, to represent the spirit. The spirit's place is set with a plate with a white votive candle on it. Set places for each of the dead that you hope will join you., and place black votive candles on their plates. Plates for the living (in my solitary ritual, just one) are empty, of course, awaiting the feast food to be served. 


Food preparation
My feast is usually very simple: bread, fruit, nuts, and juice or wine. If you've invited living guests, it is common to make the feast potluck. However, since the actual feast will take place in silence, try not to have too many things that would have to be passed or requested.

Light the candles and turn out the lights

Call the quarters (ask the Guardians of the Watchtowers to witness and protect your circle).

Cast a circle (use whatever method you've been taught).


Invite the deities
There are certain Goddesses that I always invite to my rituals. It seems especially important to invite them on Samhain, as I will want to thank them for their help during the past year, and of course, ask that they continue to help me in the coming year. If the departed loved ones were especially close to any deities, I invite them as well.
 
Feast of the Dead
Light the candles on the plates of the dead and the spirit. The feast should take place in silence so that you can think about your departed friends and relatives. Think of their passing and your hopes for their joyous return. If someone is recently departed, try to put aside your sadness and think of that soul as well and happy in the presence of the Goddess.

Speak in silence an invitation to these loved ones, asking them to join in your feast. Use your own words for this. You know these individuals and can speak to them in a way to which they are likely to respond.

Sit at your table and eat the food you have brought to it. Feel the presence of those who have joined you and rejoice in their presence. Allow them to speak to you of whatever they want to communicate. Take as long as you wish at the table, listening to those you have invited and speaking to them in silence.


When the feast is over, thank your spirit guests for coming, bid them farewell, extinguish the candles on the plates, and leave the table.
 

Banishings and Resolutions
Now is the time to bring out one of those lists! Before Samhain, write a list of things from the last year that you want to banish: bad habits and addictions, unkind feelings toward others, unkind feelings toward yourself .... anything you do not want to carry over to the New Year. Light a black candle and burn the list, asking the Goddess and God to help you get rid of these and all negative things in your life. If you prefer, you can put about 1/4 cup of alcohol in a cauldron, light it, and burn the paper there. Speak to the deities (you can speak aloud now) about your sincere wish to remove these things from your life. Use a banishing chant, if you wish.

Now you should speak to the deities about those things you want to bring into your life in the New Year. I do these things rather informally, but there are many poems and prose pieces in books that you might want to use. Asking the deities for future rewards must be accompanied by resolutions as to how you will accomplish your goals. They will help you if you are sincere in your efforts to help yourself.
    Divination
Because the two worlds are so close at Samhain, it is the perfect time for divination. I prefer to use a cauldron of water for scrying, since the cauldron seems to fit the mood of Samhain (not to mention Halloween tradition). You may prefer Tarot cards, a pendalum, or runes....whatever method works best for you. Obviously, the goal of this divination is to see what lies ahead in the next year.
 

Meditation
All of my rituals include some form of meditation. This is when I ask my personal Goddesses to guide me, advise me, and generally keep me on the right path. I also use this time to thank them in a more personal way than by reciting a poem of thanksgiving. At Samhain, I thank them for all their gifts in the last year and ask them to continue helping me in the New Year.

Sometimes this part of the ritual takes the form of a shamanic journey in which I am taken to a far away place (sometimes familiar, sometimes not) and where I may be given signs that will help me know what I should do (either in general or in specific situations). Take as long with your meditation as you need.
    Thank the Deities
Give thanks to the deities you have invited by offering them food. I usually say something like "all things come from the Earth and to the Earth they must return." Whatever food and drink I offer (usually bread and wine), I eat a little and save the rest to place or pour on the Earth later.


Open the circle

Thank and dismiss the Guardians

Blessed Be!

A Collection of Samhain Poetry

I dedicate this page to my family who have passed and to my  Ancestors; ancestors of the land, of blood, and of spirit. 

~*~*~*~

(poem by: Elspeth Sapphire) 

It is the time of burning leaves,
The crispness of the air has awakened
Memories both dark and hidden,
Memories of past feasts partaken.

I sit comfortly in this silent room
Computer keyboard beneath my fingers
Yet...my mind is never frozen here
In times past it wants to linger.

I 'see' a bonfire raging on a hilltop
With my people all gathered around
Our prayers to the Gods I shout,
Yet, in my dreams I hear not a sound.

The drums beat, the people dance
Wildness fills the autumn night.

The Other Side is so very close--
The Veil just beyond the fire light.

I reach, I feel, I almost touch...
Spirit fingers entwine with mortal
Then dawn's first light appears
And seals again the fragile portal.

I turn away from the cold ashes
Let the wildness leave my aching soul.

Another year til another Samhain...
On that night again I'll be whole.

~*~*~*~

SAMHAIN

(poem by: Annie Finch)

In the season leaves should love,
since it gives them leave to move
through the wind, towards the ground
they were watching while they hung,
legend says there is a seam
stitching darkness like a name.

Now when dying grasses veil
earth from the sky in one last pale
wave, as autumn dies to bring
winter back, and then the spring,
we who die ourselves can peel
back another kind of veil
that hangs among us like thick smoke.

Tonight at last I feel it shake.

I feel the nights stretching away
thousands long behind the days,
till they reach the darkness where
all of me is ancestor.

I turn my hand and feel a touch
move with me, and when I brush
my young mind across another,
I have met my mother's mother.

Sure as footsteps in my waiting
self, I find her, and she brings
arms having answers for me,
intimate, a waiting bounty.

"Carry me." She leaves this trail
through a shudder of the veil,
and leaves, like amber where she stays,
a gift for her perpetual gaze.

~*~*~*~

THE DRUMS OF SAMHAIN

 

(poem by: Chanticleer )

The drums of Samhain keeping time.
The gates of magic open wide.

A cauldron's blessings overflow.

The candle flames are dying low.

The witches dance the circle 'round
to chant and bring the power down.

Hecate will hear our call
to turn the summer into fall.

The magic veil is growing thin.

The Netherworld is near our own.

We'll see the sacred fire fed
while witches commune with the dead.

The winds of Autumn call our names.

The driving rhythm slowly calms.

The glowing embers we will tend
until the drums of Samhain end.

~*~*~*~

 

(poem by: unknown)

If the drums had continued beating
And warriors dwelled upon the land
We would dance to a different drummer
As the Great Creator had planned
Smoking campfires would dot the landscape
Music would fill the air
Families would eagerly embrace a lifetime
In freedom and in the willingness to share
The animals would wander freely
Amongst grass and trees and flowers
And all the beauty of the wilderness
Would to this day, still be ours
There would be no paths of concrete
Just dirt beneath our feet
The stars, the moon and sunlight
Would make this dream complete
Our pillow would contain moonlight
Our blanket would consist of stars
The dawn would bring sweet music
Imagine, all this once was ours
Pride was taken in the glory of nature
Courage from facing the elements
If we hadn't tried to change the past
We'd never wonder where the beauty went
If the drums had continued beating
And warriors still possessed the land
There would be a forever brotherhood
Where we would evermore walk, hand in hand

 

Samhain

Samhain is now almost upon us and as I have neglected my pagan blogger due to family things I thought this maybe a good opportunity to get back into the swing of things. I have also changed my name here to what I am best know as which is Pagan Hare.


Samhain is a special time to all pagans as it is a time when we remember loved ones who have passed and our ancestors. It is a time when the vale between the two worlds is meant to be at it's thinnest and so the spirits can pass through easily. So do please enjoy the following post.


Bennachd


Pagan Hare (formerly Reki)

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Samhain Eve Law
Also known as: November Eve, Feast of the Dead, Feast of Apples, Hallows
and All Hallows Eve.

 October 31

Possibly the biggest festival of the Witches’ year, Samhain is a time to remember those who have passed on, celebrate the Summers end, and prepare for Winter months ahead. The Sun God and earth fall into slumber, as the nights lengthen, and winter begins.

The last day of October marked the end of the Celtic Old Year and the beginning of the New. This time was considered by the Celts and many Craft traditions to be a “crack between the worlds.” As time passed between one year and another, it belonged to neither, standing beyond the confines of normal reality. It was believed to be the one night when the veil that separated our world from the next was at its thinnest, allowing the dead to return to the world of the living, where their spirit and memory would be welcomed and celebrated by a feast attended by their kin.

The Feast of The Dead, or Festival of The Dead, was a festival of remembrance, honouring those who had left this world. On this night, the deceased were believed to make their way back from the grave to revisit their old homes. In many areas, on the eve of Samhain, people would leave their houses lit throughout the night to help the dead find their way along the dark path from the tomb. And once these travelers arrived, they were welcomed and refreshed with food and drink. Many prepared a feast, and set a plate at the table to for their dead relatives. On the eve of November 1, or on the morning of the following day, the custom in parts of Europe was to bake “soul cakes” or “soul bread” for those returning souls. In Wales, special food was prepared and left outside, and before everyone went to bed, the hearth was carefully prepared for the arrival of the dead relatives. Tradition also teaches that the aid of spirits and guides from the other world was easily enlisted at this time, so in the increasing moonlight of longer nights, many used this time to hone their psychic and divinatory skills, especially with regard to love and marriage.

The Christian religion has adopted this day as All Saints Day, or All Hallows Day, celebrating the eve as All Hallows Eve, or Halloween. The superstition and misconception linked to this celebration by the early church, led people to take some unusual precautions to protect themselves. They adopted the tradition of dressing in frightening costumes or disguises, and displaying scary looking Jack-O-Lanterns to help protect them from spirits they considered to be evil. In the British Isles, the young people would disguise themselves with hideous masks and walk through the village, lighting their way with lanterns made from carved turnips.

However you choose to celebrate Samhain, be adventurous and investigate some of the older traditions... There is a large amount of interesting and sometimes comical lore surrounding this date. It's O.K. to dress up as Witches' or Goblins and have fun with the more nonsense aspects of this holiday. However, it’s good to set aside some time to learn the true meaning behind this date and follow those observances as our ancestors did.

The alternative date of November 6th ('Martinmas ' or 'Old Hallows ') is sometimes employed by Covens.

Traditional Foods:
Apples, Pears, Pomegranates, All Grains, Pumpkin-pie, Hazelnuts, Cakes for the dead, Corn, Cranberry muffins and breads, Ale, Cider, Herbal teas (especially Mugwort) and Meat unless vegetarian and then tofu will do.

Herbs:
Calendula, Cosmos, Chrysanthemum, Wormwood, Hazel, Thistle.

Incense:
Mint, Heliotrope, Nutmeg, Sage or Floral's.

Woods and Herbs Burned:
Apple, Heliotrope, Mint, Nutmeg, Sage.

Sacred Gemstone:
Aquamarine.

For further information on rites and rituals to celebrate this holiday, see the following books:

A guide for the solitary practitioner by Scott Cunningham.
Everyday Wicca by Gerina Dunwich.
To Ride A Silver Broomstick by Silver Ravenwolf.
Celtic Magic by D.J. Conway

However you choose to celebrate Samhain, be adventurous and investigate some of the older traditions. There is a large amount of interesting and sometimes comical lore surrounding this date. As an aside, it's O.K. to dress up as Witches', Goblins and have fun with the more nonsense aspects of this holiday. It is good however to set aside some time to learn the true meaning behind this date and follow those observances as our ancestors did.

Blessed Be!

http://www.wicca.com/celtic/akasha/samhain.htm