THE REAL HALLOWEEN

The "real" Halloween, the true Eve of the Old Year and Dawn of the New, when spirits of the deceased walk the earth again and the veil between the worlds is thinnest, happens when the sun reaches 15 degrees of Scorpio.

This year Samhain (sow-en) Eve is Thursday, November 8th.

Just as a day has both sunrise and sunset, so does the year. The ancient Celts recognised this. As the sun rises with the spirits of a new day-- of Birth and new beginnings, so the day ends with the spirits of death and dying, and of sleep and dreams.

The Druids believed that a new day began when the light of the old one ceased to shine, and so it is with the year. They divided the year into two halves: Samhain and Bealtaine (Be-all-tin-uh). In May, when the sun reaches 15 degrees of Taurus, the spirits of that to be born, of new beginnings, life, and fertility manifest on this plane. So begins the waxing half of the year.

On Samhain, the most sacred and holy night, the waning half of the year begins. It is a night to feast with your ancestors, to speak to the dead, too look ahead through the fallow times, and to give thanks for the harvest of the year. From Samhain to Yule, the winter Solstice, no magick should be performed. Many witches, and I am one of them, bind their magickal tools from Samhain to Yule.

The Druids celebrated the Feast of Samhain for seven days. Three before, the day of, and three after. Monday night, just before sunset, light a candle of Praise to the old year and for all the bounty it brought you. Look even at the negative things in your life and see what hidden gifts they hold. (I.E., Louise Hay points out that bills are a creditors way of showing that they believe you are good for the money. Don't curse your bills, she says, bless them. Believe, with your creditors, that you can pay them.)

Tuesday night, light a candle of Thanks for all that you have been given. (Again, see if even tricksters, thieves, and the just plain annoying haven't brought you gifts as well? Sometimes the things that seem awful at the time turn out to be for the best.) On Wednesday, light a candle of Blessing for the fallow time that lies ahead, that you will not have need during the cold, dark months of winter. Know that you will be given all that you need. Know that blessings are all around you.

Thursday at sunset, gather a protection amulet (a turnip with a carved jack-o-lantern face on it is what I use, put it in plastic bag or tie it up in a bandanna and put it in your pocket) and go out into the night. Take with you any letters or notes to the dead, a list of old grievances and negative habits or patterns that you are ready to release, and some suitable offerings. (Chinese Hell money is good for offerings to your ancestors. Pomegranates and apples are good offerings to leave for a feast, some bread or crackers, and a bit of wine.)

Black, red and white candles are good for Samhain altars ("Red blood/ white bone/ black earth/ harvest home" goes the common Circle chant. Samhain was the time of slaughter of the animals for meat and to thin the herds of sick or weak cattle.) Bring a coffee can to burn the letters and lists. The Druids were "oak-seers" and a grove of oaks is a good place for Samhain rituals.

A solid Circle is good on Samhain, even if you are expert at casting energy. (You can use salt or barley flour.) Cast your Circle, call your Guardians, Praise your Gods, make offerings, and ask for blessings during the waning half of the year. Announce your intentions to release the things you no longer want to hold onto in your life. Let them wither and fade away, just as the leaves die and fall from the trees and become fertilizer for new growth in the Spring.

Call to your spirits and make offerings to them. Speak to them and listen for the answers they give you. Now is a good time to heal old wounds and resolve old issues. Remember, even if you can't hear them, they can hear you. Burn the letters and Hell money. Burn the lists of that which you are releasing.

Pour a little wine on the ground, pour a little into a cup and put it with the offerings to the Guardians, Gods, and other spirits. Drink a little wine yourself and know that you Feast in this world and the next.

With your turnip firmly in hand ("yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, thy rod and thy turnip protect me" ;o) close your Circle and go home, knowing that you are safe from the nasties and malevolent spirits that roam the night.

On Friday at sunset light a candle and mourn the dead. Wail like a Banshee and weep and pull your hair for the loss of them from this plane. Saturday at dusk, light a candle and give a vigil of silence to those that have passed on. On Sanday at twilight, celebrate the lives of those that have passed on. Laugh and sing and clap for them. Dance in circles and be glad for the moments they spent here.

End your ceremony of days by writing a list of the things you want to bring into your life over the next 12 months. Put it away with your magickal tools until Yule.

May you have a Blessed Samhain.

PRAISES, THANKS, & BLESSINGS!!!