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Happy Samhain!!!


Samhain Lore (October 31st)

Samhain, (pronounced SOW-in, SAH-vin, or SAM-hayne) means "End of Summer", and is the third and final Harvest. The dark winter half of the year commences on this Sabbat.

It is generally celebrated on October 31st, but some traditions prefer November 1st. It is one of the two "spirit-nights" each year, the other being Beltane. It is a magical interval when the mundane laws of time and space are temporarily suspended, and the Thin Veil between the worlds is lifted. Communicating with ancestors and departed loved ones is easy at this time, for they journey through this world on their way to the Summerlands. It is a time to study the Dark Mysteries and honor the Dark Mother and the Dark Father, symbolized by the Crone and her aged Consort.

Originally the "Feast of the Dead" was celebrated in Celtic countries by leaving food offerings on altars and doorsteps for the "wandering dead". Today a lot of practitioners still carry out that tradition. Single candles were lit and left in a window to help guide the spirits of ancestors and loved ones home. Extra chairs were set to the table and around the hearth for the unseen guest. Apples were buried along roadsides and paths for spirits who were lost or had no descendants to provide for them. Turnips were hollowed out and carved to look like protective spirits, for this was a night of magic and chaos. The Wee Folke became very active, pulling pranks on unsuspecting humans. Traveling after dark was was not advised. People dressed in white (like ghosts), wore disguises made of straw, or dressed as the opposite gender in order to fool the Nature spirits.

This was the time that the cattle and other livestock were slaughtered for eating in the ensuing winter months. Any crops still in the field on Samhain were considered taboo, and left as offerings to the Nature spirits. Bonfires were built, (originally called bone-fires, for after feasting, the bones were thrown in the fire as offerings for healthy and plentiful livestock in the New Year) and stones were marked with peoples names. Then they were thrown into the fire, to be retrieved in the morning. The condition of the retrieved stone foretold of that person's fortune in the coming year. Hearth fires were also lit from the village bonfire to ensure unity, and the ashes were spread over the harvested fields to protect and bless the land.

Various other names for this Greater Sabbat are Third Harvest, Samana, Day of the Dead, Old Hallowmas (Scottish/Celtic), Vigil of Saman, Shadowfest (Strega), and Samhuinn. Also known as All Hallow's Eve, (that day actually falls on November 7th), and Martinmas (that is celebrated November 11th), Samhain is now generally considered the Witch's New Year.

Symbolism of Samhain:
Third Harvest, the Dark Mysteries, Rebirth through Death.

Symbols of Samhain:
Gourds, Apples, Black Cats, Jack-O-Lanterns, Besoms.

Herbs of Samhain:
Mugwort, Allspice, Broom, Catnip, Deadly Nightshade, Mandrake, Oak leaves, Sage and Straw.

Foods of Samhain:
Turnips, Apples, Gourds, Nuts, Mulled Wines, Beef, Pork, Poultry.

Incense of Samhain:
Heliotrope, Mint, Nutmeg.

Colors of Samhain:
Black, Orange, White, Silver, Gold.

Stones of Samhain:
All Black Stones, preferably jet or obsidian.

Copyright © 1997-99 Akasha, Herne and The Celtic Connection wicca.com. All rights reserved.

yes, and a happy samhain to you as well.

I am curious, for those of us who don't celebrate this holliday as a secular one, how do you celebrate this day?



I typically use divination techniques to commune with spirits on other planes of existance, most often using the casting of a bone die made from a human phalanx, in this case the first knucklebone of a human middle finger marked with specific sigils and cast to determine the responses of the communicating spirit.

I also tend to sleep more and spend time in meditiation, as occasionally spirits from other worlds that wish to communicate will visit me and do so.

apart from that, I use my waking hours to laugh at the ridiculous traditions of both the church and the secular traditions who seem to always be ripping off and altering pagan traditions

This year we will take it easy as my spouse is still healing from breast reduction surgery.

The last of my gardens bounty that I claim for myself was taken yesterday. There are still some items left in the garden, but they are for the spirits.

I will light a fire and burn some incense.

Right before I fall asleep I will say a prayer to the goddess asking her to keep safe the souls of my friends and family that have departed before me.

Blessed Be
)0(

and I just thought of something.....


isn't it interesting that we spend three hundred sixty four and a quarter days per year telling our children not to accept candy from strangers, then have a whole day dedicated to nothing but panhandling door to door for candy from random people we've never met?

Likewise, Happy Samhain!

I just cooked some kale from our garden, my partner dug it out from under the snow. Quite a delicious Samhain feast.

Z

It's why people take x-rays to their kid's bag these days, and other "extreme" measures. As silly as it seems, it's true and - above all - safe. There are a bunch of sickos out there and, obviously, no one wants to lose a child that ingested razors or poison. My mom, as "radical" as she is, in a cool way, never let us eat cookies given to us. She told us to throw them out. And anything like chocolate, big enough to hide something inside, was always examined. I would complain that she was ruining my candy... but it's better ruined than me dead, I suppose.

Anyway, Halloween is one of my favourite times of the year! There is something so crisp about the air around this time, it is such a strong feeling. A familiar feeling. :)

my dad once ate halloween candy that was tainted with LSD and tripped for like ten hours.....

too bad I've never been that lucky

If a child gets tainted candy or apples, statisticaly speaking it is likely the child was targeted by a close family member.

Strangers poisoning children with tainted candy on halloween is an urban legend, it is family members who do it.

Quote from: cynthialee on October 31, 2011, 08:54:28 PM
If a child gets tainted candy or apples, statisticaly speaking it is likely the child was targeted by a close family member.

Strangers poisoning children with tainted candy on halloween is an urban legend, it is family members who do it.

Yeah, just like murderers and pedos are an urban legend! Oh, wait... >.>

Quote from: The Passage on November 01, 2011, 12:54:47 AM
Yeah, just like murderers and pedos are an urban legend! Oh, wait... >.>

exactly...  there are sick people everywhere

From Wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoned_candy_scare (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoned_candy_scare)

QuoteThe poisoned candy myths are a moral panic in the United States (and Canada) during the 1970s and 1980s regarding the threat that children could be in danger of ingesting razor blades, needles, drugs, or poison introduced to candy by tampering, especially during traditional Halloween trick-or-treating. Apart from one incident—actually an act of premeditated murder by a trick-or-treater's father—there have been no recorded incidents of deliberately poisoned candy during Halloween or any similar occasion.

I don't tend to speak out of my anal cavity...

wikipedia is acurate (citation needed)

seriously?

The article is sound.

just being a smartass.  Don't take it personal

Quick trollish side note,  the word Samhain comes for the Irish/Celtic harvest festival in the Autumn and is also the Irish for November but it is never pronounced Sam-hayne, the mh construction is pronounced as w or v depending on dialect and in some cases word. The only pronunciations I have ever encountered are Sow-in (East and South) and Sow-een (West and North) in general.

Not to pick holes in a fine post but the more you know ;D

Claire xoxo