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Water Magic
I keep different kinds of water on hand, for a variety of magical purposes, and I thought this would be a good time to share some of the types I have handy. First, it’s important to keep in mind that water in general, as an element, has some pretty specific connotations – it’s associated with healing, cleansing, and purification, just for starters. In most traditions, it also corresponds to goddess magic, and to the direction of West when you start looking at the four classical elements and their related directions. All of that said, you can use different types of water for different things. For me, I’m a bit obsessive…
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Halloweenery: Trick or Treat, Y’all
Got Candy?: While many of us Pagans celebrate the holiday called Samhain, for some of us, it’s also the secular event of Halloween. The tradition of trick-or-treating isn’t quite as old as the holiday itself, but it’s certainly been around for a while. Let’s look at how this unique custom evolved. All Soul’s Night: In Britain, people celebrated All Soul’s Day for many years. Poor people went begging, and the middle-class wives handed out special treats known as Soul Cakes. When a beggar was given a Soul Cake, he promised to say a prayer for the dead. This practice was known as going “a-souling”. In Ireland, rather than begging for…
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The Tradition of Nut Crack Night
For modern Pagans today, divination is something for which we have practically unlimited tools. We have Tarot cards, scrying mirrors, runes, and all kinds of other goodies. However, for our ancestors, things weren’t quite so simple. Early divination was often done using only the items at hand — sticks, vegetable peels, cloud formations, etc. Around the end of the harvest season, there wasn’t often much left in the fields. However, nuts were often plentiful. Pecans, chestnuts, filberts and more would have been gathered up in baskets and stored, which made them the perfect medium for late fall divination. This is a similar celebration to Nutting Day, which falls in mid-September.…
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Celebrating the Day of the Dead
Each year in Mexico, and in many Hispanic communities around the United States, people celebrate the Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) between October 31 and November 2. While it may sound a bit macabre, it’s actually a joyful celebration, honoring the memories of those who have died in the past year. Today’s Day of the Dead festivals are a blend of old Aztec tradition merged with modern Catholic beliefs. Author Sheena Morgan says in The Real Halloween that the original, pre-Christian celebration took place in late August, and coincided with the migration of Monarch butterflies. The Aztecs believed that the Monarchs were the souls of the dead,…
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Samhain Ritual to Honor Animals
This ceremony is designed to honor the spirits of the animals — both wild and domestic. Man’s relationship with animals goes back thousands and thousands of years. They have been a source of food and clothing. They have protected us from the things that lurk in the darkness. They have provided comfort and warmth. In some cases, they have even raised and nurtured our discarded children, as in the case of Romulus and Remus. If you have animals in your home — pets or livestock — this is their night. Feed them before you feed the humans in your family. Put some food out for any wild animals that may…
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Halloweenery: Samhain vs the Secular
From the magical mailbag, a reader asks, “I was curious if it was anti-Pagan to celebrate Halloween? I’m sort of worried it might seem disrespectful to go out collecting candy while I’m supposed to be honoring the spirits of my dead ancestors. How do Halloween and Samhain relate if at all to one another?“ This is actually an excellent question – and the short answer is, “You can celebrate Halloween if you want to!” Not only that, you can celebrate Samhain as well. Much like Yule and Christmas, Samhain and Halloween are two different ways of observing the same time of year. Think of Samhain as the spiritual version, and…
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Samhain Ritual for Families with Kids
If you’re raising kids in a Pagan tradition, it can sometimes be hard to find rituals and ceremonies that are both age appropriate and celebrate the aspects of the particular Sabbat. Factor in that small children tend to have a shorter attention span, and the days of standing in a circle for an hour watching someone chant are pretty much out of reach. That said, there are plenty of ways you can celebrate the different Sabbats with your children. This ritual is designed to celebrate Samhain with younger kids. Obviously, if your children are older, or you have younger kids who are very focused and mature, you may not need…
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Samhain Divination
In many agricultural societies, a popular pastime at Samhain was that of divining the name of one’s future lover. Some revealed a face, others an initial or even a full name. These traditional methods were practiced in rural societies for centuries. You can use them today for your own divination. Apple Divination Apples have always been popular tools for foretelling the future. There are a number of traditional methods in folklore for seeing who one’s lover might be. Peel the apple, keeping the peel in one long piece. When the peel comes off, drop it on the floor. The letter it forms is the first initial of your true love’s…
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Halloweenery: The Green Skinned Witch Issue
From the magical mailbag, a reader asks, “I’m not sure if I’m overreacting or not. Every year at Halloween, there are green, ugly, warty witches everywhere and my son keeps asking me to buy one. I don’t want him to think that witches are ugly – after all, his mommy is a witch – but it seems like it’s all over the place at Halloween. On the other hand, I know it’s meant in the spirit of fun and silliness, and I don’t want to make a big deal out of something that’s small. How can I figure out a way to talk to my son about the stereotypes of…
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Introducing Sacred Seasons
Yesterday was my 50th birthday, and I decided to celebrate by making y’all a little gift. For years, when I’ve attended events or put on workshops, people have asked me if I had a book of Pagan prayers available. Up until now, the answer has been no, because frankly, it’s not the sort of thing traditional publishers are generally interested in. There’s really no return on investment on something this small and specific, it’s a limited market, blah blah blah. And yet it’s still something people have requested from me for ages. So, I figured it was high time for me to put together a little book of prayers for…
