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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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Ghosts, Poltergeists, and Hauntings, Oh My!
Belief in ghosts, poltergeists, and other entities is not something that is unique to the Pagan religious traditions. Many people – Pagan and otherwise – accept the existence of some sort of spiritual plane, a place where a variety of entities exist beyond the veil. Because this is a discussion topic that is often popular in the Pagan community, particularly around the Samhain season, we’re going to take a brief look at ghosts, poltergeists and other types of hauntings. As with many aspects of the metaphysical world, it’s hard to define exactly what a ghost is. However, there are a number of theories about what ghosts could be. The most popular theory is…
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Sept. 14: Nutting Day
Around the middle of September, the nut season starts. Hazelnuts ripen in the hedges, and they have long been connected to folklore and legends. Hazel is associated to the Celtic tree month of Coll, from August 5 to September 1, and the very word Coll means “the life force inside you.” Hazelnuts are connected to wisdom and protection, and are often found near sacred wells and magical springs. Hazelnuts can be used in workings related to divination and dowsing – tie a ripe one onto a string and use it as a pendulum! In the British Isles, September 14 was the day when children would forage in the woods to…
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Woolly Bear Weather Magic
The woolly bear, sometimes called the woolly worm, is a well-known harbinger of weather to come. If you do any sorts of workings involving weather magic, it’s not a bad idea to keep an eye on these crawly critters, which are typically seen during the end of summer and into late fall. Where I live, they’re starting to pop up already — of course, in my neck of the woods, our seasons are Winter, More Winter, Construction, and Football, so take that with a grain of salt. At any rate, the woolly bear, which is the larval stage of the tiger month, has black on its ends, and a brown…
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Announcing The New Aradia
I’m pleased to announce that one of my invocations has been selected for inclusion in The New Aradia: A Witch’s Handbook to Magical Resistance, available at the end of this month! Editor Laura Tempest Zakroff and the folks at Revelore Press have put together an incredible collection of great material for this anthology. I’m honored to be in some really impressive company, including Christopher Penczak, Ivo Dominguez Jr., Laura Tempest Zakroff, Mat Auryn, Storm Faerywolf, and Byron Ballard, just to name a few. From the publisher: “The New Aradia is a handbook is designed to serve as a collection of ideas to teach, share, inspire, empower, protect, and guide. Within…
