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Plan a Cemetery Visit for Samhain
In many cultures, the late fall is a time in which the dead are honored with great ceremony. There are a number of ways you can do this, and if you’re fortunate enough to have your kinfolk buried nearby, you can incorporate a visit at your family’s cemetery into your Samhain festivities. My family isn’t buried anywhere near me, so I’ve sort of adopted the cemetery up the road from me, which is where a previous owner of my house is buried, along with several generations of her family. I walk up there every couple of weeks just to do some maintenance, say hello, and leave small offerings. I also…
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Ain’t No Party Like a Yard Ghost Party
When I moved a couple of years ago, I discovered that while I had about five boxes of Yule decor, I had over two dozen boxes of Halloweenery – it’s my favorite time of year! And this is one of my favorite decorations to put out – every fall, random strangers would stop and take pictures of my front yard, because of all the Halloween nonsense, and this group of ghosts was always a huge hit. Here’s how you can make your own, with about $20 worth of random supplies. For each ghost, you’ll need the following: 1 4-foot length of 2″ PVC pipe, cut with a 45′ angle on…
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Samhain Divination
Y’all, it’s the spooky season, and with 2020 being an absolute dumpster fire of a year, many of us are spending more time at home, and that means more time to work on spiritual growth. For me, although I work on divination all year long, the Samhain season is an especially powerful time of year to work with my guides, my ancestors, and those across the veil. 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…
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Why Trick or Treat? Why the Heck Not?
While many of us Pagans celebrate the holiday called Samhain, for some of us, it’s also the secular event of Halloween. I don’t care what anyone says, eating a full-size Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup is a pretty damn spiritual experience. 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…
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Samhain Rite for 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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Do Some Divination at Samhain!
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: 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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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…
