Magical practices for your All Hallow’s Eve

Listen! The wind is rising,
And the air is wild with leaves,
We have had our summer evenings,
Now for October eves!

~ Humbert Wolfe (1885-1940)

Samhain, or Halloween, is the day we honor our dead. On this day the veils between the worlds of dead and living are sheerest; those who died in the past year and those who are to be reincarnated pass through. The doors of the sidhe-mounds are open, and neither human nor faery need any magical passwords to come and go. Our deceased ancestors are more accessible during the time of the dying of the land, the final harvest of the northern growing season. It is a day to commune with the dead and a celebration of the eternal cycle of reincarnation.

On Samhain, the sun is at its lowest point on the horizon as measured by the ancient standing stones of Britain and Ireland, the reason the Celts chose this sabbat rather than the first of January as their new year. To the ancient Celts, this holiday divided the year into two seasons, Winter and Summer. The Celtic New Year is a time for both beginnings and endings. 

Practices to call upon the magic of the holiday:

• Bury an apple or pomegranate in the garden as food for spirits passing by on their way to being reborn.
• Place offerings of milk and barley outside under the stars to ease restless ghosts’ hunger, prevent their mischief, and to accrue their blessings.
• Drink apple cider spiced with cinnamon to honor the dead.
• Have a mute supper.
• Make a mask of your shadow self.
• Let this be the traditional time that you make candles for the coming year, infusing them with color, power, herbs, and scent depending on the magical purpose.
• Wear costumes that reflect what we hope or wish for in the upcoming year.
• If you (or your story characters) aspire to be a witch give gifts of acorns to other witches. Fruits of the oak, one of the most sacred trees to the ancient Celts, they are symbols of protection, fertility, growth, values, and friendship. 
• Carve a jack-o-lantern. Place a spirit candle in it.
• Do divinations for the next year using tarot, a crystal ball, flame, pendulum, magick mirror, black bowl, runes, Ouija boards, or a black cauldron filled with black ink or water.

A few more complex Samhain rituals:

Ritual for the Dead

1.      In a sacred space or ground, use a candle to burn white sage to appease the spirits of Summer.

2.      Carve the initials of your lost loved one(s) in a black candle.

3.      Add favorite elements of that loved one to your altar, such as flowers, wine, favorite foods, etc. 

4.      Read each name (from Remembrance list).

5.      Gather a cauldron or other fire proof vessel and burn a dried candlewick leaf (mullein)
or bay leaf for each name of honor.

6.      A dried rosemary bundle is burned last to remember them all.

7.      You may then save all the ashes, hardened candle drippings, left over herbs, and add them to a black cloth or bag. This is an amulet and can be worn or saved to honor those remembered.

Note: Do NOT let your Samhain candle burn out, as it is considered bad luck on Samhain, let it burn at least till morning light.

            ~ adapted from Barbara Morris

Simple Samhain Magic Spell

This Fall Magic Spell clears out unwanted influences and focuses spiritual attention on what is good in life. This celebrates the change from one season to the next, summer to winter.
 
1.    Decorate an altar with a clean cloth, candles of orange and/or white, and autumn fruits.
2.    Set a chalice filled with wine or cider, along with a small bowl of sea salt, on the altar. Take two sheets of paper and a pen.
3.    Light the candles, and, if desired, burn incense such as myrrh or patchouli.
4.    Write out a few undesirable aspects and influences of life from the previous few months on a single sheet of paper.
5.    On another sheet of paper write out the key new elements of life that would be welcome. Write these as positive statements, in the present tense.
6.    Using words which feel natural and appropriate, express the sincere desire to be rid of the undesirable elements of life, speaking each one individually. Visualize clearly being free of them.
7.    Scrunch the undesirable list into a tight ball. If it is possible to burn it safely then do so. Otherwise simply discard the ball into a waste bin without burning.
8.    Drink of the chalice to celebrate being free of these shackles!
9.    Pause in reflection for a few minutes, visualizing the positive elements to be welcomed.
10.    Again using natural and sincere language, express the reality of the list of positive elements.
11.    Scatter a little sea salt over the list, and fold the paper so as to capture the salt in an envelope-like packet.
12.    Put the packet into clothing close to the skin, extinguish the candles and incense, and set off to celebrate the evening!

Samhain Mirror Incantation

Recite this incantation before scrying into your black mirror on All Hallow’s eve...

"Mirror of shadow, reveal what I seek.
Powers of old, secrets so deep.

East then South, West and North.
Watch tower guards, I call you forth.

Traveling sphere, no harm to fear.
Circle protects, here and there.

Stars beyond, from Pluto's realm,
Scorpio rules God's golden sun.

By the power of three times three,
Lord and Lady, so mote it be." 

 ~ Barbara Morris

Fire Scrying

As the power of the Sun fades, we embrace the harvest season and the decline of the fire element. This is a perfect time, as we approach the introspective tide of winter, to scry with flame. On a night close to the New Moon, cast a circle of protection, and light a purple candle. Sit silently and breathe deeply, allowing your conscious mind to grow quiet. Gaze at the candle flame and permit your thoughts to drift by without judgment. Soften your focus and relax your vision. Concentrate only on the flame. Ask a question. Observe the flame expectantly, and open your observations to your intuition. Invite the flame to impart images. Write down your insights, and carefully date your interpretation for future reference. Perfect to do on Samhain eve...

~ Karri Allrich

Communing with the dead, banishing troublesome ghosts, commemorating the beginning of a new year … or simply trick or treating … enjoy the magic of Samhain.

Art credit: witch painting by Myeclecticmind

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Bobbing for apples on All Hallow's Eve

A Magical Monday useful Halloween tip: Peeling an apple in front of a candlelit mirror on Samhain will reveal an image of one’s future spouse.

Apples were a major part of the Celtic/Druid harvest festival of All Hallow’s Eve. The present day custom of bobbing for apples came from one of their festivities. Magical fermented cider was commonly used in pagan rites. In England, a particularly strong cider is often referred to as witches’ brew.

English lore, apples signify enchantment, tied to the Arthurian legends. When Arthur was seriously wounded, he was taken by three fairy queens to Avalon, also known as the “Isle of Apples,” or “Appleland.” Also, Lancelot, Arthur’s knight, fell asleep under an apple tree and was carried off by four fairy queens. Later, he saved Queen Guinevere, accused of being a witch and condemned to burn at the stake – she gave an apple to St. Patrick, who died.

The apple has long held spiritual significance. Many goddesses upheld the apple as the fruit which supplied eternal life: Greek goddess Hera; Scandinavian goddess Idun; Norse Hel, of the Underworld. American Iroquois Indians place the apple as their focal tree of heaven. And, in Christianity, Eve’s apple, accepted from the serpent, is the fruit of life, but also associated with sin.

In witchcraft, the apple is said to be a common vehicle for spells. In the folktale, Snow White, the lovely maiden was put to death by a poisoned apple given her by the black witch-queen. In Voodoo magic as well as English, Danish, and German folklore, the apple is a love charm.

In a real life account in Somerset, England in 1657, a young girl gave a twelve-year-old boy an apple which, according to neighbors, caused him to become bewitched, flying over his garden wall. The girl was charged with witchcraft, sentenced, and hanged.

English folklore says it’s bad luck to pick all the apples in a harvest – some must be left for the fairies.

So, on this Samhain, be sure to leave some for the fairies, but light a few candles and peel one in front of your mirror.

Reference: An Encyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft & Wicca, Rosemary Ellen Guiley, 2008.

Art: Kim_Moo and Maskimxul

A field trip for my writing muse . . . the Tampa Botanical Gardens

Last week while entertaining company, we took a trip to the Tampa Botanical Gardens. The effort was to find some interesting outing to pass the time. What I found was an awakening experience for my muse, tempting her to create an array of incredible fantasy settings. My muse loves field trips, so I’ve learned to take my camera along.

In most cases I had no idea what the common or scientific names were for these species, which was a real frustration for the biology major in me, but lack of formal names didn't bother my muse. She just made up her own.

This unusual hanging growth grabbed her attention at the park’s terraced entrance. Its leaves were like a staghorn fern, but the base arranged in papery layers like that of a hornet nest. It may well have been a staghorn fern on steroids, as many plants appear to me from the perspective of a transplanted northerner.

Across the patio, a fountain held the aura of a fantasy setting. A giant pinecone apex set on a primitive-looking wheel, festooned with embossed blossoms.

Epiphytes (aerial plants) always whisper “fantasy” to my muse, this one on a grand scale, smothering the fork of the mighty live oak trunk.

Flowering lily pads set amid a bamboo forest = exotic fantasy. My muse saw fairies hiding underneath the flat leaves, waiting for us to pass.

A pregnant banana tree seemed no miracle to my muse. That so-large-it-frightens flower demanded sex, so reproduction should be a given.

These were a few of the fascinating plants and sites which woke the imagination of my muse to spin out a fabulous setting or so for my fantasy stories.

A living fairy tale for my muse

Most muses expect to be fed occasionally. Some whimper for chocolate, others demand shopping sprees. Mine usually is satisfied with a pot of special blend white tea, kept steaming on a warmer for the evening of writing. But, once in a while she begs for an outing to someplace exotic. Lush settings captivate her. While taking lit classes in college, she prodded me to read every 19th c. novel she could find. That included the entire collection of Thomas Hardy, whose settings of mist-shrouded moors covered with purple heather in Wessex are every bit as memorable as his romantic characters, Tess and Angel, Bathsheba and Gabriel. She balks at workshops on world-building, maintaining a keen eye and an overactive imagination serve better. Nothing pleases her more than an afternoon at the beach. Once my toes are wiggling in sand beyond the towel's edge, she skips my pencil across pages at lightning pace.

Last Saturday I took my muse on a new adventure to the local Renaissance festival. I hoped she'd like it, since unnaturally cool Florida winter weather precluded beach days. And she did.

A curious array of earthy scents greeted us: fresh-milled wood chips underfoot; vendors newly-tanned leather vestments and boots; toasting cinnamon-dusted nuts; spirals of sandalwood incense. Visual delights also intrigued her. The grounds lay amid a grove of gnarly trees draped with Spanish moss. Their swags swayed with magic around tents belonging to tarot readers. Street performers and festival goers alike dressed in costumes, a variety of old world fantasy mixed with buccaneer accoutrements. Diaphanous layers of ladies skirts flowed like dreams. Coins adorned hats, headdresses, belts, wristlets, and necklaces – catching dappled sunlight and jingling with each step. I expected something of a pirate theme, following from the popularity of the Gasparilla festival, a pageant given by Ye Mystic Krewe in honor of their captain, Jose Gaspar. The result – a surreal tapestry.

Enchantment and swashbuckling in every direction. A human chess game and giant sand castle thrilled imaginations of young and old. Druids lay half hidden, clinging to tree trunks. A pickle vendor alerted me to fairies climbing in branches above, planning mischief. Celebrators extended cordial welcomes to all. The eclectic merriment painted an unwritten scene from Alice in Wonderland. My muse drank in the splendor of that living fairy tale.

In the days since, I felt her scrambling for characters to add to the new world. When finished, she hands me a complete setting and characters, detailed with personalities and attire. If she enjoys the characters enough she will lend a hand with plot. Then, my muse rests and sips tea until impatient with my plodding for months over what she created in days. I'm always behind, thankfully. She plays hard and works hard, never leaving me with writer's block. But the best gift is seeing the world through her eyes. A writer's blessing.