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Samhain |
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Samhain |
| Foodstuffs: All Grains, All Types of Meat, Acorns, Apples, Corn, Cranberries, Pears, Pumpkins, Hazelnuts, and Any Breads or Pies made with these harvests. | Plants: Corn stalks, Pumpkins, Apple trees, Nutmeg, Ferns, Heather, Mandrake, Mullein, Straw, Dittany, Nightshade, Sage, Chrysanthemum, Thistle, Mugwort, and Heliotrope. | Herbs: Dittany, Fumitory, Mandrake, Mullein, Cosmos, Oak leaves, Straw, Heather, Ferns, Wormwood, Hazel, Thistle, Mugwort, Calendula, Mint, Sage, Fumitory, Flax, and Chrysanthemum. |
| Drinks: Ale, Cider, Wine, and
Herbal Teas |
Colors Orange and Black. | Incenses would include: Sage, Mint, Apple, Heliotrope, Nutmeg, |
| Stones: Obsidian, Jet, Onyx, | Animals: Raven, Crow, Vulture, Black panther, black cat. |
Deities: Cerridwen, Hecate, Hella, Persephone.as Queen of the Dead |
| Rituals New Years Eve |
Wind Cron
Astrological Sign |
Scrying Fire - Forward looking Water - Ancestors - backward looking |
1) Rites to call and honor the spirits of the dead. These may include invocations, expressions of gratitude, and entertainment for the dead. The ancestor spirits honored at this time may be either biological or spiritual forbearers; they are any of those who lived in the past, to whom we in the present owe a debt of gratitude. One moving and much-loved ritual, based on old British custom, is the "Dumb Supper." The table is set with empty places for the spirits of the dead who then formally invited to attend the feast. Then we eat in silence, out of consideration for the dead who cannot speak, placing morsels for them at the empty place settings. At the end, we formally take our leave of the spirits and return their food to the Earth.
2) Samhain is a time for rituals to honor the Goddess in her Crone aspect and for accepting the inevitability of death, embracing it as part of the cycle of life. This is the reason for the use of black altar cloths and candles, and decorating with bare branches and bones. The reverent embracing of death at Samhain has a special meaning for those who are actually approaching death from a fatal illness, and for those who will soon be left behind.
3) Divination is usually performed at Samhain, especially for matters concerning the dead, for evaluation of the past year and for planning the year to come. Various forms of scrying are especially popular (scrying is gazing into water, a crystal ball, a black mirror, or almost anything else that draws you, until significant images start to take form.) Other kinds of divination include tarot cards, pendulums, runes, and spelling out words with a sliding wine class.
4) - According to Sig Lonegren Samhain is a time of transformation
...So as this Samhain approaches, what is ending in you? What do you have inside that it is time to let go of? No healing is complete until you get beyond recovery. Use Samhain to take the thirteenth step: Transformation. In the Tarot, the thirteenth card of the Major Arcana is Death, and it is ruled by Scorpio. Samhain occurs in Scorpio. The card of Death doesn't necessarily mean physical death (though it can mean that), but more productively, it can be seen as an inevitable heavy change or transformation. Something old must be gotten rid of to make room for something new to be able to come in. Use the magic of this time to say good-bye to an old habit or addiction, an old relationship, or anything else it is time to leave behind.
5) The full moon which falls in Scorpio, between Mabon and Samhain, is known to many as the Blood Moon, because it marks the slaughtering season. For those of us who eat meat, this Moon is a good time to honor and propitiate the spirits of the animals we consume.
Fun things to do
Throw a Come as You Were Party and have everyone dress up as they were in another life.