Showing posts with label halloween. Show all posts

Final Samhain's Sirens Craft-tacular!

It's FREEZING outside this morning.  The days are getting shorter and this morning we had frost on the ground.  in just a few short days Samhain will be here.

Today I wanted to schedule a post to share my final Saturday Craft-tacular with the Samhain's Siren project.  This week I decided to do a little bit *older* craft, in that I wouldn't recommend this for younger children.  This is a great introductory craft to get started into the art of Pyrography.

Remember that not only will this post show you detailed photos and instructions but you also get a chance to win the finished product.  Head over to the Samhain's Sirens blog and enter to win!

Each entry also gives you an entry into the grand prize!


Blessings
Sosanna
)O(


NaBloWriMo - Witchy Wednesday 5 - Samhain



For my last Witchy Wednesday I’m writing a post about one of the major Sabbaths, Samhain

Samhain  (SOW – WIN) is a Gaelic festival marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter and has often been called the Celtic New Year.  Though popularized and celebrated by children around the world as a day to get scared and get candy, Samhain is a very important religious/spiritual holiday for many Pagans.

Some Samhain customs include bonfires, turnip lanterns and leaving food out for any relatives that may return to visit on the night where the veil between the living and dead is thinnest.  

The wearing of costumes and staying close to home were ways in which humans could “guise” or ward off harmful spirits. Sometimes totems or little trinkets were use to assist in this warding.

Photo Credit - Renee Olson - Protection Ward

Honoring those that have passed and making a fresh start are typical events for Samhain.  Including divination, spell casting and contact with the dead are popular. Putting out offerings such as soul cakes or whiskey are popular. When adding my offerings to the Goddess Hecate I set out Leeks, Garlic, Honey, mushrooms and sometimes a bit of wine.

Photo Credit - Renee Olson - Offerings to the Goddess Hecate


To me, Samhain holds three very important meetings.  One, celebrating new things to come and sweeping out the old year are key in my rituals.  

Photo credit - Renee Olson - Hecate Altar

Secondly, my ancestor altar is one of my prized possessions.  I have it set up on a 100 year old server that my grandmother gave me.  It’s adorned with photos of those family members whose energy I would like to pull back into my home.  

Photo credit - Renee Olson - Ancestor Altar
Finally, my husband and I had our hand fasting ceremony on Samhain.  This year is our 10 year anniversary and we plan to renew our commitment to each other. I talk about our hand fasting in the Samhain's Sirens' Blog Extravaganza which is being published today.  There will be a giveaway of a hand fasting cord.  A hand fasting cord is an elaborate or very simple rope or cord that is tied around the wrists in a sign of commitment.

Photo Credit - Renee Olson - Hand Fasting Cord

Not every Pagan celebrates Samhain, and some non-pagans do.  It’s a really great time of the year when Mother Earth changes her robes from the bright summer colors and bundles up in her whites and grays to watch the seeds and earth rest for the winter.  The snow and ice come in and freeze the ground welcoming Yule and slowly the wheel continues to turn.

Photo Credit - Renee Olson - Wheel of the Year


For me, the wheel of the year is a magical thing and showing it off in your home or office when you can is a wonderful way to remember the seasons and how much our ancestors relied on this wheel for their very survival.
Photo Credit Renee Olson - Wheel of the Year

As we sit in the aftermath of the devastation of the natural disaster, Hurricane Sandy we have to remember but we are just a tiny speck on this great big planet and we need to remember that this earth is our mother and as such we should respect and honor her throughout the entire wheel.



Namaste & Blessed Be
Sosanna
)O(

NaBlogWriMo - Thursday Tirade 1



So Thursday Tirade is going to be about stuff that just annoys me.  I’m going to try my best to keep it clean and not use this day to do any damage.  These posts are completely my opinion and not representative of Pagans, Witches, Wiccans or Hecateans in general.  It’s what I think.

That being said today I’m going to focus something that REALLLY REALLY annoys the heck out of me.  If we look at the calendar that is used in many countries today we see that it is a Gregorian calendar.  Our calendar has changed many times over the years but still based on the old Roman Calendars.  Even the names, January – named for the god Janus, March for the god Mars and so on.  Our days of the week: Monday for Moons Day, Thursday for Thor’s Day.  The calendar we use today is Pagan.

So what’s a calendar - 



So we see that the calendar has started to sculpted and molded into something different.  In general Pagans follow the cycles of the year and celebrate the calendar; some by following what is called the Wheel of the Year.  In my path, I’m not big on following each of the days but there are a few that are especially significant for me.  More of what I feel drawn to, and less of “You better honor this day” sorta thing.



As a small child I was raised in a small town with small minds.  We were taught that KISS the rock band were really “Knights In Satan’s Service” and that Christmas as an evil pagan holiday.  

NOTE there is swearing in this video!  Here's a clip of a couple people talking about the KISS issue.




Forty years later I’m back in that small town and now the minds have changed, but they’re still just as narrow.  Slowly over my limited years I've watched as Ostara is now celebrated in the local churches with “Spring Flings” and “Egg Hunts” for the kids.  Now I’m as much for a party as the next chick but exactly at what point did the little bunny roll the stone away and help Jesus rise from the grave?  When exactly did eggs come into your faith?  Yeah that’s what I thought. 


I won’t outline each of the holidays that have been taken and changed to suit the needs of others; instead I’ll go to the MAIN one that is really PISSING ME OFF.

Like witches around the world when October 1st rolls around, my whole mind set changes.  Life starts to take on a different meaning for me.  I get to smell pumpkin and see the leaves change.  The air gets a bit crisper and that familiar feeling of seeing your breath is starting to happen.  Samhain is an amazing time of the year.  I love it.  I also love that we have several holidays that fall side by side and I can be extremely respectful of the different cultures.

Here in my little town, so is something else.  Churches across my town are having something called “Harvest Festival” or “Jesusween” … guess when it is? No come on guess.. RIGHT!  October 31st.  I get to see their little church signs say things like “Family Harvest Festival, A safe place for your family”.  I understand you need to drum up business, but please, leave this one, this last holiday that you’ve not bastardized alone.  Do they do that?  No, the next thing I see is giant billboards for “Judgment House”.  For those not familiar with it, it’s basically taking the ole Halloween Haunted House and changing the “scary” scenes for scenes of “Sinners” in hell or going to hell, or being tortured.  And our typical sins are represented, abortions.



Our Holidays have even become the subject of Songs –




If you want to scare your followers into acting a certain way, that’s your business.  Please try to stop dragging other religions down in the process.  And please PLEASE let me have what’s left of my October. 


Namaste & Blessed Be
Sosanna
)O(