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| Author: Posted: Sep. 8, 2002 | This Page Viewed: 7,123,911 |
Question of the Week: 82 - 10/20/2002 Your Samhain/Beltaine Musings What have you been musing about at this time of the changing seasons? What lessons have you learned? What hopes do you hold for the future? How will you honor/mark/celebrate the Holiday? If you have rituals, poems, stories or links to seasonal lore and/or activities, feel free to share them here. |
| Reponses: There are 50 responses posted to this question. | Reverse Sort |
| I Learn At Samhain | Oct 20th. at 9:01:06 pm EDT |
| Derrick (Rocky River, OH) | Age: 16 - Email |
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Being as I'm a 'newbie' at the great world of Pagandom this is my first Samhain, however there have been many years that I have watched histories of many Pagan religions. So, for now, I try to learn as much as I can about Witches, Druids, and other interesting topics on channels like the History Channel and Discovery Channel to help me learn my legacy. |
| Hmmm. | Oct 20th. at 9:09:00 pm EDT |
| Shel (Toronto) | Age: 29 - Email |
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Greetings, fellow posters, and a special hello to fellow Wiccans in Toronto, The past year has been a difficult one for me, and it's engulfed me as nothing else (even my faith) has, but I've emerged from it happier and healthier and more determined than ever to be the person I know I can and should be. Nowadays I reflect on what I've become and how I can turn my new self outward and do my part to help people find the beauty of the world in these shaky times. On a less serious note, I should drink more mead. :D Brightest of blessings, everyone. Shel xo |
| Important... Goddess Needs Us All! | Oct 20th. at 9:15:15 pm EDT |
| Kim (New York) | Age: 17 - Email |
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Hello everyone. i work at a small wiccan store. all of us had similar dreams about the goddess... she needs us... she spoke directly to my employer, Susanne, about how she needs to somehow gather as many witches as possible to support her in times of need. she requested that witches everywhere support her by chanting: The earth shall not turn to dust The eagles will always be free The sky will always be fresh The water will always be pure The ground will not be dust The earth will be strong again She will breathe She will live in harmony and peace. well... i know this may sound very odd... but i needed to get this out to as many people as possible... its not much to ask for, and i hope you join us in praying for Her. Thnak you from the bottom of my heart. Blessed Be -Kim |
| Halloween | Oct 20th. at 10:37:24 pm EDT |
| Danielle & James (Texas) | Age: 21 - Email |
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Well, for one, we're so glad that the seasons have changed. We live in Southeast Texas and it gets VERY hot here! We look foward to the dead time actually. I'll keep it short and simple.. James, our House, and I plan to celebrate the day of Halloween enjoying ourselves and preparing for the sabbat that night. Preparation is big, first we have to set up a place for the dead in the woods, and clear out our outdoor area. THEN we have to prepare the flying ointment (yes, I'm serious), and at the stroke of midnight, we should be in the Meadows of Elfame celebrating the Old way while our bodies lie on the ground. Hopefully we'll be swept away by the Wild Hunt and journey on its frightening path until we can take no more. :-D |
| Living In The Summer Land | Oct 20th. at 11:36:05 pm EDT |
| Maire (Kapa'a, Kaua'i, Hawaii) | Age: 44 - Email - Web |
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To us, it is the time of the Ancestors and the Beloved Dead, and we honor them by speaking their names and sending love and remembrance through the veil. Last year we built a small boat and placed a representational shrouded being within it, set it afire and placed it in the river where it ran into the ocean. (all biodegradable ingredients) as we sang "Set Sail.." It was beautiful! This year we will celebrate and honor the dead on the Lunar Samhain, the New Moon in Scorpio, on Nov. 4th. The mead we brewed at Lughnassad is ready and bottled- mango, island honey and oranges all grown right here. Living in the Land of Ever Summer, and sitting in the Western Tower, we feel especially close to the Land of the Dead... and the sea that is crossed to the land of the ever young, in Irish family tradition. Even here, the Earth quietens and gentles herself as She prepares for a time of rest. True the seasons change more subtly, but the wheel does turn! As it is a strange concept to be honoring the coming of winter "cold", we mostly work to honor the seasonal significance as well as connect in with all the other circles all over the Earth, and add our magickal workings to the others who do the same. In this way, we bless the Earth, and help to turn the wheel again, and again. Personally, I've been feeling deeply the dying of the year, the time for turning within and searching more deeply for the ways I can do the work of Goddess and God. Though I have been a Priestess for many years, I often still feel like I barely know anything about all there is to know, and feel and do! I plan to use the longer nights to read and study, journey, drum, chant and deepen my connection, and immerse myself in the ocean as often as possible to be blessed by Her Holy Waters! Blessings of the new year! |
| Bracing Myself For Another Go On The Wheel ... | Oct 21st. at 12:30:04 am EDT |
| Rev. Jeva Singh-Anand (Sioux City, IA) | Age: 36 - Email - Web |
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Here in Siouxland, the Pagan community is completing a turn of the wheel. We have done much to establish a positive public presence in our community, and our efforts have been rewarded by the media and by interfaith groups; they have invited us to take our place in this community as an established religious congregation. Now we must brace ourselves to accept this responsibility with power and dignity. Our Samhain celebration will be a public event. It main focus will be worship, of course. But it will also be a social event -- and a community action event. As far as honoring our beloved dead and our ancestors is concerned, I hope that our work this year has pleased them. It is in remembrance of their love and their sacrifice that we have done all these things, and it is only thanks to them -- their power and their guidance -- that we have been successful. It is my hope that we will continue to listen with our hearts and souls to their wisdom, that they guide us away from petty feuds and unworthy ego-displays, that they refocus us on our mission and the work that still lies ahead. |
| The Wheel Turns Round And Round | Oct 21st. at 12:13:53 pm EDT |
| Lady Valkyrie (Ohio) | Age: 22 - Email |
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As the wheel turns round and round we as creatures of the Goddess are looking back at the past year and chalking up up our experiences to lessons. Also I am looking forward to the new year b/c I have hopes to help my friends and those I love to be happy with all that they have to give others. I hope to be out with my friends and those I love for Samhain and thank the Goddess for all my lessons. The Goddess Be In Your Dreams and Hearts, |
| Samhein/All Hallows/etc | Oct 21st. at 2:46:17 pm EDT |
| RainStorm (Gaffney, SC) | Age: 25 - Email - Web |
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I personally plan to hold a very solitary ritual, that I wish to keep to myself. In my thoughts, there is a reason the time is also referred to as Ancestor's Night. It is a time to honor those who have passed before you and ask them for their advice and blessings on your current endeavor, then to do honor for them however tradition demands. What irked me is when I was hanging around in a chat room and a person logged on asking for advice on Samhein rituals and gatherings, and another person who I've seen making comments to the effect that the ritual should be somber, and what he was describing was to the point of being depressing. He went on about the burning times, describing what happened then in detail, and remembering them. I have a problem with that. Honor them, yes, perhaps even find your own means to call to them, but don't dwell on it. Those were dark times that evidenced what ignorance and religious persicution can lead to, however they were also several hundred years ago. I've seen too many people in our community adopt a hatred for their local Christian organizations because of those horrible events that neither happened to any of us or by their hands. The point is that past should be remembered, but not revisited. Only an ignorant fool will refuse to learn from past mistakes, but the lesson and the event are seperate issues. Explore the lesson, not the event. The wheel doesn't turn widdershins. Stirring negativity on Samhein will only create potential problems for the circle, and on a night that you don't really want to stir up any problems. RainStorm |
| Lessons Not Learned | Oct 21st. at 4:23:41 pm EDT |
| Amber Morgaine (New Jersey) | Age: 26 - Email - Web |
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At this time of year, when the night soon aproches where not only the dead can walk right through the veil of the worlds but can also SEE right through it, we should be aware that what has been acomplished and the good that has come from their lives and passing will be seen by them. After the Tragity on 9-11-01, those souls were added to the spirits that can return to this realm on the night of Samhain to see what lessons have been learned from their passing. It saddens me to see that after such a horrible, needless lose of life the lessons for most have still not been learned. People are still discriminating against eachother for their faith, their color, their opinions, etc. Rudness and disrespect is still rampant, even in an America that claims to so united against hate and injustic. While we give the pretence that we are all united together, the petty arguing and disagreements on our own shores leave us vulnrable to hate from others I feel for those souls that will look and walk through the veil this season and has to see, that their death has still been in vain for many, because the hate that lead to this terrible act still breeds rampant among the masses. |
| Loss Is Not Always Negative | Oct 21st. at 4:54:18 pm EDT |
| watrfae (the suburbs) | Age: 24 - Email - Web |
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From taking down my altar to build something new, to new meditation techniques I am learning that losing something is definately not always negative. My religious beliefs have always been fluid as my Mother taught me that all faiths were equal, but personally as our year closes I have been seperating the wheat from the shaft at an accellerated rate. While the sun may not be fully reborn until Yule, I am finding new comfort in the quiet space the dark provides. |
| Halloween | Oct 21st. at 5:13:28 pm EDT |
| lilith (los angeles) | Age: 33 - Email |
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to be honest the long slide into the holiday season usually depresses the hell out of me, and halloween itself is the day i use to try and realign myself in advance of xmas et al. my actual ritual is private, but it includes taking down my altar, doing a few tarot readings, putting out the picture of my grandmother. the day of the dead is the day i tend to go out, buy food and drink, and go to the cemeteries of those i know and leave a meal for them etc. i will go and dress up and party on halloween night because if one does it in the right spirit one can walk with the dead and living at the same time and thats always fun. since i have family that is christian i do not set up an altar at my back door, which is what i would typically do, with food and light and drink for the wandering dead, nor am i always able to set an empty place at the table which is another custom i have used when i am alone. this year im travelling with food again. but thats okay-- the living and their hangups are important too. no matter how long i am a witch halloween never feels exactly like the new year to me. i was never allowed to celebrate it as a kid after my parents became born again christians [i was seven at the time]. i think dressing up is a ritual of a sort anyway, so i simply incorporate that element of the day into my spiritual process and that feels pretty good to me at this point. a few people have gotten on my case for this, but i really dont care. everyone's got their something. be safe, all. |
| Halloween | Oct 21st. at 5:44:07 pm EDT |
| Hazel (Regina SK Canada) | Age: 27 - Email |
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I love this time of year. Halloween was always my fav holiday when I was a kid and continues to be so now. As with the other sabbats, I use this as an opportunity to teach my daughter about the cycle of the year and being a fan of extended celebration, we incorporate the week preceeding into our tradition. Each day has its focus. We do things like honour pets of the past; a trip to a cemetery; remember loved ones that have passed on; carve pumpkins (of course!); make soulcakes for the local kids; decorate the house. Each night, starting with the 25th, we light a candle in the window. On the 1st, we have a big feast (well, big for our budget=)) made mostly of pumpkin. It is truly amazing how many different things one can make out of pumpkin. I try for an aura of reverance and acceptance. I want her to learn that death is apart of life. You can't have one without the other. As for the dressing up and trick or treating, well, I like to steer away from the significance of the candy so we use that as barter. She gets to keep 10 fav treats and the rest we use in baking or give away. I have been known to freeze them and give them away next year. In return for the treats, she gets two brand new books. She prefers to chose costumes like princess, but I always suggest, perhaps a dead princess? This year she is an owl and I think that's a good, scary choice. I'm sure any mouse would agree with me =). My husband and I love to dress-up and usually spend the entire day in costume. The fact that so many different customs have been adopted or evolved on this holiday makes it that much more interesting. I love history and I don't believe that any of these customs detract from the original intent. They just give it more depth. |
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