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| Author: Posted: Nov. 17, 2002 | This Page Viewed: 3,890,694 |
Question of the Week: 66 - 11/12/2001 What Did You Do this Samhain? Did you do anything special or differently than you had planned? Did the rituals or celebrations help you find a sense of closure after the last two months' events? Did you find the time especially insightful or one of personal healing? Tell us what you did and what you discovered as you closed out the old year and planned for the new. |
| Reponses: There are 8 responses posted to this question. | Reverse Sort |
| This Was The First Year I Celebrated Samhain. I Planned On Picking... | Nov 8th. at 11:48:14 am EST |
| Jennifer (Chicago, Illinois US) | Age: 28 - Email |
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This was the first year I celebrated Samhain. I planned on picking up a few items on the night before, which I now know is like Christmas shopping on Dec. 24th. Luckily, I found a store in my neighborhood that had the few things I wanted. On the 31st, I spent my lunch break at an outdoor market where I bought fresh flowers and baked goods (for the feast). I kept my ritual very simple. I was nervous and glad to be alone since I made a few mistakes. I mourned the dead from 9/11, and tried to send some energies to help any confused souls from that day. I meditated. After I had finished, I made a wonderful dinner (including pumkin bread from the market) and watched a Buffy the Vampire Slayer marathon. It all felt good. Since that day, I had approched my studies with a new energy. |
| Our Group Did Pretty Much The Same Thing We Do Every Year... | Nov 7th. at 11:18:53 am EST |
| Hearthstone (Calumet, Michigan US) | Age: 39 |
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Our group did pretty much the same thing we do every year, the focus of our ritual a candle-lighting ceremony during which we lit tea lights for those who have passed. We made additional offerings to Hella and to our ancestors. We did also include a prayer specifically honoring the dead of 9/11. However, we didn't really change much of our usual ritual; we like it and it works :). |
| This Samhain Has Proved To Be Very Special For Me. I Attended... | Nov 6th. at 8:57:56 pm EST |
| Roman E. Essery (Bloomington, Illinois US) | Age: 34 - Email |
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This Samhain has proved to be very special for me. I attended ritual with many of my pagan friends here in Bloomington-Normal Illinois. I had lost a job I really loved a year and a prior to this Samhain. I had been having real problems letting go and getting on with my life. The Samhain ritual helped me find that closure I needed, and opened up the next chapter inmy life's journey. What was really special is that after ritual was done and we began our feasting, I asked my girlfriend Jodi to handfast with me. Without hesitation she accepted. So now Jodi and I will be handfasted at Yule this year as a foral engagement, and we will get married in 2003. The circle of the year had really turned for me, and a new beginning started in our life together. It truly was a Blessed Samhain for Jodi and myself. Walk with Light and Love! |
| In The Past Fourteen Years, I've Never Found Myself Completely On My... | Nov 5th. at 11:02:44 pm EST |
| Elfster (Lewisville, Texas US) | Age: 36 - Email |
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In the past fourteen years, I've never found myself completely on my own for Samhain. I've had fellowship with my two previous covens/traditions and while I was stationed overseas in the early 90s, I had the Kaiserslautern Military Pagan Alliance to keep me company on such events. That is, until this year. For the first year ever, I found myself completely on my own for Samhain - no other coven-mates to worry about, no other military personnel around (I left the military in 94) - just me, myself and I. I found it fascinating, and completely wonderful. I was able to sit back and think of all the people who have populated my life in the past fourteen-plus years, and just how much each one has touched my life and afforded me the chance to learn from various lessons. In a way, being by myself finally gave me the chance to sit back and enjoy Samhain for what it truly is to me - a time of rememberance and retrospection, a time to look at what has past and just how it will affect the upcoming future. As a former coven member and Vice Director of a Pagan organization - I was never afforded this opportunity to look at my past times, but then I wonder if they would have been as meaningful then to me, as they are now? Rituals, celebrations, circles, gatherings - whatever you want to call them, are good for a large majority of the people out there...still, take the time for some inner reflection when you are given the chance, it could possibly make the world around you much clearer than before, I know it did for me. -Elfster, aka Tommy |
| I Was Planning On Setting Candy Out For Trick-or-treaters And Cooking A... | Nov 5th. at 5:55:35 pm EST |
| Kat (Laramie, Wyoming US) | Age: 24 - Email |
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I was planning on setting candy out for trick-or-treaters and cooking a fairly lavish meal (by my standards...which are rather higher than McDonald's) for my Feast of the Dead. I was also planning on making a nice costume. I was going to be a Witch, with the hat and broom, but minus the green face and wart. Unfortunately I didn't get to do any of that. I started my day by giving a 30 minute oral presentation on medieval theatre to my classmates and left right after (about 10am) to drive 5 hours to the state mental institution to pick up my friend (also a Pagaon) who was getting out earlier than we thought. The picking up my friend part was the best because she'd been gone for a month and i missed her terribly. We did get to go to a Pagan shop in the town while we were there. And yes, she's still crazy. ;^) |
| I Outdid Myself This Year - I Moved Into "my" First Home! (not... | Nov 5th. at 1:42:03 pm EST |
| Ciarrai (Somewhere In Middlesex County, New Jersey US) | Age: 34 - Email |
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I outdid myself this year - I moved into "my" first home! (Not my parents', not my ex-husband's, not another apt that I hated - MY FIRST NEW HOME!) I was able to perform my cleansing and protection ritual by the light of the noon at midnight come Samhaim, and it was grand. My cat that has been with me for 10 years, 4 apartments and 1 house (not necessarily in that order!) got along just fine. Better than anyone expected; we all thought she'd be SCHIZED! She was just fine. We were both fine. Now time for me to being my new life - finally! What a wonderful way to begin the year, huh? Having my move coincide with "my new holidays" will offer me very much spiritually, psychologically, mentally & physically. Like I said, it's just grand. Peace Out! |
| This Samhain Was Another Beautiful Year For Me, And Though I Wish... | Nov 5th. at 1:26:28 pm EST |
| Raven Prince (Fort Lauderdale, Florida US) | Age: 20 |
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This Samhain was another beautiful year for me, and though I wish I'd given myself more time to prepare everything, and that I had had more time to execute things, everything still went over well. Samhain 2001 for me was filled with magick, peace, hope for the future, reverence for the departed, scary movies, costumes, coincidences that obviously were not coincidences, dreams, visions, supermundane awareness, the expansion of my personal wisdom and power, and a world of strange and unusual occurrences too broad in scope to describe. I can hardly wait for Samhain 2002, though I will greatly enjoy every Sabbat and any other religious events I should attend or myself compose. I know that there will be great sadness in the world, and much need to heal, but those things are such a small part of life that my year to come will be filled with much joy and wonder. Gods bless us, gods bless us every one. |
| A Reaction From My Personal Samhain Ritual: Seeking Closure, After Recent Tragic... | Nov 4th. at 9:53:28 pm EST |
| Katie (North Reading, Massachusetts US) | Age: 20 - Email |
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A reaction from my personal Samhain ritual: Seeking closure, after recent tragic events, I sought to visit the otherworld, to put some things at rest. As spirit (God(s), Goddess(es), whatever you will) often does, it decided I wasn't going to be doing what I set out to do. In short, it seemed to me in my otherworldly self that the dead are as unsettled as the living. Many people have felt the unrest in this trying time. It has had far reaching effects, and has touched everyone already in some way. This is not wholelly unexpected. There has been a tremendous disruption of peace. Recent events have brought about an awakening of the living and the dead. The living are dreaming up a new reality in which to live in, and the waking living are still in shock, horrified, and trying to comprehend the whole, and decide how they feel about the military response. As people learn how to cope, heal and learn from recent events, tension among people will be high. People will fight who never fight. People will be stressed. People will be tired. We need to be aware of this. We need to be patient, because we need to do what we can to help what we are able to help. We need to recognize that we will be affected too, and that we need to be patient with ourselves. Take a minute and feel yourself, in your body. Feel around you, in your personal space. What do you notice? What can you do to heal yourself? Aurically, how do you feel? Where is your energy going? Is this healthy? What can you do to change and make yourself healthier? We have asked for help, and the ancestors have come, for better or worse. Many good things may come of this. But take care. If you feel the need for help, don't be afraid to ask for help. Know who to ask. The realm of the dead is not peaceful. The world of the living isn't either. The realm of the dead has been disrupted in our backyards, a hole has been torn in the auric fields we are native to. Recent events have affected their world as much as it's affected our own. As the sunset is more beautiful because of the dust from the crashing of the twin towers, so too should our lives be lived with more passion as a result of the fall of so many innocents. We are dreaming up a new reality, and we must take thoughtful action to bring it into being. The coming year is going to be one of healing. It will be a year of reconstructing the self, and reconstructing the world, one person at a time. Be kind to your neighbors, your friends, your family, and the people you meet. Be aware, walk consciously, carefully, in knowing blessedness. Life, like death, is a beautiful, sacred gift. Blessings, Katie |
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