Halloween, a powerful time for spell casting

Lets get ready for Samhain or All Hallows Eve......

Halloween, Nutcracker night, Saman, Feast of the dead, Harvest, Day of the dead , these are just a few names for this Pagan celebration.

So what is it all about I hear some of you say?

Its the end of the Summer ( sad to say) and also one of 4 great SABBATS for witch's and Pagans.

It is rather like news years ever for the Witchcraft community and a powerful day to cast spells and work our magick. Its has been celebrated through the centuries and in many cultures from the ancient Egyptians,Celts, and Mexicans . Its a celebration of our ancestors and those who have leaf us behind.

We also celebrate the absence of the Sun as the days get shorter and we honour reincarnation as everything goes around and will not end but just change from Summer to Winter. We honour the Sun God who will be reborn at Winter Solstice as the Child of Promise.

Astrologically, Samhain marks the rising of the Pleiades.

The Celts harvest nuts & fruit in late October and this is the time for salting winter's supply of meat & preparing our winter larders.

Christians celebrate with a harvest festival service giving thanks to god for the summer crops.

November 1st is the actual date of Samhain but like other Celtic derived festivals it is celebrated on its eve.

November 1st is New Year's Day for witches, as it was for the Babylonians.....get ready to celebrate ....

Samhain acknowledges the entire spectrum of nonhuman forces that roamed the earth and Faeries are said to be very active at this time of year. ( I guess that makes sense as the number & variety of toadstools that appear in this season is amazing)

This is the time of year when the veil between the world of the dead and the world of the living is said to be it's thinnest. Spirits and souls of loved ones are said to have more power and ability to visit us. This is the time of year for remembering and honouring our dead, and many people will leave a plate of food and a glass of wine out for wandering spirits. (This is often called the Feast of Hecate) .

Samhain is also a time for personal reflection, and for recognising our faults and flaws and creating a method for rectifying them.

In the Celtic Tradition, the year begins at Samhain, this is the most powerful night of the year to perform divination. Divination is done in many forms but all seek to establish a look ahead, whether the answer appears good or bad. Samhain is also considered to start the reign of the God or the dark time of the Year when the Sun goes lower each day and begins to weaken.

so here is how to celebrate ....

How to Decorate your Altar or place of worship;

Try adding photographs of dead loved ones, or images of those entities from another realm..ie Unicorns , Faeries, Jinn etc. Use natural items like pumpkin lanterns, oak leaves, apples, nuts and sage. Incenses associated with this festival include nutmeg, mint, rosemary and sage, and the colours black and orange and autumnal colours. ( I use witches fire sticks of Oak, gorse,and apple wood ).

Autumn flowers such as marigolds and chrysanthemums are great to use too, although I love my roses in red,orange and yellow. Add a cauldron of spiced water and salt and add candles and other things you wish like citrine, carnealian and obsidian. Keep one candle to one side to light later.

So now you can celebrate with a Samhain Ritual;

Sit quietly and think of friends and loved ones who have passed away. Do not despair. Know that they have gone on to greater things. Keep firmly in mind that the physical isn't the absolute reality, and that souls never die.

Ask them to come to you on this ritual night to help with your wishes and spell work.

Arrange the altar, light the candles and anoint your athame or wand then cast your circle. ( keep one special candle to light later)

Write you spell or wish on a piece of small paper ( I always use a small paper pentagram )

Recite The Blessing Chant:

May the powers of The One, the source of all creation; all-pervasive, omnipotent, eternal; may the Goddess, the Lady of the Moon; and the God, Horned Hunter of the Sun; rulers of the elemental realms; may the powers of the stars above and the Earth below, bless this place, and this time, and I who am with You.

Invoke the Goddess and God. (in your own way)

Lift one of the apples or nuts and offer to the Universe.

Raise your wand, face the altar and say:

On this night of Samhain I mark your passing, O Sun King, through the sunset into the Land of the Young. I mark also the passing of all who have gone before, and all who will go after. O Gracious Goddess, Eternal Mother, You who gives birth to the fallen, teach me to know that in the time of the greatest darkness there is the greatest light.

Take the apple or nut and place by the unlit candle.

Light the candle. Sit before it, holding the piece of paper, gazing at its flames. Say:

Wise One of the Waning Moon, Goddess of the starry night, I create this fire within Your cauldron to transform that which is plaguing me. May the energies be reversed: From darkness, light! From bane, good! From death, birth!