A Witch's Halloween

Ha. Hope there wasn't too much hassle about the keyboard, Arminius, ...I'm reminded of the old joke that the second lesson in Wicca is how to get candle wax out of velvet. :)

arminius- I just sprayed coffee over the monitor! That was so funny.....so sad, but I gotta say, so funny. Of course I speak as one who has, at one time or another poured coffee onto the keyboard, and cereal (Hey- I'm trying to eat healthy here!). So knowing my penchant for keyboard abuse I wisely lit the candles on the mantle of the fireplace, enclosed in glass jars, and right beneath the sprinkler. Then I put on my fire resistant jacket and waited. I figured since spidey is always telling me I'll be burning in hell, I wasn't going to give him any help :-)

Finally a live "witch"!!!

See http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap081101.html

Hi, Sparrow,

I, too, lit a candle and put out some wine and home-baked bread. I managed, while trying to empty the candle of hot wax, to spill it over my keyboard... ah, well, into life some wax must drip.

Yeah, drummin' at the Jefferson! I can deal with that!

So wish I had celebrated like you PaganPlace. I did light candles and danced with the kitties tho.' I even cooked (which shocked the hell out of my neighbor who shared said repast.) Maybe next year we can all go drumming, yes Arminius? :-)

Hope everyone had a beautiful Samhain and g-d! I can't wait until Tues is over.

Hi, Paganplace,

Yes, the new dawn will be the opportunity of a lifetime to turn things around. But we all must roll up our sleeves and prepare to work hard, for Shrub & Co have left us abandoned in a swamp of ruin.

Hee, it's good to think of our webs of community out there in all kinds of places, Arminius. For some among us, myself included, I think striking a homey chord was the thing to do amid all that's going on. :) Gods, this whole thing had made me *tense.* Just a few more days, now, then, hopefully, the work of setting things right begins. :)

The DC thing must have been pretty a pretty awesome experience, though. I can just imagine.

It's my hope that with our ancestors behind us, America will have the courage and clarity to make the necessary changes presented by this unprecedented opportunity.
:)

Hello to Starhawk and to everyone on the West Coast!

Many of my fondest childhood memories come from the Halloween festivals I attended as a child. The winter holidays tended to focus on individual families, but it was on Halloween that the whole neighborhood got together. We had costumes, candy, haunted houses, and a lot of laughs.

Now, as an adult Pagan, I see the spiritual dimensions of it more clearly. But I think that there is still tremendous value in the secular celbrations, especially in hard times like now.

(Also, drumming at the Jefferson went really well last night, and I send that good energy over your way!)

Hi, Paganplace,

I'm glad you had a good Samhein. Yer cookin'? Wish I had been there! And I wish I could have been at the drumming at the Jefferson Memorial too.

Heh, tell me about it, CCNL, only I don't think you can actually blame Wiccans for the white sugar-consumption aspect of this.

We ended up combining festivities with some other folks and, well, therefore have enough extra trick or treat candy among us to last probably through three more years. What am I going to do with all this stuff except hide it from my dear one, who'd be tempted to eat it. :)

Hope everyone had a good night.

Wasn't anything like drumming at the Jefferson Memorial for us, just a nice suburban feast. But it had... my cooking. :)

God bless all the witches of Wicca and their fellow pagans on this day after Halloween!!!

David L. West, CEO, Hershey Foods

It's amazing to me to see how our little community has grown. The first Samhain I attended had maybe 50 people. Last year we were over 200. Last night I don't know yet- but I think it was more.

Happy Samhain, everyone.

Holloween is not recognized in some cities and towns in the deep South. It isn't a Christian holiday and it isn't a Federal, State, or local holiday, so they don't participate.

I visited a shopkeeper from Southeast Asia this afternoon here in the DC area. I worried that the sign on the glass door would say sickness had caused him to close early. It merely said "We Do Not Celebrate Holloween."

So the celebration of Holloween isn't always something people look forward to anywhere. It also isn't used as a way to harm others that other American holidays are not. Plenty of harm is done within families at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's.

At Holloween though, someone will invariably wear the wrong costume or do something that wrongly makes fun on someone else. For example, today the Miami Police releasing their report on the suicide death of the DC Madam, Deborah Jean Palfrey, who frightened so many with her threat to release the names of all her prostitution service clients. Miami is not part of the deep South.

Where I grew up in Fairfax County, we would go trick-or-treating in my nieghborhood each year, and each year it was a good haul.

In Philadephia, we gave up "celebrating" the paranormal of Halloween this year and celebrated a World Championship with a million-fan parade, cheese steaks, soft pretzels and beer.

A big Booooo to the Mets, Red Sox, Braves and Yankees!!!!!

Merry Meet to all, and Brightest Blessings! The Lady has granted us pleasant weather this night here in NoVa, and I will be worshipping in tbe woods near my house in a short while. Arminius, dear friend, I will remember you in my orisons! :-)

Hey, Robin,

Old Studs will be missed. That guy opened my eyes on a lot of things about people.

Weird glitch, eh?

Guess Studs has some pull in these parts.

MM,
Robin

Even though I'm one of those "Stubborn Witches," I 'm going to have another secular, candy for the kiddies Samhain/Halloween this year. I guess it's just as well, there's a lot to be said for generosity for its own sake and for dressing up and having a good time.

I have had the experience of three of Reclaiming's Spiral Dances and they are "all that." At each of these Spiral Dances there would be a celebration of our beloved dead. This year I hope we all remember Studs Terkel who just passed away—or as he would prefer to to say: "Checked out." He was a great chronicler of the salt of the earth and he will be missed.

"My epitaph? My epitaph will be 'Curiosity did not kill this cat,'" he said.

Blessed Be.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-studs-terkel-dead,0,2321576.story

Even though I'm one of those "Stubborn Witches," I 'm going to have another secular, candy for the kiddies Samhain/Halloween this year. I guess it's just as well, there's a lot to be said for generosity for its own sake and for dressing up and having a good time.

I have had the experience of three of Reclaiming's Spiral Dances and they are "all that." At each of these Spiral Dances there would be a celebration of our beloved dead. This year I hope we all remember Studs Terkel who just passed away—or as he would prefer to to say: "Checked out." He was a great chronicler of the salt of the earth and he will be missed.

"My epitaph? My epitaph will be 'Curiosity did not kill this cat,'" he said.

Blessed Be.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-studs-terkel-dead,0,2321576.story

Even though I'm one of those "Stubborn Witches," I 'm going to have another secular, candy for the kiddies Samhain/Halloween this year. I guess it's just as well, there's a lot to be said for generosity for its own sake and for dressing up and having a good time.

I have had the experience of three of Reclaiming's Spiral Dances and they are "all that." At each of these Spiral Dances there would be a celebration of our beloved dead. This year I hope we all remember Studs Terkel who just passed away—or as he would prefer to to say: "Checked out." He was a great chronicler of the salt of the earth and he will be missed.

"My epitaph? My epitaph will be 'Curiosity did not kill this cat,'" he said.

Blessed Be.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-studs-terkel-dead,0,2321576.story

Hi, Athena,

"Blessed Samhain, all! And I'll be thinking of you as I'm drumming at the Jefferson Memorial tonight!"

Way cool! I have a candle lit here, and a gift of bread and wine beside it.

Blessed Samhain, all! And I'll be thinking of you as I'm drumming at the Jefferson Memorial tonight!

B*B!

Right On Starhawk, thankyou for the courage to tell the world that nature is sacred, life is sacred.I believe we need to remind ourselves that it is pointless to try to control the world or others, through politics or other power trips. We have the power to control our SELF. Peace.

"You're referring to McCain/Palin, right?"

Nah, Lords of Misrule are for another holiday. ;)

"to choose the road that will lead to a future of health, regeneration, justice, balance"

You're referring to McCain/Palin, right?

VOTE McCAIN/PALIN!

Pagan Friends,

Starhawk's essay was beautiful. I intend to light a candle tonight out of respect. Have a grand Samhain, all!

Blessed be, Starhawk, and all!

The Wheel turns. :) (and let's make it a good one.)

follow the spirals and the spirals will follow you.

nurture the harvesting of wisdom.

surreal spiral loves the rain!!!

Dear Skyhawk:

I think Obama has turned me into a newt.

Based on your knowledge of Wicca, is that possible?

Just kidding, and no offense intended, I'm sure that made you sigh.

Happy Halloween. Happy Samhain.

Aw, that's so cute.

As we resurrect the female divine in Christianity, we affirm the blessings of your litany. We strive toward a world where we give to each the space to create sustenance and joy for themselves and for all. We affirm radical love. Happy Halloween. Happy Samhain.

very beautiful- thank you for sharing.

The prayer chanted at the spiral dance is quite lovely.
I do hope wiccans understand the urgent need for alcohol-cannabis equality, both as a civil rights/say no to hypocrisy issue and as a key to strengthening healing tendencies here on earth, as marijuana encourages holistic thinking. Alcohol has a very, very destructive side, cannabis does not have comparable dangers. Stalin's father was an abusive raving alcoholic, Hitler's father drank plenty and was abusive too. The Centers for Disease Control doesn't even keep records on cannabis related death and injury. What more do you need to know about alcohol vs. cannabis? Hmm?

Thank you, Starhawk for sharing your experience as a Pagan and educating people about a spiritual path that pre-dates Christianity by thousands of years. As mainstream dogmatic religions crumble in the coming age, Paganism and other experience-based paths will come to the fore and flourish.

The re-emergence of the Divine Feminine such as is celebrated in Paganism signals the beginning of the end of hatred, bigotry and violence in the name of a so-called God.

Bring it on!

Dear Starhawk:
An excellent summary here of your Wicca beliefs and the significance of Samhain. I would only add that the Celts viewed death as the middle of a long life, and not to be feared by any means. But the Nature religions and Christianity, at least early on, were not necessarily antithetical. When St. Patrick arrived in Ireland to preach the message of Christ, the Druids' learned reply, as longtime practitioners of second sight, was: We know about him!