Posts tagged: Holidays

Every being is always receiving that which is a vibrational match to whatever they are offering.
–Abraham-Hicks

Let’s welcome the month of October and let’s celebrate the season!

So, what are you offering? Are you happy with what you’re receiving? As we gently spin away from the Sun, the year slowly shifts into its last quarter and the light is gradually waning down. What are your plans for this month? Are you ready to finish your projects for the year?, or will you carry them over into the new year?
Enter the month of October we are already in full celebration with Ramadan, which comes to its completion on the 2nd. October is my personal favorite month of the year because not only is the celebration of Samhain, most commonly known as Halloween, but it also kicks off the holiday season, and the colorful Autumn season has begun to settle in, that is, in the North, as playful Spring arrives in South. Our look, first hand, at the cycle of birth, death and rebirth.
Interestingly, depending on each cultural belief, this month could bring hard work, or none at all. For example, Yom Kippur, which is on October 9th, is traditionally observed by fasting, prayer, abstaining from physical pleasures, and refraining from work. Yom Kippur is the climax of the Yamim Noraim (“Days of Awe”), and with Rosh Hashanah (at the end of September) forms the Jewish High Holy Days. In accordance with Leviticus 23:27 the date of Yom Kippur is the 10th day of Tishrei (“the tenth day of the seventh month”) in the Hebrew calendar.
Columbus Day is October 13th, Sukkot begins on the 14th, the same day of the Full Moon. This month the Full Moon is in Aries. On the 22nd the Sun enters the eighth house of the Zodiac, the sign of Scorpio; the New Moon is the 28th, the same day the Celtic Tree Month of Reed begins. And on the 31st we celebrate Halloween/Samhain/All Hallows Eve. In the Northern Hemisphere it is still a time of harvest, the last of the year; back in the old days when labor was all done by hand, it meant a lot of hard work, followed by celebration and finally rest.
Samhain is a very important holiday in a Witch’s year. Being a time of reflection, we remember and honor our ancestors; and since it is one of the two times a year when the veil between worlds is the thinnest, we attempt at this time to establish communication with other worlds and those who have crossed.
To those in the Northern half of the world this holiday is about death, completion and transition, when Nature wanes into the end of another cycle, the Winter season, a time to remember all that has died in the course of the year. Life feeds on life. In the Southern Hemisphere October carries in a time of rebirth and renewal, restoring the land and thus maintaining the balance of the Grand Design.

I hope you enjoy the journey this month inspires you to take, as you begin to prepare for new resolutions and setting new goals.
Remember … there are always reasons to engage in joyful celebration. The more celebratory energy you “produce” the more you send off into the air, spreading it throughout the world. This is how we heal the planet, and reduce the negative energies that dwell over it’s green and watery surface. Don’t forget that whatever you celebrate make sure you do exactly that … celebrate! Bring happiness into your life, let the joyful energy surround you, blessing your home, your path, and every choice you make.

It is believed that the spirits of the dead remain wandering until Samhain, when they can finally cross to the “other side” to rest, as the passage between the living and underworld is open. With this doorway between worlds slightly ajar, the festival of Samhain is also regarded and respected as a time that allows mischievous and restless spirits to make a temporary return to our world.
On this night, take a symbolic journey to the underworld with a virtual or actual walk in a labyrinth. The mystical labyrinth is believed to be a metaphor for the journey of death and rebirth as you travel through the spiral patterns to the core and return on the same path. If you can visit a labyrinth, take the journey. Or you can mark out a temporary labyrinth on sand, or on the ground with twigs, sting, or tape. As you travel to the center, leave behind thoughts and images that no longer serve you, shedding unnecessary emotional burdens. Upon reaching the center, stop and imagine you have arrived at the underworld where you can communicate with loved ones who have died. On your walk out, focus on the release and rebirth and enjoy the symbolic transformation. –by Emely Flak. Courtesy of Llewellyn Worldwide

Another type of Samhain celebration is a Dumb Supper, a meal eaten in silence, communing with the spirits of those who have died. Traditional foods for the Dumb Supper vary, but they should be the favorite foods of those you plan to honor. Set a formal dinner table, with a tablecloth and your best dishes, as you would for any honored guests. There should be several more places set than living guests attending. The meal should not begin until after dark, and use candles for lighting, not electric lights. Allow the candle to burn until they have gone out. Photos and mementos of those who have died may be placed on the table or someplace else in the room. For the feast itself, people enter the room in silence, serve themselves or pass dishes, and eat without speaking or making any sound if at all possible. Be sure there is a libation plate and bowl; some of each liquid should be put in the bowl, some of each solid food placed on the plate.
Afterward, these should be given to the earth by placing them in a compost heap or burying them in the garden. In this way, many Witches honor their dead and celebrate the harvest at Samhain. –by Magenta Griffith. Courtesy of Llewellyn Worldwide

Click Here for recipes, activities and more information about the magickal holiday of Samhain.

Click Here for a fun Samhain Ritual.