Samhain- Witche's New Year! Honoring the crone
“Time Of hag, Time of Crone
Time of blood, Time of Bone
Hecate offers cold embrace
Spectre, Wraith and Banshee pace
Wait for Hallow’s eve to fly
Wait ‘til deepest dark to scry
This night the veil is very thin
Life goes out and death comes in
Open wide to all the fear
Trust that from the darkness here
Life and light will rise again
Death goes out and life comes in.”
-I. Suzanne
Theme: Death & Rebirth
Goddesses Of All Hallows:
Hecatae- Goddess of the crossroads, of death and rebirth.
Kali Ma - The destroyer and awakener, she who destroys only what is needed to further growth.
Baba Yaga- Russian crone Goddess of Death, The sacred hag, Kalama, Mari, Sina, Hela, Sarama, Seedna, Skinmo, Seshat, and Hathor.
Francisco Goya's "Witches Sabbat" oil painting 1798
The word Sabbat comes from the Hebrew word Sabbath, which means to rest. In Natural Magic, the sabbats are holidays that mark important turning points of the suns journey through the wheel of the year. Each Sabbat is celebrated with feasting, dancing, and rituals. Using the energies of the changing seasons for peace, prosperity, health, and good luck.
Samhain marks the ending of summer as we journey deeper into the darker mysteries, to go within. All Hallow's eve is the fourth wiccan fire festival, where all crossroads come together. The old year dies, and new begins. This is also a time where the veil between worlds is most thin, allowing us the opportunity for ancestors and friends to make contact . We honor them by leaving offerings of libations, sweets, favorite meals, toys, tobacco, and other items that may have been their favorites on the altar. This is also a time for remembering the 13 million (plus) witches, healers, seers, wise women, mid-wives and innocents that have been tortured, burned, drowned, stoned, and hung during the inquisition, Salem, and continues today in our modern world where the practice of killing and torturing accused witches is practiced in many villages across the globe.
Creating The Altar:
Samhain honors the dark, the crone, and the underworld. The altar may be hung with veils, use red and black candles to symbolize life and death. It is also an ancestor honoring sabbat, for your altar place symbols, photos, writings, and prayers to your ancestors and friends that have transitioned a long the way. You may also wish to place extra table settings at the feasting table for them. Collect fall leaves to decorate the altar to the dead. Any and all natural fall elements look beautiful and lend Earth energy to your sacred altar space.
Reader submitted Samhain altar photo.
Divination: Divinatory work(tarot, scrying, pendulum) is also a popular activity during Samhain as this is an excellent time to seek guidance for the coming season. It is also a time of deep inner reflection, analyzing over the past year to see how it has shaped the present; What is holding you back? Samahin is the sabbat for releasing, and letting go.
We witness the Goddess transformed from fresh young maiden in the spring to the mother of summer, and now to the beloved and wise old crone. It is time to transition and change, from autumn to winter and a time when we deliberately change reality with with dress and costumes in order to fool ourselves and each other. "At Samhain there is portent fixed energy, and the power to draw in life to our own magnetic center. the mask has always been one of our most magnetically powerful bewitching tools. Behind the mask, each woman's power to attract and magnetize is enhanced a thousandfold. It is also the mask that is used to serve as a shield to maintain distance. The illusion behind the mask then becomes an object of great desire, a treasure to be discovered"- F. .Morgan
Allow the messages from the other world to reach out and touch you, gifting us all with the important realization that this is not the only world or the only life. A new flame is rekindled, and now is the time to move from death to re-birth!
Blessed be!