Messages In This Digest (4 Messages)
- 1a.
- A Celtic Bonfire Spell From: Silver Fox
- 2a.
- 13 Ideas For Samhain From: Silver Fox
- 3a.
- A History of Halloween from Celtic Times Through Modern Day From: Silver Fox
- 4.
- Stone, Trees & the Earth; The Meaning of Divination From: Radiohawthorne
Messages
- 1a.
-
A Celtic Bonfire Spell
Posted by: "Silver Fox" silverfox_57@hotmail.com trickster9993
Wed Oct 19, 2011 9:37 am (PDT)
A Celtic Bonfire Spell
By James Kambos
Color of the day: White
Incense of the day: Clove
Traditionally, November 5th is Bonfire Night in England,
which observes the failed Gunpowder Plot of Guy Fawkes. Many English Witches,
however, believe the ritual bonfires burnt on this night date back to Celtic
times. To the Celts, this day marked the end of the Samhain observance.
The Celts believed this was the beginning of the dark half
of the year. The bonfires were a way to pay tribute to the life-giving Sun
before entering the dark season. Spells on this holy night should focus on
burning away all problems and fears. This could be done in several ways.
You could simply write down your problems and burn the paper
in a ritual fire. Another way is to select small twigs from trees you feel are
appropriate to your need. Then snap them in half before feeding them to the
blaze. If you wish, poppets symbolizing your need may also be burnt in a fire.
After your fires, save the ashes, for they are considered to be sacred. In late
winter or early spring, they should be spread over a field or garden to ensure
fertility.
Silver Fox
"It is all true, it is not true. The more I tell you, the more I shall lie. What is story but jesting Pilate's cry. I am not paid to tell you the truth."
Jane Yolen; The Storyteller
- 2a.
-
13 Ideas For Samhain
Posted by: "Silver Fox" silverfox_57@hotmail.com trickster9993
Wed Oct 19, 2011 9:37 am (PDT)
13 Ideas For Samhain
By Heather Evenstar
Osterman
Let's face it; Halloween is a major commercialized holiday.
So how do you find something meaningful to pull out of all the mainstream
commercialism for your Sabbat celebrations? What do you do when most of the
people around your family don't understand the ancient traditions they
unconsciously uphold?
Take a close look at the history behind the holiday, then
create new traditions for your family to enjoy year after year. You don't have
to reject the mainstream; just teach your children why modern practices exist.
Samhain (also known as the Festival of the Dead or All
Hallows' Eve) is a time for us to release the spirits of those who have died
during the previous year and for us to honor our ancestors. It is customary to
set an extra place at your supper table on Samhain Eve in honor of the
departed. This is not a scary time, rather a time when the veil is thin and we
can spend time with the spirits in warmth and love.
Here are some activities to try out with your family:
Volunteer to talk to your child's class about the origins of
Halloween and how Wiccans really celebrate Samhain.
Together as a family, create an altar honoring your family's
beloved dead (including pets). Use photos, mementos, keepsakes or anything that
seems right.
Make candleholders out of apples, turnips, gourds and small
pumpkins by hollowing out deep holes in the tops. Make sure the candles are
well-secured in the bases.
Put candles in the windows to guide spirit travelers on
their way.
Eat dinner by candlelight, setting a place at the table for
your beloved dead. If your children are older, try having a Silent Supper where
the meal is eaten in silence so the spirits are not frightened away.
Bob for apples in your cauldron!
Carve jack-o-lanterns to protect your home from malicious
spirits. Have your children help make up a spell of protection to enforce the
scary jack-o-lantern faces.
Plant flower bulbs in your yard or somewhere special. Think
of this as a special promise for spring, a secret the earth will keep.
Take a walk and observe animals (like squirrels and geese)
prepare for winter. At home, prepare for winter in your own way.
Make a family tree on poster board. Let the kids draw
pictures of each of the people on your tree.
Snack on seeds and nuts (try toasted pumpkin and sunflower
seeds). Or try making skull-shaped popcorn balls.
Tell your children stories of when they where younger. Then encourage
them to make up stories of their lives in the future.
Why should kids have all the fun? The whole family should
make costumes and go trick-or-treating!
Silver Fox
"It is all true, it is not true. The more I tell you, the more I shall lie. What is story but jesting Pilate's cry. I am not paid to tell you the truth."
Jane Yolen; The Storyteller
- 3a.
-
A History of Halloween from Celtic Times Through Modern Day
Posted by: "Silver Fox" silverfox_57@hotmail.com trickster9993
Wed Oct 19, 2011 9:39 am (PDT)
A History of Halloween from Celtic Times Through
Modern Day
Source: Unknown
Ancient Origins
Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival
of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).
The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now
Ireland, the United
Kingdom, and northern France,
celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and
the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was
often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the
new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became
blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was
believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing
trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly
spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions
about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural
world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction
during the long, dark winter.
To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires,
where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic
deities.
During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically
consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's
fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which
they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help
protect them during the coming winter.
By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic
territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic
lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic
celebration of Samhain.
The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans
traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to
honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of
fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona
is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably
explains the tradition of "bobbing" for apples that is practiced
today on Halloween.
By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into
Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1
All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed
today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead
with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called
All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All
Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called
All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the
church would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It was
celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in
costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the
eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Hallowmas.
Modern Traditions
The American tradition of "trick-or-treating"
probably dates back to the early All Souls' Day parades in England.
During the festivities, poor citizens would beg for food and families would
give them pastries called "soul cakes" in return for their promise to
pray for the family's dead relatives.
The distribution of soul cakes was encouraged by the church as
a way to replace the ancient practice of leaving food and wine for roaming
spirits. The practice, which was referred to as "going a-souling" was
eventually taken up by children who would visit the houses in their
neighborhood and be given ale, food, and money.
The tradition of dressing in costume for Halloween has both
European and Celtic roots. Hundreds of years ago, winter was an uncertain and
frightening time. Food supplies often ran low and, for the many people afraid
of the dark, the short days of winter were full of constant worry. On
Halloween, when it was believed that ghosts came back to the earthly world,
people thought that they would encounter ghosts if they left their homes. To
avoid being recognized by these ghosts, people would wear masks when they left
their homes after dark so that the ghosts would mistake them for fellow
spirits. On Halloween, to keep ghosts away from their houses, people would
place bowls of food outside their homes to appease the ghosts and prevent them
from attempting to enter.
Evolution Of A Holiday
As European immigrants came to America,
they brought their varied Halloween customs with them. Because of the rigid
Protestant belief systems that characterized early New England,
celebration of Halloween in colonial times was extremely limited there.
It was much more common in Maryland
and the southern colonies. As the beliefs and customs of different European
ethnic groups, as well as the American Indians, meshed, a distinctly American
version of Halloween began to emerge. The first celebrations included
"play parties," public events held to celebrate the harvest, where
neighbors would share stories of the dead, tell each other's fortunes, dance,
and sing. Colonial Halloween festivities also featured the telling of ghost
stories and mischief-making of all kinds. By the middle of the nineteenth
century, annual autumn festivities were common, but Halloween was not yet
celebrated everywhere in the country.
In the second half of the nineteenth century, America
was flooded with new immigrants. These new immigrants, especially the millions
of Irish fleeing Ireland's
potato famine of 1846, helped to popularize the celebration of Halloween
nationally. Taking from Irish and English traditions, Americans began to dress
up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, a practice that
eventually became today's "trick-or-treat" tradition. Young women
believed that, on Halloween, they could divine the name or appearance of their
future husband by doing tricks with yarn, apple parings, or mirrors.
In the late 1800s, there was a move in America
to mold Halloween into a holiday more about community and neighborly
get-togethers, than about ghosts, pranks, and witchcraft.
At the turn of the century, Halloween parties for both
children and adults became the most common way to celebrate the day. Parties
focused on games, foods of the season, and festive costumes. Parents were
encouraged by newspapers and community leaders to take anything
"frightening" or "grotesque" out of Halloween celebrations.
Because of their efforts, Halloween lost most of its superstitious and
religious overtones by the beginning of the twentieth century.
By the 1920s and 1930s, Halloween had become a secular, but
community- centered holiday, with parades and town-wide parties as the featured
entertainment. Despite the best efforts of many schools and communities,
vandalism began to plague Halloween celebrations in many communities during
this time. By the 1950s, town leaders had successfully limited vandalism and
Halloween had evolved into a holiday directed mainly at the young. Due to the
high numbers of young children during the fifties baby boom, parties moved from
town civic centers into the classroom or home, where they could be more easily
accommodated. Between 1920 and 1950, the centuries-old practice of
trick-or-treating was also revived. Trick-or-treating was a relatively
inexpensive way for an entire community to share the Halloween celebration. In
theory, families could also prevent tricks being played on them by providing
the neighborhood children with small treats. A new American tradition was born,
and it has continued to grow. Today, Americans spend an estimated $6.9 billion
annually on Halloween, making it the country's second largest commercial
holiday.
Silver Fox
"It is all true, it is not true. The more I tell you, the more I shall lie. What is story but jesting Pilate's cry. I am not paid to tell you the truth."
Jane Yolen; The Storyteller
- 4.
-
Stone, Trees & the Earth; The Meaning of Divination
Posted by: "Radiohawthorne" radiohawthorne@yahoo.com radiohawthorne
Wed Oct 19, 2011 5:44 pm (PDT)
This week on The Spiral Dance we delve into the meaning and uses of Divination. You know; to conduct a Divination IS to have a conversation with the Gods! So we'll talk about how Divination has played a role in history. Then we'll look at a few well-known methods of Divination.
We'll start with Divination of Stones, through Runes - what are Runes and how are they used. Then we'll look at Divination of Trees with the Celtic Ogham alphabet. And, finally - Earth Prophesy through Geomancy.
So, it's Stones, Trees and the Earth - the meaning of Divination. I hope you enjoy this week's show! Let me know! spiraldance1@excite.com
The Spiral Dance is now streaming audio on the web LIVE. Listen to The Spiral Dance LIVE every Monday at 8PM, Eastern Time over AM1630/ Radio Independent Voice! Find the webstream at www.RadioIndependentVoice.weebly. com
Some of the music you'll hear on this week's show include; Rhea's Obsession: "Between Earth and Sky"; Sarah Stockwell: "The Language of Stones"; Marjorie de Muynck: "Pulse"; Telling Point: "Waiting for Nothing"; Wendy Rule: "The Way to the Wild" and more.
Please listen to The Spiral Dance with Hawthorne each week. It's an online Pagan radio show (Webcast & Podcast). The podcast gives you the option to either<BR>listen to right from the website or download to your
computer. It's FREE and it's fun. Your suggestions and comments are welcome!
Each episode is approximately 75 - 80 minutes. Podcasts remain posted for about 4 or 5 weeks, so you can go back and listen to the other episodes for some great interviews, information and fun!
DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY?
Maybe you've composed a new poem and would like to hear it on the radio. If you want to submit audio to The Spiral Dance, send me an email. There are basically no rules - just no harsh language, no commercial
self-promotion and no Christian-bashing. Please let me know what you think about the show. I'm always open to suggestions; email spiraldance1@ excite.com/radiohawthorne@yahoo. com
You can also catch The Spiral Dance with Hawthorne webcast and Podcast by visiting my website to find the links.
www.thespiraldance.weebly.com/ home.html
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Located in the beautiful Hunter Valley where we hold sacred rituals, workshops, social events and outings, for more information see our calendar of events at Witches Meetup
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___________________________________________________________________________
�` Earthwise �`
<:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::]]======0
The Worldwide Spirit of Paganism
in Australia, America & Worldwide!
Take a Look at Our Huge EBay Store
For all your Magickal & Ritual Supplies
http://stores.ebay.com.au/Astarte-Earthwise
___________________________________________________________________________
This Earthwise Book of Shadows group holds the expectation
that a tolerant, mature and respectful dialogue be strived
for in our communications with each other. Members are
encouraged to challenge anyone not adhering to these
principles and to notify the list owner Astarte if you are
offended by a posting, write to me at
earthwise@bigpond.com
Thank you.
___________________________________________________________________________
Earthwise is a world wide group.
We are based in Bolwarra, NSW. Australia.
Located in the beautiful Hunter Valley where we hold sacred rituals, workshops, social events and outings, for more information see our calendar of events at Witches Meetup
http://www.meetup.com/earthwise/
___________________________________________________________________________
Astarte also works full time as a Psychic Counsellor, Medium,
Clairvoyant, Healer and Teacher.
If she can be of assistance to you, please see her home page at
www.earthwise.net.au
___________________________________________________________________________
ARE YOU CREATIVE?
Astarte is always sourcing new suppliers of quality pagan
related items, to purchase wholesale or even put on consignment,
she willing to purchase worldwide items for the Earthwise Store.
If you have something of interest please contact Astarte
earthwise@bigpond.com
___________________________________________________________________________
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