This Samhain Season.....

Blessed Samhain and Happy New Year! Samhain, a.k.a. Halloween, is the most sacred holiday for most witches.

It is also known as the Witches New Year.

I love this time of year because it is so sacred to me. It is the time of year when the Veil between worlds is thinnest, when it is possible to journey between worlds easily, for our Ancestors to reach out and communicate with us, pass on their knowledge, their wisdom.

I love all the seasons, love embracing the turning Wheel but I really love the time of Samhain, because I love this time of darkness, this time of slowing down, time to rest, breathe and just listen. The growing season is over, the crops are in, the fields have been cleared for their winter's rest before the cycle starts again next spring. This is the time where we withdraw from the outside world and snuggle in for the Dark Time of the year.

A lot of people do not like this time of year because they feel like the everything is bare, dirty, empty, wet and dreary, like the party is over and in a way it is. Witches/pagans follow and celebrate the seasons of the year based on the growing seasons versus the calendar year, that is one of the reasons why Samhain/Halloween is our New Year, the growing season is done, the fields are empty. For us the end of the year is now, not on December 31st.

I see this time of year as the perfect time to take in some quality downtime, time spent going thru your Inner House, your mental/spiritual/emotional house. Clean out the clutter, the chatter, sweep out the cobwebs of the Soul, excise old ghosts, old grudges, old emotions, old attachments that are no longer serving you. Time to sit back and start planning, visualizing, dreaming about what new and beautiful changes you want to bring into your life over the next year.

Witches also honor and seek the Wisdom of our Ancestors during the Season of Samhain. We honor those we have lost during our life time as well as honoring those who have died for their beliefs through out the ages.

We promise to never forget those who were persecuted because they chose to live their Truth, chose to be strong against the Tide of conformity, chose to follow the Universal Laws of Nature versus the laws of men.

We set up altars with loving representations and remembrances of all of these loved ones, we offer incense to sweeten their memory, set a place for them at Dumb Supper, ask their hand in a Tarot spread to show us the way, invite them to join us in Sacred Space to share their wisdom with us so that we may seek to better ourselves, start on the next path, write the next chapter, plant the newest row in our personal Soul Garden.

May the Wisdom of your Ancestors bless you this Samhain Season.
So Mote It Be.
Blessed Be.

October Full Moon Blessings

5:30am...Full Moon shining on my face "get up, get up". The solitude I have been craving is mine for the taking. At this moment there is a fresh fire burning in the wood stove, candles lit on my altar/buffet, incense wafting through the house, a cup of coffee dark and sweet, the full moon setting amongst the trees. I am grateful. Last night as the Mother Goddess and I chatted with Sister Moon while She bathed the world with Her silvery glow I was gently reminded that yes, Life is (ever)changing, is always moving forward and my ever constant wish for a moment to be able to stop and collect my breath, my thoughts, my bearings is NEVER going to happen, at least not from without...only from within.....I have to make my own moments, my own "me" time...I have to stop waiting for the Universe to bring it to me on a silver platter....I have to pay more attention to the gifts illuminated for me within the silver glow of that Full Moon. So, with the wood fire warming my home, my coffee warming my being, the incense and sacred space warming my Soul I bid you Sweet Full Moon Blessings, may your day be full of peace, contentment and Love. With Knowledge, Truth, Wisdom, Grace....Blessed Be.

Virtual Reality vs Living an Authentic Life

Choosing to Live an Authentic Life: My family and I are as guilty as the rest of the modern world of the shame of watching WAY too much TV, and being addicted to one or another “reality shows", however one of those shows became the catalyst for the direction I’m choosing to take with my life…(The irony of all of this is sincerely comical as well as poignant). In said show one of the participants blurted out a line that simply pole axed me! As he was being filmed working his land he expressed a sadness at our “virtual world” and then he turned his gaze towards the camera and said the words that would change my outlook towards my life: “We live in a virtual world and it’s sad. People are sitting at home giving up their own lives to virtually watch other people lives, that so sad! I’m proud to say that I am not one of those people; I’m out there LIVING my life!” (as close a quote as I can paraphrase from memory) His words really reached out and touched me! I think of ALL the things I want to do in this life, creatively and mundanely, I think of how often I complain that I simply don’t have enough time. Then I think of all the time I spend in front of that flat screen watching characters, real and imagined, following their “lives” and “dramas” while the clock keeps ticking away on my own life…I also realized this applies to social media as well, another time sucker...very fun and provocative, but again, something that needs to be moderated in my own life.... I started to wonder how much more could I get done, how much I could create, if I started living, really LIVING, my own life instead of watching or reading about someone else’s? I'll leave you with that thought.....looking forward to sharing with you what wonders I discover as I make the choice to dramatically drop the amount of time spent watching tv and reading social media and get out there and make my own life happen!