I wonder how many of us celebrate the True Festival that is Samhain.
It was the first day of the Celtic Year, the beginning of Winter and the last Harvest.
People feast, dance and give thanks. It is a festival also to remember those that have passed and to fill a glass for absent friends.
At this time of year the vail between this world and the next is thin and many ask for guidance from the Old Ones about the future and Divination is popular on this night. Also dressing up and doing things out of the ordinary is good, there is a feeling we don't dance alone or cuddle by our fire too far from the wise Crone of the Festival or even the dark aspect of our Lord.
It is a time to let go of old hangups and things that have held you back over the year.
Please have fun, collect sweets and tell stories, don't scare eachother too much.
Blessings, Harkon.
Edited: JB on 9th Oct, 2010 - 4:19pm
Halloween and Samhain: Secular and Sacred Celebrations
Taking witchcraft seriously is a complicated matter in America. The question of whether one is willing to believe in witches is an old one. To believe extends credibility, whereas not to believe removes that power. Laughing is often a wonderful kind of disarmament. The pleasures of trick-or-treat parties both reflect and disarm the season's impact. Why face the reality of life's basic trick that we are all getting older every minute, when one can focus on the many treats of living? Ref. Source 1
What a lot of people don't realize is that a True Witch be he or she Wiccan or not has a very different image to the fairytale or popular idea cast during Halloween of the pointy hat and cackles over a bubbling cauldron.
I have known many witches in my life, Alexandrian and Gardnerian Wiccans, Eco-Witches and Christian Witches too.
True Witchcraft is about the Earth and Natural Creation. They believe that if you do harm, harm will return to you three fold. They wear colorful dress to follow the Pagan Year and it's festivals, they heal and ask for spiritual guidance.
I know there are those who follow a Dark path, but the Witches I have met are Good, Honest Spiritual People.
Blessed Be, have a good Samhain.