We’re coming up on one of my favorite holidays which most of you know as Halloween, but we Wiccans know as Samhain (pronounced Sow-en). We have 8 specific celebrations we share during the year, some of which happen near the holidays of other spiritual paths and others that don’t. Since several women have expressed interest in reading about Pattyann’s and my spiritual beliefs earlier, I thought I’d tell you a little about what this holiday means for me.
Interesting that it’s so near the Jewish new year because it’s our new year also. It’s the celebration of the last harvest of the year and the time to start going inward and honoring the ancestors and loved ones who’ve passed on. I do that in a number of ways. I have a shelf in my kitchen that I decorate and change with the different seasons—right now there are pictures of pumpkins, colorful ears of dried corn and things having to do with weaving along with a candle I like to light when I cook, on the shelf. I spend time before Samhain especially thinking about the people in my family who have died and on the day of Samhain I bury an apple in my garden as a symbol of my hopes of peace for them and all others who have died in the last year.
The going inward is lovely but, like most everyone else, I also like to party. Sometimes my family and I have gotten into the whole Halloween costume thing (my kids definitely liked trick-or-treating) and we witches generally like to laugh at ourselves and have fun with the stereotypes of the old witch on a broomstick etc. But I also like gatherings of people who celebrate the deeper meaning of the holiday, and I especially like celebrating it with other women. A few days ago I got to celebrate early with a small group of ladies in one of the women’s little cabin she calls her moon hut which is for women only. It was lovely. This year though, my husband and I are also going to 2 gatherings that I’m looking forward to: one on Sunday in Vancouver, BC where there will be several hundred people partying, singing together and doing a spiral dance—an amazingly fun weaving dance that is hard to explain; and a much smaller potluck and celebration on the actual night.
That’s a bare bones explanation from my perspective. Pattyann may have more to say about it too. Anyway, happy Halloween, Samhain, New Year, Harvest and daylight savings time to everyone!

Dream of the Circle of Women
by Dahti Blanchard
published May 2004 by Spilled Candy Books
visit: www.dahtiblanchard.com

Happy Samhein Dahti, Pattyann, and others!

Dahti, the gatherings in Vancouver sound wonderful. Have a fun and blessed time

I have always loved Halloween. Your celebrations sound wonderful.
Dumb question...Do you decorate for the holiday? I know you mentioned costumes but is it disrespectful to put up pictures of witches and goblins?

Dahti,

Very interesting and insightful post. I'm going to print it out for my daughter to read. I've told her that there are women on the bws that celebrate "differently" (forgive me for a lack of a better word). As I told you privately offline - that for years I was afraid of being around people who had different beliefs then what I have (christian) because I was afraid of their infulence on my children.

My daughter has begun an exploritive journey of religions, and some of what you said sounds like what she believes.

I have relaxed (as I had told you) in being fearful of differences......I personally have chosen to love people for who they are, not what they believe.

It has been an interesting journey for ME...

Danita

Blessings and joys of Samhain to everyone!
The night holds both
Beginning and end
The wheel has come
Full circle again
The past and future
Come into our sights
All become one
This magical night

LIke Dahti- this is one of my favorite holidays.
The new year- new promise but remembering the old-all we love and those we lost.
This year I will be going toa big celebrations- honoring our ancestor mothers. At first I thought it would be just a few women but it has turned into a party as pagan celebrations tend to
This weekend my husband and I are going to gettysburg- our last long weekend away before we both get too busy at work- it has become a tradition
I envy you the spiral dance, Dahti- there is always something so joyous and mesmerizing about it
Tvc- it isn't disrespectful to decorate with witches and all- we laugh about the green faced warty crone that is the usual picture of a witch- I know some witches that are ultra political condemn it as demeaning but most of us already going against mainstream thinking have developed a sense of humor about it
So celebrate Samhain- or Halloween- it is an old old celebration of harvest and remembrance and new starts
Blessed be

Blessings and joys of Samhain to everyone from me too.
chick

TV--that wasn't a dumb question. I do decorate although this year it's more for the harvest part. But I love the witch/goblin/ghost spooky Halloween stuff too. Also, I tend to be decorated all year round here--all kinds of witchy things and our family sort of has a twinkly light monopoly going here. One of my music students calls our place the Christmas house because we have so many twinkly lights. They look great in a log house...
And I don't find the spooky stuff disrespectful at all--it's part of the fun of Halloween shared by all kinds of people. The Mexican Day of the Dead is a great balance I think of the funny/spooky combined with the respect and reverence of ancestors. Like Pattyann said, there are always some pagans without a sense of humor (like any group) but the majority of us aren't that way.
Pattyann--that chant was lovely. I haven't heard it before--did you write it?
Danita--I read it with interest when you first told me that you'd had a hard time being afraid of the influence of people with different beliefs on your kids. I think a lot of people share that fear. One of the unschooler parties my kids had once had kids whose religious backgrounds included: Christian, orthodox Jewish, Muslim, agnosticism, atheism and, of course, pagan/wiccan. The discussions we got to listen in on were very interesting. Our holiday meals usually include my sister and her husband who is a shaman for his S'Kallam tribe here in the Pacific Northwest, our Catholic friends, some Jewish friends and we wiccans. The blessings and food choices alone get to be quite an interesting combination at those.
Thanks Meredith & Chick for your well wishes.

Dream of the Circle of Women
by Dahti Blanchard
published May 2004 by Spilled Candy Books
visit: www.dahtiblanchard.com

A little off topic but, I watch Boston Legal and next week's show is going to be about a case that involves Christians and Witches. I'm assuming they were talking about Wiccan Witches. Just thought I'd mention it in case anyone is interested.

I'm glad the decorations aren't considered disrepectful because I've got one witch decoration that is a knock-out and I love decorating for Halloween. (My kids laugh because I like decorating for Halloween better than Christmas) I wouldn't want to offend anyone though.

TV--thanks for the Boston Legal alert. I'll definitely have to watch it. I do know people, mostly women, who have had sad experiences with custody cases because they are witches. It's almost always because the other spouse, who never had a problem with the person's beliefs before divorce proceedings, decides to use whatever ugly means necessary to get back at her and/or get custody of the children. There is so much misunderstanding about wicca that some people are willing to believe all kinds of nonsense about it.
It'll be interesting to see what the storyline is on Boston Legal.

Dream of the Circle of Women
by Dahti Blanchard
published May 2004 by Spilled Candy Books
visit: www.dahtiblanchard.com

That is sad. What has anyone's religion to do with how good a mother they are.