Samhain

For many people Christmas is an important holiday. By the time it hits September angel decorations start filling the store aisles and “Jingle Bells” plays on repeat but it is not the only one filling up the store. Ghouls, candy, and spiders all crouch on the side waiting for Halloween; a holiday that some look over when it does get to September, although they should not. Halloween is a major holiday that is more exciting than Christmas in terms of history, traditions, and in lower expenses.…

Halloween costumes are an exciting and intriguing part of the October holiday. People of all ages come together in this tradition of becoming something or someone else by adorning masks, makeup, wigs, and even sharp teeth. What was once a ritual of avoiding death's hand, has now become a popular event in modern society. Costumes themselves have a specific culture in Halloween. Young adults and teenagers in particular seem to have almost a conformity in their styles of costumes. The way our…

What I Know Before beginning the research process, my knowledge on witchcraft, Wicca, and Paganism was very limited. I gathered that witchcraft is part of Wicca and that Wicca is part of Paganism. I had no knowledge on witchcraft at all. I struggled to separate fact from fiction regarding the practice of witchcraft. I was familiar with caricatures and fictional portrayals of witches and wizards like Hocus Pocus and Harry Potter, but I knew not to rely on those inaccurate representations of the…

end of October is a time of corn mazes, costume parties, and haunted houses. Many cultures celebrate harvest festivals during October, though none are as well-known as Halloween. Because Halloween is primarily descended from the Celtic festival of Samhain, when some think of Halloween, they think of bats and cats and witches. However, although Halloween as it is currently know is a wholly American creation with regional rituals handed down by generations, it did not become a “full-blown American…

Growing up with a Christian family, or with any strongly religious family can oftentimes affect how open and welcoming we are to other people and their views. I had a very religious family and am from a small village, so there wasn’t much diversity or openness to other beliefs. Recently, I’ve been curious and wondering about Wicca and interesting in looking into what they believe. I was raised where any pagan beliefs and witchcraft were believed to be evil and satanic. However, the more I…

The customary event marking the beginning of the Early Middle Ages is the “fall” of the Roman Empire. It is interpreted that the beginning of the Early Middle Ages is not one dramatic event, but of several long-term trends, including the unadorned economic decline of the later Roman Empire and the incursions and settlement of Germanic peoples within the West. For the next five hundred years, Western Europe remained essentially a primitive culture, elaborate culture of the Roman Empire was never…

Early Jack-o’-lanterns were carved from turnips and potatoes by the Irish and Scottish and carried in the Celtic celebration of the Feast of Samhain. Lumps of coal were lit on fire and placed inside the hollowed root vegetables. Later on, Irish children used to carve out potatoes or turnips and light them for their Halloween gatherings to commemorate Jack, a villain who angered the devil and was turned away from heaven and hell when he died. He was doomed to wander the earth in search of a…

rituals for Morgan. She has so many different aspects that no one ritual could do Her justice, and She constantly inspires me to write more and more about Her. Here are some that I have written. I have many more rituals (and stories) “in progress”. Samhain (Oct. 31) or Morgan’s Feast Day (Nov. 1) Preparation: The perfect site for a Morgan ritual is the sea, a lake, a stream, a river, or a sacred grove of trees of meadow. If indoors, keep either fresh or sea water on the altar. You will need a…

centered around ancient solar and harvest festivals. Also they honor the solstice and equinoxes, and also the great fire festivals, such as the last harvest and the rites of spring. The most well known holiday for witches is Halloween, which they call Samhain. Witches cherish all of nature’s holidays as we cherish ours. Like other religious groups there are many others of witchcraft. Witches were the magic makers of the pre-christian pagan peoples of Western Europe. Pagan groups such as the…

“The cosmos is an unfolding and contingent process filled with endless spirals of life, death, and rebirth,” (Green 143). Death is a universal concept among all people because it is an inevitable part of existing in the physical world. But the concept of death and how it is made sense of differs among religions across the globe. For Neo-Paganists, the belief in reincarnation is one embedded in holding nature as a sacred entity. Death is not something to be feared, rather, it is something to be…