The Pagan Heart
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October-November 2005 Issue
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Samhaine
Activities
Apples are very magical - they represent a vast array of things. Immortality, death, rebirth, transition, healing, magic... the list goes on. This makes them an ideal fruit for Samhaine. And indeed the traditions involving apples are numerous. Many are ways of looking through the veil into the future - apple bobbing, peeling, slicing, and carving. This activity draws upon the apple's ability to confer life and power. When an apple is polished it becomes a mirror into the future and past. Select one red apple for every two people who will partake of your Samhaine feast. Carefully wash each one under running water and then dry them all. Sit them in the sun while you get the rest of the ingredients ready so they may draw in a final burst of his energy. Then carefully polish each apple until it shines. As you do, recite: "Oh apple fair and apple red
Core the apples. Mash up the remaining ingredients with a fork and then stuff the apples. Place in a baking dish with enough water to cover the base of the dish. Bake in a moderate oven until the apples are soft, replenishing the water if needed.
Place a small portion of each herb in the center of the material and use the ribbon to close it up. Hang these above entry points into your home. You can ask your goddess or god to bless them.
Samhaine is the coronation of the Winter, or Holly, King, and what better way to acknowledge that than make a crown for him? If you don't have access to holly leaves and berries at your local craft store, use fall leaves instead.
Lay out the holly branches in a staggered formation and tape them together. Curve the holly around into a circle (adjust it to fit your candle) and begin taping the branches to each other to secure it in place. Fold out and arrange the leaves and berries and then place the crown around the candle.
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Soak the apple rings in the juice for 10 minutes and then dry on a towel. Sprinkle with the mixed spices, flip and sprinkle again. Thread the rings onto the string and hang in a line in a warm dry place for two weeks to dry. Spread the rings out so they aren't all touching to let the air get to them. The rings will keep in an airtight jar for upto a year and a half. Leathery and sweet, they are yummy in food, alone as a snack, or tossed in a potpourri.
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Glue two craft sticks together to form a cross shape. Cut the last craft stick in half and glue to the bottom of the cross to make legs. Cut several pieces of the yarn about 1/2 inch long. Glue the yarn onto the ends of the craft sticks and a little bit to the head. Cut out shirt and pants shapes from the scrap material, or wind the pipe cleaners around the body to form clothes. Trim the hair a bit and use the markers to draw a face. Make a hat and glue it on the head. Glue a magnet strip to the back and put the scarecrow on the fridge.
Before you pick your pumpkin it's a good idea to have an idea of what type of image you'd like to carve - that way you can select a pumpkin that is suitable in shape. Avoid bruised or discoloured ones as they will rot faster. And don't carry your pumpkin around by its stem - it's easy to break the stem and drop the pumpkin! To carve a good pumpkin, you need the right tools:
Start by spreading out sheets of newspaper in a well lit area. Tape the stencil onto the pumpkin and use the nail to punch along the stencil lines - this makes a dotted line on the pumpkin that you can use to guide your knife when cutting. Remove the stencil - but keep it to look at when you're carving. Cut off the top or base with the serrated knife and use the spoon to scoop out the seeds and some flesh from the inside - you want the pumpkin skin/flesh to be about an inch thick. This way it will carve well but also hold its shape. Save the "innards" for cooking! Use the paring knife to slowly and carefully cut along the dotted lines of the stencil. Don't forget to cut a few vent holes in the top (even if you've cut the top off, you will be putting it back on after lighting your candle). The vent holes let the heat escape and reduce the "cooking" of your pumpkin by the candle.
With Samhaine comes the time to sit and think about the past year - the successes and not so great events. The memories. The hopes and the fears. Time to take stock and weigh up how well you did. Sometimes it is hard to recall everything that happened over the year - and sometimes it is also a little difficult to be completely honest with yourself about what did happen. But to truly get the most out of Samhaine, it's important to be honest. One way to do this is to make a Samhaine Book or Box - or even both. These are places to store the memories.
Cover and decorate the box with images and colours that are spiritually important to you. As the year passes, each festival and each month take the time to sit and write out what happened recently. Record all the big things regardless of how good or bad they were. Make sure you also list the times you did wonderful things, and the times you weren't so great. Write out how you felt, what it made you think. Store these letters in your box. Next Samhaine take them out and read through them. Think about how you have grown and matured. What you have learnt. Afterwards write down anything that you hope to change about yourself and offer it to your god. Then burn it. Now, write out everything you think you learnt from the events of the year, and all the great achievements you made. Put this with the letters. Then take all the papers, seal them up in a large envelope and write the year on it. Put it away somewhere safe. In future years if you are having a tough time, pull out the envelopes and have a read through. You'll be amazed to see how far you have come! If you'd prefer a Samhaine Book, you need a plain journal. Cover and decorate it the same way described above and fill it out the same way.
The following activity is from The Pooka Pages, created and maintained by Lora Craig-Gaddis. Occasionally you will find a beautiful spider web that has been abandoned by its owner or one that has been woven during the night in a spot that simply isn't practical (for instance in the middle of a walkway). When you do, take a can of white spray paint and, holding it about a foot away, gently mist the web (Make sure the spider isn't around - you don't want to hurt her!) Then take a stiff piece of black construction paper and, placing it behind the web, carefully raise it up or pull it toward you - 'lifting' the web as you do onto the construction paper. Seal your picture with light coats of spray varnish.
Making a sun cauldron for your altar is a wonderful way to bring the sun into your home over the coming months of darkness. This ritual utilises herbs from Midsummer and Samhaine, binding them together with oils of the sun, of protection, and of power. Wash your fruit and dry it. Carefully trim a small portion of rind from either end so the orange will balance without rolling. Remove as small a portion as possible, and try not to remove all the rind as this will leave a hole. Then slice the fruit in half and carefully remove the flesh. Set aside a small portion. Eat the remainder or use in cooking, juice-making, or some other fashion. Clean as much of the pith from the inside of the rind as possible, then wash it out and dry. Pack the rind with crumpled paper or alfoil taking care not to break the skin or distort the shape. Rest cut side down on a baking tray and dry in a moderate-low oven (about 250 degrees F) for 2 hours. Let cool in the oven for 1/2 hour and then remove. Thoroughly mix the sun herbs in a bowl and then sprinkle in the oils. Spoon the potpourri into the two rinds. To dedicate these to the sun god, when they are finished, take them (one at a time) in your cupped hands and hold up to the sun while reciting the following: "I honour the Sun, bringer of life, warmth, fertility, and vitality. I celebrate his presence in this world. I bask in his light. With the turning Wheel his time has passed and Winter comes. I mourn his loss. Let his light infuse this cauldron that it may glow with his heat and fill my home with joy through the dark times. Hail to the Sun." (You can replace the word "sun" with your own sun-deity's name). NOTE: You can also make pumpkin shell bowls. Slice in half, scoop out the seeds, and bake the pumpkins until cooked. Scoop out the flesh and bake the shells an additional hour in a low-moderate oven until dry and hard.
~ submitted by: Catherine M.
This is the perfect complement to the Sun Cauldron and a wonderful addition to Samhaine preparations. The candle in this brings a physical reminder of the sun's power to the home and makes a wonderful light to use in warding the boundaries. Wash your fruit and dry it. Carefully trim a small portion of rind from either end so the orange will balance without rolling. Remove as small a portion as possible, and try not to remove all the rind as this will leave a hole. Then slice the fruit in half and carefully remove the flesh. Set aside a small portion. Eat the remainder or use in cooking, juice-making, or some other fashion. Clean as much of the pith from the inside of the rind as possible, then wash it out and dry. Pack the rind with paper. Sketch symbols on the rind to show the shapes you wish to cut out. Don't have too many as the integrity of the rind will be compromised - and keep space between them. Using a sharp paring knife, carefully cut out the shapes. taking care not to break the skin or distort the shape. Poke the tack through the base of the rind (you will use this to secure the candle later). Rest cut side down on a baking tray and dry in a moderate-low oven (about 250 degrees F) for 2 hours. Let cool in the oven for 1/2 hour and then remove. Mix the oils and use them to anoint the candle and the outside of the rind. Place your candle inside, carefully pushing it onto the tack to hold in place.
Rituals
Protection From Negative Energies
Mix all ingredients well, then place into the center of white cloth in a pile. Bring each corner up to the center one at a time, in a clockwise motion. when all corners are up and touching, there will be four folds sticking out. In a clockwise motion, bring the corners of these folds to the center as well. Take the purple cord or yarn and wrap it around the cloth 3 times, just above the high spot of the herbs. Tie three knots, and let the ends hang. EMPOWERING THE HERBAL SACHET: Sit in a quiet place, preferably outdoors, and hold the sachet cupped in your hands. Close your eyes and imaging a white traveling through your arms and into the sachet. Feel safety, feel protected. See yourself standing surrounded by a white light. See it coming from the sachet. Empower the sachet once a week, and make a new sachet once a month. Continue using the sachet until you feel that you no longer need it. All the ingredients can be found at your local grocery store except for the dried rose and the cloth and cord. Find or buy a red rose and hang it upside down by the stem for 3 days in a warm, dry place to dry.
I recommend some sort of ritual fasting and detoxification during the equinoxes and solstices to prepare our bodies, minds, and spirits. The periodic cleansing out of toxins and "heavy" foods is a great way to strengthen the body and help the immune system. I try and incorporate at the least a limited version during the week beforehand - it depends upon my health and family regime as to whether a full 3 day fast and detox is advisable or simply a day-long one. Either way, it clears my mind and spirit and really makes Samhaine a more focused time for me.
Samhaine is a time to close the book on last year and start anew. Of course you want to make sure you've dealt with all your issues and such otherwise they'll linger around and haunt you. But basically it's a new year. What better way to begin than by smudging your home clean of all negativity? You need a smudgestick - I recommend white sage, but if you're sensitive to this, choose something else. Even a stick of incense (frankincense, sandalwood, or one of the psychic cleansing blends) will work, although you may need more than one stick - use the old stick to light the new as you procede through the house. You also need a small bowl of salt and one of blessed water. Open all windows and doors and turn off any smoke alarms. Move to the easternmost corner of your home. Light your smudgestick and then walk clockwise around your home. Make a circle about each room, and wave the smudgestick in a clockwise circle about each mirror, window, vent, or door. As you walk ask your gods to help banish harm, negativity, and evil from your home. Ask them to protect all within. Once you have returned to your starting point, thank the gods for their assistance and use the water to extinguish the smudgestick. Pick up the salt. Ask that the gods bless it to allow harmony, love, and positivity to enter while warding against imbalance, hate, and negativity. Walk clockwise through the house and place a pinch of salt before each mirror, window, vent, and doorway.
Charge and combine salt and water, using your preferred method. Then use the salt and water mixture to anoint door jambs, windowsills, mirrors, etc., as you chant the following: "Once with water, once with salt,
Anoint each object 3 times, repeating the chant.
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