Samhain 2009: my experiences

Alright, this is my first attempt at a real blog and I find that I am rather excited. I look forward to being able to write about my witchy doings and receive feedback.

For my first blog. I will write about my 2009 Samhain ritual because i found it fascinating and very very fun.

After spending many hours on Friday night deliberating over what to do, my friend and I finally figured out what we were going to do for our Samhain ritual. We also decided to do it in her apartment because we could have privacy from unwelcome guests.

We started off the night with free Chipotle, which I must say is an awesome way to start the night. We then wasted an hour or two exploring the college town and checking out the many costumed drunks wandering around main street. It was entertaining and really got us in the Halloween spirit. We then made our way back to her apartment to prepare for our ritual

She tidied up her apartment while I set up our makeshift altar.(its amazing what you can do with a simple printer stand and a handmade pentacle tile) We Lit a bunch of candles around the room because we wanted to have the whole thing lit by only natural light. Once we had adequate lighting with a horde of candles aflame and only slight worry about the smoke detector going off, we began. In the spirit of Samhain, we began with a guided ancestor meditation. My friend guided us through. We focused on those ancestors who have passed on whether or not we knew them. I seemed to focus on my great grandfather. I called him papa when i was little. We invited our passed ancestors to join us in the circle so that they may be present while we meditated and worked out spell.

After naturally coming out of our meditative states we reflected on the successfulness of said process and then moved on into our ritual. We used the elements to mark the four quarters. Air in the east, fire in the south, water in the west, and earth in the north. We used burning incense for air, a lit candle lantern for fire, a bowl of water for water, and a jar of salt represented earth. we cast a circle in a non-traditional way. Instead of the typical walking deosil a number of times while casting energy down to form it, we joined hands over the altar and raised the temple through speech and meditation. i prefer this method of circle casting as it is more simple and i find it much more effective.

After casting the circle, we called each of the four quarters, asking for them to lend us power in order to perform our ritual. my friend called air and fire, then I called water and earth because these elements correspond to each of us.

We then spoke about our purpose in the circle. The veneration of our ancestors as well as to recognize that this is the time of death, before the rebirth of spring. To represent the death, we both wrote down something about ourselves that was holding us back from being the person that we are meant to be and then burning it using the ritual candle. I will keep our writings private, its none of your damn business.

Once the the paper was no more than ash, we continued to the next portion of our ritual. We decided to each charge an amulet for two reasons. One to help us if ever that portion of ourselves that was ritually burned came back. The second purpose we charmed the amulets for was to help us if we ever were in a position where our spirituality was becoming far from us. The second purpose was especially important because both of us have had troubles keeping up with Wicca while at college and dealing with things in our lives and neither of us wanted that to happen again.

With our purpose met, we thanked and released the elements and then released the circle. We then made our way around the room extinguishing candles until only the altar candles were lit. By that light we gathered the water from the west, some salt from the north, ash from the incense in the east, and all the ash from our burnt paper and used matches. We then took our lanterns and the container holding the representation of each element outside to a nearby wood. We dumped the conents at the base of a tree after dedicating them as our offering to nature.

We then made a run to sheetz for food as we had no cakes or ale, given our limited resources.