Pagan New Year: A Solo Ritual for Samhain

Samhain, also known as the Celtic New Year, is the most profound, important, and best known of all pagan sabbats. Samhain is perhaps the favorite Celtic high holiday of all. After all, it is the witches’ New Year celebration and the time to honor and commune with your elders and family members who have passed on to the other side, as well as the time to celebrate the passing year and set intentions for new blessings in the new year to come.

Supplies:

• Altar space
• 8 candles
• Powdered incense
• Bread
• Salt
• Wine

1. Prepare for this most holy night and rite by setting up an altar. Place three candles on a stone altar to represent the Triple Goddess and five to represent the points of the pentagram. The star of the pentagram should be drawn with powdered incense of the self- lighting variety to be lit later. Gather together bread, salt, and wine for the sacrament.

2. After you have made your preparations for the altar, ready yourself by bathing and meditating. Anoint your body before dressing in a robe or gown befitting this night when the veil between the worlds is the thinnest. As you ready your body, mind, and spirit, consider what has taken place in the preceding year. Cleanse your mind and heart of old sorrows and most especially of angers and petty resentments. Bring only your best into this night. After all, this is New Year’s Eve for witches, and you want to truly connect with those who have gone on to the other side.

3. Walk alone to the place of the ceremony and kneel before the altar. Before lighting the candles on the altar, say aloud:

    This candle I light for the Maiden’s brightest glory.

Light the candle and bow to the Maiden.

    This candle I light for the power and passion of the Lady, the Queen.

Light the candle and bow to the Queen.

    This candle I light for the unsurpassable wisdom of the Crone.

Light the candle and bow to the Crone.

4. Light the incense, and then gazing at the candles on the altar, say:

    These do I light in honor of the Triple Goddess

    on this sacred night of Samhain.

    I create this holy temple

    in honor of the Goddess and the God

    and all the ancient ones.

    From time before time,

    I pay my tribute and my devotion

    In love and greeting to those beyond the veil.

5. Now light the candles that represent the power of the five-pointed pentagram. Rap three times on the altar with your hands or with your wand. Then say:

    This is a time outside of time

    in a place outside of any place

    on a day that is not a day

    between the worlds and afar.

6. Pause and listen to your heart for thirteen beats, then hold your hands in benediction over the bread, salt, and wine. Now say:

    For this bread, salt, and wine,

    I do ask the blessings

    of our Maiden, our Queen, and our Crone

    and of the God who guards the Gates of the World.

7. Take the bread and sprinkle a bit of salt over it, saying:

    I ask that I and all whom I love

    have health and abundance and blessings.

Eat the bread, and hold up the goblet of wine, saying:

    To a spirit that remains strong and true!

Drink the wine and declare:

    By the Triple Goddess and her godly consort, so mote it be!

8. At this point, a danse macabre to any dark folk or Gothic music of your choosing can end the ritual—I suggest any music by the band Dead Can Dance. You should also spend time meditating or allowing yourself to ease into a trance state to communicate with your beloved dead. Hear the messages they have for you and let them know you.

9. When you feel the ritual has ended, quench the candles, and then say:

    Though these flames

    of the material world

    be darkened,

    they shall ever burn

    in the world beyond.

    This rite is ended.

Pagan New Year: A Solo Ritual for Samhain

Samhain, also known as the Celtic New Year, is the most profound, important, and best known of all pagan sabbats. Samhain is perhaps the favorite Celtic high holiday of all. After all, it is the witches’ New Year celebration and the time to honor and commune with your elders and family members who have passed on to the other side, as well as the time to celebrate the passing year and set intentions for new blessings in the new year to come. 

Supplies:

• Altar space
• 8 candles
• Powdered incense
• Bread
• Salt
• Wine

1. Prepare for this most holy night and rite by setting up an altar. Place three candles on a stone altar to represent the Triple Goddess and five to represent the points of the pentagram. The star of the pentagram should be drawn with powdered incense of the self-lighting variety to be lit later. Gather together bread, salt, and wine for the sacrament.
   
   
2. After you have made your preparations for the altar, ready yourself by bathing and meditating. Anoint your body before dressing in a robe or gown befitting this night when the veil between the worlds is the thinnest. As you ready your body, mind, and spirit, consider what has taken place in the preceding year. Cleanse your mind and heart of old sorrows and most especially of angers and petty resentments. Bring only your best into this night. After all, this is New Year’s Eve for witches, and you want to truly connect with those who have gone on to the other side.
   
   
3. Walk alone to the place of the ceremony and kneel before the altar. Before lighting the candles on the altar, say aloud:
   
   This candle I light for the Maiden’s brightest glory.
   
   Light the candle and bow to the Maiden.
   
   This candle I light for the power and passion of the Lady, the Queen.
   
   Light the candle and bow to the Queen.
   
   This candle I light for the unsurpassable wisdom of the Crone.
   
   Light the candle and bow to the Crone.
   
   
4. Light the incense, and then gazing at the candles on the altar, say:
   
   These do I light in honor of the Triple Goddess
   on this sacred night of Samhain.
   I create this holy temple
   in honor of the Goddess and the God
   and all the ancient ones.
   From time before time,
   I pay my tribute and my devotion
   In love and greeting to those beyond the veil.
   
   
5. Now light the candles that represent the power of the five-pointed pentagram. Rap three times on the altar with your hands or with your wand. Then say:
   
   This is a time outside of time
   in a place outside of any place
   on a day that is not a day
   between the worlds and afar.
   
   
6. Pause and listen to your heart for thirteen beats, then hold your hands in benediction over the bread, salt, and wine. Now say:
   
   For this bread, salt, and wine,
   I do ask the blessings
   of our Maiden, our Queen, and our Crone
   and of the God who guards the Gates of the World.
   
   
7. Take the bread and sprinkle a bit of salt over it, saying:
   
   I ask that I and all whom I love
   have health and abundance and blessings.
   
   Eat the bread, and hold up the goblet of wine, saying:
   
   To a spirit that remains strong and true!
   
   Drink the wine and declare:
   
   By the Triple Goddess and her godly consort, so mote it be!
   
   
8. At this point, a danse macabre to any dark folk or Gothic music of your choosing can end the ritual—I suggest any music by the band Dead Can Dance. You should also spend time meditating or allowing yourself to ease into a trance state to communicate with your beloved dead. Hear the messages they have for you and let them know you.
   
   
9. When you feel the ritual has ended, quench the candles, and then say:
   
   Though these flames
   of the material world
   be darkened,
   they shall ever burn
   in the world beyond.
   This rite is ended.

Major and Lesser Sabbats

Four Major Sabbats

Candlemas—February 2 

Beltane—May 1 

Lammas—August 1 

Samhain—October 31

Four Lesser Sabbats

Vernal Equinox—March 20 

Summer Solstice—June 24 

Autumn Equinox—September 23 

Winter Solstice/Yule—December 21

October Celebrations, Festivals, & Rituals

 October 1, Beginning of Shinto “Godless” Month in Japan with pilgrimages to shrines temporarily abandoned by the gods and spirits

October 2, Old Man’s Day in Hertfordshire, England, a day of charity and prayer

October 3, Zhong Oiu Jie is a moveable Chinese Moon festival celebrated around this time

October 4, Saint Francis Day, when pets are blessed

October 5, Pilgrimage to Zapopan in Jalisco, Mexico, celebrating the Virgin

October 6, Festival of Vishnu begins (Hindu)

October 7, United Nations Children’s Day

October 8, Okunchi in Japan with a lucky lion dance parade 

October 9, Han’Gul, Alphabet Day (Korea)

October 10, Shuangshi Jie, National Day in Taiwan, also called “Double Tenth Day,” a festival of folk dancing, sword fighting, and martial arts

October 11, Medrinalia in Rome, the celebration of new wine 

October 12, Fiesta de Nuestra Senora del Pilar in Spain

October 13, Fontinalia, Roman Festival in honor of Fons, son of Jupiter

October 14, Japanese Battle Festival, Mega-kenka Matsuri, celebrated with battle rites and reenactments since 201 CE

October 15, Festival of Mars (Ancient Rome) 

October 16, World Food Day

October 17, Family Day (South Africa) 

October 18, Heroes Day (Jamaica)

October 19, Our Lord of Miracles procession in Peru since 1687

October 20, Guru Har Rai Day for Sihks

October 21, Festival of the Black Christ in Panama, El Jesus Nazareno

October 22, Cheung Yeung (Hong Kong)

October 23, Swallows depart from Capistrano (and arrive back on March 19, St. Joseph’s Day)

October 24, United Nations Day celebrated globally with school fairs, concerts, exhibitions, and banquets

October 25, Saint Crispin’ Day (1415), immortalized in Shakespeare’s Henry V

October 26, Quit Rent Day in Europe, celebrated with ceremonies, feasts, and presentations and token payment of rent with horseshoes

October 27, Feast of the Holy Souls

October 28, Meiji Festival in Tokyo featuring five days of performances, classical court dances, concerts and horseback-archery contests

October 29, Ringing of “Lost in the Dark” Church Bells in England

October 30, Angels’ Night, also known as Devil’s Night (United States)

October 31, Halloween, Samhain

Although October is the tenth month of the year, it comes from the Latin word for eight, as it was the eighth month in the Roman calendar. The Romans designated the month of October to honor Astraea, daughter of Zeus and Themis. Astraea lived on earth, but when mankind became too evil, she departed to the stars. The chilly air and biting winds of October symbolize her departure from earth. The Celts call October Deireadh Fomhair, and the Anglo-Saxons called it Winterfelleth, which translates to “winter is coming.” The Franks linked October to the grape harvest and the pressing of new wine, calling it Vintage Month or Windurmanoth, Farmers in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in America called the October full moon the Hunter’s Moon, and Native Americans refer to October as Second Summer, which is why we sometimes call it Indian Summer. 

New Year, New You: Metamorphosis and Transmutation

Here is a personal ritual I recommend for the New Year, whether it is Samhain (October 31, All Hallow’s Eve) or Saturnalia (December 17–24). It can also be performed any time you feel the need for renewal or personal reinvention.

Like a caterpillar, we can burst out of our old form and shed old skin. Old habits that no longer serve should be released. If drinking alcohol, for example, has become a problem for you, let go, find a Twelve-Step program, and let miracles happen in your life as you release the old and welcome the new. We must let go of the past in order to look to the future.

A well-timed ritual can be the process by which you let go of that past. It formalizes the act and marks the time of entry into a new present and new future.

Start with a ritual bath, or this Inspirational Immersion, to cleanse yourself.

Immersion

At the day’s last light, pour a bath. As your run the water, pour drops of bergamot, rosemary, vetiver, and eucalyptus oils into the steaming waters. Bathe in the gathering dark. As darkness begins to fill the room, meditate and pray for positive change in your life. Know that this is the day your life will surely change forever. 

The Art of Crystal Gazing: Divination Secrets

Crystal gazing has been in use since the ancients used ice for divination. 
 

As time passed and the use of ice gave way to the use of quartz, there was even more interest in the crystal ball.  In the Middle Ages, elaborate rituals were invoked before the seer took up the crystal ball and prayerfully read the symbols that appeared, believing that they had heavenly origin.  While many dismiss crystal gazing with a shrug, there are rare individuals with a thoroughly scientific attitude who endeavor to search for the truth and refuse to give credence to their own doubts.  Such individuals are now looking at the crystal ball with renewed interest.

Lewis Spence, one of the world’s foremost scholars of occult science, has this to say in his book An Encyclopedia of Occultism: “The object of crystal gazing . . . is the induction of an hypnotic state giving rise to visionary hallucinations, the reflection of light in the crystal forming points de repère for such hallucinations. . . . There are many well-attested cases wherein the crystal has been successfully used for the purpose of tracing criminals, or recovering lost of stolen property.” Now when the veil is thinnest is the best time to look to the other side for messages and meaning. 

Celtic New Year: Samhain Celebration

Samhain, also known as the Celtic New Year, is the most profound, important, and best-known of all pagan sabbats.  Samhain is perhaps the  pagan’s favorite high holiday of all. 

After all, it is the witches’ New Year celebration and the time to honor and commune with your elders and family members who have passed on to the other side, as well as the time to celebrate the passing year and set intentions for new blessings in the coming new pagan year.  Plus, it is the season to become your most bohemian in a glamorous costume!

            Supplies:

            Altar space

            3 candles

            Powdered incense

            Bread

            Salt

            Wine

1.     Prepare for this most holy night and rite by setting up an altar.  Place the three candles on a stone altar to represent the Triple Goddess and five to represent the points of the pentagram.  The star of the pentagram should be drawn with powdered incense to be lit later.  Gather together bread, salt, and wine for the sacrament.

2.     After you have made your preparations for the altar, ready yourself by bathing and meditating.  Anoint your body before dressing in a robe or gown befitting this night when the veil between the worlds is the thinnest.  As you ready your body, mind, and spirit, consider what has taken place in the preceding year.  Cleanse your mind and heart of old sorrows and most especially of angers and petty resentments.  Bring only your best into this night.  After all, this is New Year’s Eve for witches, and you want to truly connect with those who have gone on to the other side.

3.     Walk alone to the place of the ceremony and kneel before the altar.  Before lighting the candles on the altar, say aloud:

This candle I light for the Maiden’s brightest glory.

Light the candle and bow to the Maiden.

      This candle I light for the power and passion of the Lady, the Queen.

Light the candle and bow to the Queen.

      This candle I light for the unsurpassable wisdom of the Crone.

Light the candle and bow to the Crone.

4.     Light the incense and then place the candles on the altar, saying:

These do I light in honor of the Triple Goddess on this sacred night of Samhain

I create this holy temple in honor of the Goddess and the God

And all the ancient ones.

From time before time,

I pay my tribute and my devotion

In love and greeting to those behind the veil.

5.     Now light the candles that represent the power of the five-pointed pentagram.  Rap three times on the altar with your hands or with your wand.  Then say:

This is a time outside of time

In a place outside of any place.

On a day that is not a day

Between the worlds and afar.

6.     Pause and listen to your heart for thirteen beats, then hold your hands in benediction over the bread, salt, and wine.  Now say:

For this bread, salt, and wine,

I do ask the blessings

Of our Maiden, our Queen, and our Crone

And of the God who guards the Gates of the World.

7.     Take the bread and sprinkle a bit of salt over it, saying:

I ask that I and all whom I love

Have health and abundance and blessings.

            Eat the bread, and hold up the goblet of wine, saying:

To a spirit that remains strong and true!

            Drink the wine and declare:

By the Triple Goddess and her godly consort, so mote it be!

8.     At this point, a danse macabre to any dark folk or Gothic music of your choosing can end the ritual – I suggest any music by the band Dead Can Dance.  You should also spend time meditating or allowing yourself to ease into a trance state to communicate with your beloved dead.  Hear the messages they have for you and let them know you.

9.     When you feel the ritual has ended, quench the candles, and then say:

Though these flames

Of the material world

Be darkened,

They shall ever burn

In the world beyond.

This rite is ended.

Happy Celtic New Year!

Halloween stems from the grand tradition of the Celtic New Year. What started as a folk festival celebrated by small groups in rural areas has come to be the second largest holiday of today. There are multitudinous reasons including modern marketing but I think it satisfies a basic human need, to let your “wild side” out, to be free and more connected with the ancient ways.  This is the time when the veil between worlds is thinnest and you can commune with the other side, with elders and the spirit world. It is important to honor the ancestors during this major sabbat and acknowledge what transpired in the passing year as well as set intentions for the coming year.

 This is the ideal time to invite your circle; the ideal number for your “coven” is 13. Gather powdered incense, salt, a loaf of bread, goblets for wine, and three candles to represent the triple goddess for altar offerings.  Ideally on an outdoor stone altar, pour the powdered incense into a pentagram star shape. Let go of old sorrows, angers and anything not befitting of new beginnings in this New Year Bring only your best to this auspicious occasion.

Light the candles and say:

In honor of the Triple Goddess on this sacred night of Samhain,

All the ancient ones

From time before time

To those behind the veil.

Rap the altar three times and light the incense. Say this blessing aloud:

For this bread, wine, and salt,

We ask the blessings of Mother, Maiden and Crone,

And the gods who guard the Gate of the World.

Sprinkle salt over the bread, eat the bread and drink the wine.

Each of the celebrants should come to the altar repeating the bread and wine blessing. After this, be seated and everyone in turn should name those on the other side and offer thanks to ancestors and deities. This can and should take a long time as we owe much to loved ones on the other side.