Welcome to Gaia! ::

Welcome everybody to our Samhain/Beltane 2011 party! We hope that you all have a great time! biggrin

The party will be from the 28th October until the 11th November. There will then be a week for all the voting to run smile Please get your contest entries in before the 11th.

Here is the raffle prize list for this event!

First Prize - Elemental Wings
Second Prize - 8,000
Third Prize - 4,000
Everyone who doesn't win a raffle prize will get 300 gaia gold.

To be entered in the raffle you must post something sabbat related in THIS thread. It can be a Samhain/Beltane ritual, spell, craft, recipe - even telling us what you're planning for your own celebration...The list goes on! So post away. You can only be entered into the raffle once.

You can find the Party in the Moonlight Market. All threads start with the title [Party].

We hope you enjoy yourself and have an awesome Samhain/Beltane 2011!

Samhain Correspondences

Quote:

"Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog"
"Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing"
"For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble"
"Double, double, toil and trouble,
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble"
-- By William Shakespeare --

Names: Third Harvest, Samana, Day of the Dead, Old Hallowmas
(Scottish/Celtic) , Vigil of Saman, Shadowfest (Strega), All Hallow's Eve,
(that day actually falls on November 7th), Martinmas (that is celebrated
November 11th), Samhuinn (Scottish), Calan Gaeaf (Welsh), Calan Gwaf
(Cornish), Oi Houney (Manx)

Date: 31 October or when sun is at 15 degrees Scorpio.

Meaning/Age: Celtic, “summer’s end.” Second oldest unbroken holiday in the
European world, is approximately 6,000 years old.

Symbolism: Third Harvest, the Dark Mysteries, and Rebirth through Death. The
Goddess as Crone laments the death of her lover as her new lover quickens
Deep within her womb. It is a time when the veil between the living and the
Dead is at its thinnest.

Themes: Death, passing beyond the veil, standing outside of time,
Regeneration, transformation.

Popular Mythos: Demeter and Persephone, Descent of Inanna, Cerridwen’s
Cauldron of Transformation, Feeding the Morrigan, Sniggling the Cailleach,
Festival of the Dark Goddess.

Taboos: Travel After Dark, Eating Grapes or Berries

Animals: bat, cat, dog, owl, raven, crow, stag,

Stones: Black obsidian, jasper, carnelian, onyx, smoky quartz, jet, and
Bloodstone

Mythical Beings: Pooka, Goblin, Medusa, Beansidhe, Harpies, Fylgiar, Peryton
And Erlkonig.

Incense: Cinnamon, frankincense, heather, lilac, rosemary pine,
Passionflower, rue, mint sunflower and ylang ylang

Oils: Apple, bay, camphor, cinnamon, frankincense, heather, lilac, mint,
Pine, rosemary, and ylang ylang

Colors/Candles: Black, brown, golden yellow, orange, red, silver, and white

Symbols/Decorations : Apples, bat, berries, besom, black mirror, candles, cat
Cauldron, crystal ball, divination tools, dried flowers, gourds, oak leaves
Acorns, grains, masks, nuts, photographs of the deceased, pine cones,
Pumpkins, representation of the Goddess in Crone form, pomegranates,
Scarecrows, scythes, crows, colored leaves, Indian corn

Tools: besom, cauldron, tarot, obsidian ball, pendulum, runes, ogham, Ouija
Boards, black cauldron or bowl filled with black ink or water, or magick
Mirror

Herbs and Flowers: almond, apple leaf, autumn joy sedum, bay leaf, calendula
Cinnamon, Cloves cosmos, garlic, ginger, hazelnut, hemlock cones, mandrake
Root, marigold, mums, mugwort (to aid in divination), mullein seeds, nettle,
Passionflower, pine needles, pumpkin seeds, rosemary (for remembrance of our
Ancestors), rue, sage, sunflower petals and seeds, tarragon, wild ginseng,
Wormwood

Foods: Ale, apples, beets, cider, corn, cornbread, cranberries, fresh meats,
Gingerbread, herbal teas, mulled wine, nuts, pomegranates, pumpkin pie,
Squash, and turnips

Deities: Crone aspect of the Goddess... Hecate, Cerridwen, Arianhod,
Persephone, the Morrigan, Edda, Lilith, Arawn, Caillech, and Nefertum.
Sacrificial/ Dying/Aging Gods, Death and Otherworld Gods.

Activities/Ideas: balefires, leave food offerings (and candles in the
Windows) on altars or outdoors for the dead, bobbing for apples, drying of
Winter herbs, cleansing and renewing the protective energies of your
Household, rites for the breaking of bad habits, leave milk and honey for
The fae folk, choose and enthrone a Winter Queen and King the counterparts
Of the May Queen and King, have a dumb (mute) supper and invite your
Ancestors, extinguish the "hearth fire" of your home and then re-light it
From the Samhain Sabbat Fire or cauldron, bury an apple or pomegranate in
The garden for spirits passing by on their way to being reborn, give acorns
As gifts, carve a pumpkin and empower it to repel negativity, build your
Altar out of hay bales, visit the cemetery, keep a fire lit or a candle
Burning all night to honor and welcome the dead,

Magick: Wisdom, death, dark magick, divination, ending, hidden beginnings, initiation, insight, loss, mourning, mysteries, neutralization, past-life recall, release, rebirth, rest, scrying, spirit contact, teaching transformation, understanding, and wisdom.

This ritual may easily be adapted for those groups in which the Priestess and Priest work together. It may be just as easily adapted to solitary work.

Place an apple and pomegranate upon the altar. There should also be a "planted" pot of earth for each participant - these may be arranged on the altar as well, if there is ample space. Instruments of divination may be placed within the Circle perimeter for use during the ritual if you wish. Arrange the altar as usual and decorate with Autumn leaves, pumpkins, etc.

The Circle is cast and purified the Circle in the usual manner. Dancing around the Circle in a shuffle step (deosil), all chant three times:


The Moon is bright, the Crone is old
The body lifeless - the bones so cold
We all live and pay our dues
To die in ones and threes and twos.


Death, dance and play the harp
Piercing silence in the dark
The Woman's old with withered limbs
Death beckons Her to dance with Him


As She accepts the Dance of Death
The Earth is cooled by ghostly breath
To lie in dormancy once more
To have Her strength and life restored

Go to the Western Quarter and draw an invoking pentagram with the athame to open the gate. Then evoke the dead by saying:


All ye spirits who walk this night -
Hearken! Hearken to my call!
I bid you in our Circle join!
Enter! Enter - one and all!


Come ye, spirits of the dead:
Be ye spirit of plant or pet
Or human being who still roams!
Into this Circle you are let!


Speak to us of things unknown!
Lend your energies to this rite!
To speed your journey, we have joined
On this sacred Samhain night!


All ye spirits who walk this night -
Hearken! Hearken to my call!
I bid you in our Circle join!
Enter! Enter - one and all!

Bestow blessings upon the dead, saying:

Oh Mighty Pan of the Summerlands:
Guardian of the beloved dead
We pour forth love on those you keep
Safely, in your peaceful stead
We bless those who have walked the path
That someday, we as well, shall rove
We offer peace unto their souls
While resting in your arms, below

Now is the time for divination (Ouija Board, pendulum, cards, etc.) and communication with those who have gone on before us. Allow plenty of time for this. [Note: I have found that it is helpful to have a tape recorder handy within the Circle for recording any communications that may be "channeled" during this time. Some people disagree with this suggestion, saying that the metal of this electronic device causes scattered energies in the Circle; however, if the recorder has been cleansed and purified as the rest of the ritual tools, the problem seems to be resolved.]

When the divinatory processes are completed, the Priestess goes to the Western Quarter and draw the banishing pentagram, saying:


Blessings be upon thee, oh wondrous Spirits of the
Summerlands. We humbly thank thee for your presence in our
Circle and honor you in celebration this sacred night. We
beseech thee, oh Pan, keeper of the sacred dead, embrace
once again those souls within your keep and hold tightly
to your breast those which have been lost and wandering.
Grant them safe passage to the Summerland, where they may
rest peacefully in your strength until they are refreshed
and reborn again in perfect love. We bid thee all a fond
farewell. So mote it be!

The gate is now closed.

The Priestess goes to the altar and hold up the pomegranate, saying:


Behold the pomegranate, fruit of Life...

The athame is plunged into the pomegranate, splitting it open to display the seeds. She says:


Whose seeds lie in the dormancy of Death!

The Priestess eats one of the seeds, saying:


I Taste the seeds of Death.

The pomegranate is then passed hand to hand through the participants of the ritual, each eating a seed and saying to the next person:


"Taste the seeds of Death."

The Priestess then holds up the apple, saying:


Behold the apple: fruit of wisdom, fruit of Death...

She then cuts the apple crosswise, saying:


Whose symbolism rewards us with life eternal!

She holds up the apple, displaying the inner pentagram, and says:


Behold the five-fold star - the promise of rebirth!

Consecrate the fruit and wine. Each person then tastes of the apple and sips the wine, saying to the next person:


Taste the fruit of rebirth and sip from the cup of wine of Life.

After libation, the Priestess presents each member of the group with a small pot of earth, planted with three seeds [preferably rue or lavender].She briefly explains to the group that this is the season of the seed - it is a time of dormancy, but also a time of re-generation for growth. Further, as the seed rests in the earth, they should also take time to rest and re-evaluate their lives, metaphorically planting only those values which will enrich and enhance the growth within the Divine Self. She then instructs them to name the seeds within their pots with three values they wish to incorporate into their lives, knowing that as the seeds sprout with new life, their lives will be new, as well.

After the presentation, all join hands and hold them skyward.

PRIESTESS:


Thus is the Circle of Rebirth.
All pass from this life through the great god, Pan
But through My love you are all reborn
In the cycles of nature - through the Cosmic Plan.


In living we die - in dying we live
The fruit is first seed, yet seed comes from the fruit
In the mystery of life and death and rebirth
The Circle turns ever, and I am its root.

ALL RESPOND:


The Sun conceived in Darkness, cold
In the Shadow of Death, a Life unfolds
A shred of Light begins to burn
From Death comes Life - the Circle turns.

Dismiss Quarters and Dissolve Circle.

PRIESTESS:


The rite is ended.

ALL:


Merry meet and merry part and merry meet again!

Outdoor libation to the Lord and Lady, and the spirits of the dead.

I, sadly, am not allowed to have a fire, or incense, so I'm going to be doing what I always do: dress up in a costume and walk around campus, except I'm going to think about it in such a way that I'm leading my dead dog, my recently passed great-grandmother, and others in my family. They all died before I came here to start college and I'd like them to see the campus with me and know how I'm living. Our Earth Spirit Association had a Samhain party on the twenty-fifth this month, and I dressed as a zombie and remembered them there as well, but I want to do this on actual Samhain as well.

Happy Samhain! smile


(I'm not too sure what this has to do with Samhain, but that's what the artist named it and something about it really draws me in.)

Happy Celtic New Year! o/ Halloween, Samhain, whatever you wanna call it, it's the new year for my fellow Celts and Pagans, so yeah 3nodding May it bring good things to the impending year that brings the fear of the movie 2012 O_O

Thanks everybody for taking part!

Here's everybody who are eligible for the raffle.

1. koudelkaW
2. MorganeLeFaye
3. Bunny Hermione
4. AloeBlisse
5. Musical_Vampire_Socks
6. anime_wiccan_chick
7. Aiedaile
8. The Goddess of Earth
9. IileyahWithTheStars
10. XxHarryDresdenxX
11. lifeaura

Second prize goes to...

koudelkaW!