Thanks for the post from Sylvester Campbell

I remember being terrified as a child when I was left home alone. I was actually a preteen, but for some reason I was always afraid someone was going to come in the house when I was home alone. I had this fear when I would babysit. I think most of these fears came from movies that I watched. You know the ones with the babysitter in the living room and the kids sleeping soundly upstairs and the girl hears a sound and goes to investigate in the garage. The whole time you are watching you are yelling at the TV for her to NOT go out there! Yeah, I think I watched a few too many of those movies. I remember sitting on the couch holding the cordless phone just knowing someone was outside. I would breathe a sigh of relief when the parents I was babysitting for would come home. I am sure this is why when I bought my first home, the first thing I did was go to ATLANTAhomesecurity.com to get an alarm system installed. Of course I have grown up and I don't sit up at night thinking there is always a “bad guy” under my bed, but it helps me feel safe to have the system.

Samhain is probably one of those holidays that most people don't even realize is vastly Pagan in tradition. The evolution of Halloween is one of the clearest routes of insight into the merging of Pagan traditions with other traditions throughout the world, especially Christianity. As I have been helping people see what a Samhain feast could be like, I find myself getting tangled in more modern Halloween party websites. The lines between Samhain and Halloween are very blurred.

For more information about Samhain, please refer to my blog called, "Samhain, the witches' new year" posted on October 17.





There is something about roasted chestnuts that just means the end of summer has arrived.

To roast 2 1/4 pound chestnuts:

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Using a small, sharp knife cut a cross into the skin of each nut. Put in a roasting tin and bake in the oven until the skin opens and the nut inside is tender. This takes about 30 minutes. To eat, peel away the tough outer skin and the white inner layer. I have found that it is much easier to peel away this outer skin if you do it while the chestnuts are still quite warm.

Note - If you try to roast the chestnut without cutting the skin, it will try to burst open anyway. But the chestnut is likely to burst open quite explosively. Save the mess in the oven and the risk of injuring yourself and make sure the skin has been cut on each nut.





Serves 6
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 30 minutes


Melt the butter in a large saucepan and sauté the leek, onion, and courgette over a medium heat until softened (about 3 - 4 minutes). Add the swede or turnip, carrot and potato. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, for another 2 - 3 minutes. Pour in the stock and cook gently, covered, for about 15 - 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Blend the cornflour to a smooth paste with 3 - 4 Tbsp of the milk. Add the remaining milk to the saucepan with the sweetcorn, then stir in the blended cornflour. Heat gently, stirring constantly until the soup thickens and just begins to boil. Cook for another 1 - 2 minutes over a very low heat. Season to taste and then ladle into warm bowls. Serve, garnished with chopped fresh parsley and crusty bread. If desired, you could add cooked chicken or a tin of beans to this soup to make it a full meal.





Take the pork from the fridge and dry it thoroughly. Let it sit out for at least an hour. Using a sharp knife, slice the skin halfway through the layer of fat into a diamond pattern. Be very careful not to cut the string holding the roast together. Take a tablespoon of salt and rub that into the skin.

The roast must be as dry as possible. Cutting the skin and into the fat allows the fat to be released while the pork is cooking. It also makes it easier to eat the crackling afterwards. The salt also serves to help release the fat and pull out any remaining moisture.

Preheat the oven to 400F. Roast it in the oven, without covering, for the specified time. It works out to 25 minutes per pound + 25 minutes. Take it out halfway through cooking and rotate the joint. The pork is done when the juices run clear.

Very important - Do not baste the pork joint.





Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour 25 minutes
Serves 8.


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. Bake sweet potatoes 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until they begin to soften. Cool slightly, peel, and mash.

In a large bowl, mix the mashed sweet potatoes, salt, 1/4 cup butter, eggs, vanilla extract, cinnamon, sugar, and heavy cream. Transfer to the prepared baking dish. In a medium bowl, combine 1/4 cup butter, flour, brown sugar, and chopped pecans. Mix with a pastry blender or your fingers to the consistency of course meal. Sprinkle over the sweet potato mixture. Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until topping is crisp and lightly browned.





Prep time: 20 minutes
Serves 10.


In a large saucepan, combine corn and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 4-6 minutes or until corn is tender. Drain; stir in the remaining ingredients.






Dissolve yeast and sugar in the 1/4 cup of warm water, set aside and let stand until frothy. Pour the quart of water in a large bowl, and add the rye flour, salt, caraway seeds, shortening, and yeast mixture. Mix well. Let rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours, until bubbles start to form on dough's surface. Gradually mix in the all-purpose flour, until the mixture has become a firm dough. Knead on floured board for about 10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl and let rise until the dough doubles in size, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Knead again for 10 minutes. Form into 2 loaves and put in greased and floured loaf pans or on cookie sheets for a more natural look. Let them rise again until doubled in bulk, and then bake for 1 hour at 375 degrees.





Mulled wines are a traditional favorite, no matter what the occasion, but Halloween presents a terrific opportunity to introduce others to its appeal. The Banshee Mulled Wine recipe is a warm wine punch sure to clutch the palate of all Halloween gouls.

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes


Combine all ingredients in either a large pot or a slow cooker. Gently warm the ingredients on low to medium heat (avoid boiling), for 20-25 minutes. Stir occasionally to make sure that the honey or sugar has completely dissolved. When the wine is steaming and the ingredients have blended well it is ready to serve. Ladle into mugs (leaving seasonings behind), garnish with a blood orange segment and perhaps black plastic, Halloween spiders and enjoy!





Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Serves 16.


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. Cut each apple into 8 wedges and set aside. Separate the crescent roll dough into triangles. Roll each apple wedge in crescent roll dough starting at the smallest end. Pinch to seal and place in the baking dish. Melt butter in a small saucepan and stir in the sugar and cinnamon. Pour over the apple dumplings. Pour Mountain Dew over the dumplings. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

Something a little eerie happened to me last night. I had a dream about being in Paris last night and walking around the city, which in itself is not weird because people do commonly have travel dreams. Sometimes it's just the brain rehashing images collected from that day but sometimes it's a soul going for an astral trip. Astral travel is something every soul on the planet does but most don't even realize it. A lot of us remember it the next day and fewer people can do it at will. I'm going to tell you this very private story because I want you to learn from it. I want you to learn the importance of keeping a dream journal.

For some reason during the dream state in Paris, I knew I was astral. I knew I was on a mission. I said to myself, "I should try to find my family since I'm here," and by family, I meant I thought I should look for evidence of my family from my 1700s past life. So I was walking around trying to figure out where I was and there were lots of people walking up and down this very wide street lined by beautiful white buildings with different colored roofs, though most were gray. I knew it was one of the boulevards because they all look that way. I stopped a man with a pot belly and perfect French came out of my mouth asking him what street this was called. I don't speak French very well but apparently I can in the astral state. The pot bellied man called me mademoiselle and said I was on Boulevard du C... - the last part faded during the night and I couldn't grasp it in the morning. At the time, something in my head thought that wasn't the right name but I thanked him and went on my way.

Along my walking, I found a cemetery and I was pulled into it. There were wrought iron fences around the cemetery but I found the gate and it was eerily empty. I found graves that I knew were my family from the previous life but there were no bodies. It was more like a monument to my family who was killed in the revolution. I was trying so hard to remember the names but all I remember now was looking at my father's name and the first four letters were CONT, I think. Whether that was a last name or a first name, I'm not sure.

The cemetery I walked by kind of looked like this but there were a lot more above ground graves.



The good news is I was able to figure out which boulevard began my journey. I looked up Paris boulevards and saw one called Boulevard du Crime. If you remember, I had thought it wasn't the right name for it when I asked the pot bellied man. I read more about it and found out that its real name is Boulevard du Temple but after the city was reorganized in the 1830s, people started calling it Boulevard du Crime because of all the theaters there playing crime melodramas. In the time that I lived in Paris in the 1780s-1790s, it was a fashionable place to go walking, there were about half a dozen theaters there, cafes, etc. I looked on a map and found that it was not too far from where I lived. Theoretically, I could have been there before for some reason, though I don't know what exactly and I'm not sure that it was called the Boulevard du Temple in my time. Maybe it was. I don't know.

Here's the lesson for you. I could kick myself for not writing down the details as soon as I woke up because there were things I needed to know there that have faded now. I was looking at the names I needed to find myself and them but I only have four letters tonight. Learn from my mistake.


If I had followed my own advice, I would have absorbed more information from my astral trip.

Samhain is probably one of those holidays that most people don't even realize is vastly Pagan in tradition. The evolution of Halloween is one of the clearest routes of insight into the merging of Pagan traditions with other traditions throughout the world, especially Christianity. As I have been helping people see what a Samhain feast could be like, I find myself getting tangled in more modern Halloween party websites. The lines between Samhain and Halloween are very blurred.

For more information about Samhain, please refer to my blog called, "Samhain, the witches' new year" posted on October 17.

When the Romans came to Britain, they brought with them their November 1st festival honoring Pomona, goddess of fruit trees. The Celts considered the apple tree to be particularly worthy. In fact, the growth cycle of the apple was considered such a miraculous thing that Avalon, (the land where spirits of the dead dwelled) was thought to have an abundance of apple trees bearing fruit year round. Apples also played a major role in divinations on Samhain. Apple peeling was a divination to see how long your life would be. The longer the unbroken apple peel, the longer your life was destined to be.

Apples and hazel nuts that played an especially important part to the early Celts: they were foods of the Otherworld, were notably used. Hazel nuts were known as a source and symbol of wisdom, and were eaten before divination. The apple symbolized life and immorality, was the talisman that admitted one to the Otherworld, and gave one the power to tell the future. At the heart of the Celtic Otherworld grows an apple tree whose fruit has magical properties. Old sagas tell of heroes crossing the western sea to find this wondrous country, known in Ireland as Emhain Abhlach, (Evan Avlach) and in Britain, Avalon. At Samhain, the apple harvest is in, and old hearthside games, such as apple-bobbing, called apple-dookin' in Scotland, reflect the journey across the water to obtain the magic apple.

There are two main apple rites that survive, one involves ordeal by water and the other ordeal by fire. The act of going through water to obtain apples could be the remnants of the Druidic rite symbolizing the passing through water to Emain Abhlach or Apple-Isle. Apple-Isle is where Manannan Mac Lir prepared the Otherworld feast for the eternal enjoyment of those who have passed on.

The Ordeal by Water survives in Scotland in such Samhain traditions as "Dookin' for Aipples." A large wooden tub is filled with water and set in the middle of the floor into which apples are placed. The master of ceremonies has a porridge stick or some other equivalent of the Druidic wand, and with this he keeps the apples in motion. Each participant get three tries, and if unsuccessful, must wait until the others have had their turn. If a participant captures an apple, it is either eaten or kept for use in another of the divination rites.

The modern form of the Ordeal by Fire is known as "The Aipple and the Can'le." A small rod of wood is taken and suspended horizontally from the ceiling by a cord. After it is fairly balanced, a lit candle is set on one end and an apple at the other. The rod is then set whirling around. Each of the company takes turns leaping up trying to bite the apple without singing his or her hair.  Touching either the rod or apple with the hands is not permitted.

The divinations practiced at Samhain were chiefly used to discover who would marry, who one's partner was going to be, and who was going to die over the course of the next year. Eating the Apple at the Glass is an example of such a divination. At the hour of midnight the person goes into a room with a mirror. The room is lit with but one candle. The apple is cut into nine pieces. The person stands with his or her back to the mirror, eats the eight pieces, and throws the ninth piece over the left shoulder. Turning towards the mirror, he or she will see the future partner.

Paring the Apple is another Samhain divination rite performed at the stroke of twelve. The person pares the apple carefully so that the skin comes off in one unbroken ribbon. As the clock strikes twelve the person swings the paring around his or her head three times with out breaking it, and tossing it over the left shoulder. The shape that the paring assumes is the initial of the querant's future spouse. If the paring breaks matrimony will not happen in the coming year.





Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Serves 15


Lightly grease cookie sheets. Insert craft sticks into whole, stemmed apples. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine sugar, corn syrup and water. Heat to 300 to 310 degrees F (149 to 154 degrees C), or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms hard, brittle threads. Remove from heat and stir in food coloring. Holding apple by its stick, dip in syrup and remove and turn to coat evenly. Place on prepared sheets to harden.





Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Serves 5


Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Dip apples into boiling water briefly, using a slotted spoon, to remove any wax that may be present. Wipe dry, and set aside to cool. Insert sticks into the apples through the cores. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper and coat with cooking spray. Place the unwrapped caramels into a microwave-safe medium bowl along with 2 tablespoons of water. Cook on high for 2 minutes, then stir and continue cooking and stirring at 1 minute intervals until caramel is melted and smooth. Hold apples by the stick, and dip into the caramel to coat. Set on waxed paper; refrigerate for about 15 minutes to set. Heat the chocolate with 1 tablespoon of shortening in a microwave-safe bowl until melted and smooth. Dip apples into the chocolate to cover the layer of caramel. Return to the waxed paper to set. Melt the candy melts in the microwave with the remaining shortening, stirring every 30 seconds until smooth. Use a fork or wooden stick to flick colored designs onto your apples for a finishing touch. Refrigerate until set, overnight is even better.





Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour
Serves 10


Insert wooden craft sticks or lollipop sticks into the cores of the apples at the stem. Place the roasted peanuts and candies on separate plates. Set aside. Place the chocolate into a metal or glass bowl and set over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir frequently until melted. Remove from the heat. Dip apples into the melted chocolate, turning to coat completely. Dip or roll in candy or nuts, then place on a sheet of waxed paper. Repeat with remaining apples. Allow apples to set at room temperature until the chocolate is firm, about 20 minutes, before serving.

Samhain is probably one of those holidays that most people don't even realize is vastly Pagan in tradition. The evolution of Halloween is one of the clearest routes of insight into the merging of Pagan traditions with other traditions throughout the world, especially Christianity. As I have been helping people see what a Samhain feast could be like, I find myself getting tangled in more modern Halloween party websites. The lines between Samhain and Halloween are very blurred.

For more information about Samhain, please refer to my blog called, "Samhain, the witches' new year" posted on October 17.

Soul cakes were traditionally baked as a gift for the spirits of the dead. In many European countries, the idea of "Souling" became an acceptable alternative for Christians. The cakes took many different names and shapes -- in some areas, they were simple shortbread, and in others they were baked as fruit-filled tarts. Still other regions made them of rice flour. Generally, a soul cake was made with whatever grain the community had available. You can make your own with one of these four simple recipes.

Soul cakes are the ancestors of trick-or-treat candy stops. Beggars were given these cakes with prayers for their departed loved ones. In essence, one cake saved one soul. They were also given to costumed entertainers who were called mummers. This is where wearing costumes on Halloween for treats comes into play. It's a good idea to keep soul cakes on hand during the Samhain season because, as we give sustenance to people we encounter, we are providing them with food to get through the dark months and we must think of the deaths of people as well as the natural death of the earth in winter. Give your loved ones and friends a soul cake. As you do, bless their ancestors and wish their departed souls peace.

There are dozens of soul cake recipes out there but here are some that are easy.





You'll need:

    A refrigerated roll-out pie crust
    2 Tbs. melted butter
    1 C mixed dried fruit
    2 Tbs honey

Roll out the pie crust and cut it into circles. Use the circles to line a tin of muffin cups. Mix the butter, fruit and honey together. Scoop the fruit mixture into the pastry shells, and then bake for 15 minutes at 375 degrees. Allow to cool for about ten minutes before eating.


You'll need:

    1 stick of butter, softened
    4 Tbs sugar
    1 1/2 C flour

Cream together the butter and sugar. Use a flour sifter to add the flour to the bowl, and mix until it's smooth. Divide the dough into two parts, and shape each half into a flat circle about half an inch thick. Put them on an ungreased baking sheet (baking stones are really nice for this) and poke lines with the tines of a fork, making eight separate wedges in each cake. Bake for 25 minutes or until light brown at 350 degrees.


You'll need:

    Two sticks butter, softened
    3 1/2 C flour, sifted
    1 C sugar
    1/2 tsp. nutmeg & saffron
    1 tsp each cinnamon & allspice
    2 eggs
    2 tsp malt vinegar
    Powdered sugar

Cut the butter into the flour with a large fork. Mix in the sugar, nutmeg, saffron, cinammon and allspice. Lightly beat eggs, and add to flour mixture. Add malt vinegar. Mix until you have a stiff dough. Knead for a while, then roll out until 1/4" thick. Use a floured glass to cut out 3" circles. Place on greased baking sheet and bake 25 minutes at 350 degrees. Sprinkle with powdered sugar while the cakes are still warm.


You'll need:

    4 C flour
    1 pkt active dry yeast
    1 C milk
    2 Tbs butter
    1/2 tsp each cinnamon & salt
    3/4 C sugar
    1/2 C lemon zest
    1 1/4 C golden raisins

Cream yeast with 1 tsp sugar & 1 tsp milk, let it get frothy. Blend flour, spices, & salt together, then cut in butter. Add the rest of the sugar to the flour mix and blend. Add milk & beaten egg onto the yeast mixture; combine with flour mixture. Beat until stiff. Fold in raisins and zest, cover with a damp cloth and let rise. Divide in two, place each half in greased 7" round pan. Cover, let rise again for 30 minutes. Bake 1 hour at 400 degrees.

I think my house needs to be smudged or I need to re-learn to set up psychic boundaries around my property or something. Last night, I was a little bit crumpled in the corner of my bed like something was going to startle me like the night before around 3 a.m. I saw a full-on colored, solid apparition the previous night that was looking over me and woke me up. She was a woman in her 30s, brown curly hair, looked 1940s-1950s with a green and white striped dress. We were perhaps a foot apart because she was leaning over the bed looking at me. When I jumped backwards (think of a spring loaded cat), she vanished. It was maybe five seconds but it kept me awake the rest of the night, and then last night, I was sort of crumpled in the corner of my bed using my cell phone like a flashlight. I was scared. Being scared is not like me at all.

I'm not used to such solid apparitions. My abilities are not that intense - that's like the creme de la creme of the medium world to be able to see apparitions as solid as living people. The apparitions I typically see are shadow figures or they're transparent and not fully formed. For the most part, I feel where they are without seeing them. I hear them, feel them, smell them, etc., but seeing them is rare enough that it scares me when I do and I think that's ridiculous. If I can't control my fear, then how can people lean on me to carry them through their fear? My mother, who is also an intuitive, said, "Get a nightlight." I don't think a nightlight is going to fix this problem. A nightlight, in my opinion, gives the medium permission to give into their fears. Being afraid of certain aspects of my job just makes me disappointed in myself and quite frustrated that I've been a medium for almost thirty years and certain things still bother me. Solid apparitions bother me, child spirits bother me, and of course, inhuman spirits bother me, but I can control my fear with everything except being startled by solid apparitions. The fear is rooted in not knowing when it's going to happen or why. It's an anticipatory fear very similar to the way an anxiety disorder works, and we all know I struggle with an anxiety disorder. I don't want it to affect my work though. I know better than to be fearful of spirits.

I think part of the problem is I've been neglecting ritual. Some people don't need ritual to keep themselves centered but I do. I'm a creature of habit. I have been neglecting meditation, properly keeping boundaries around my space and person, etc. That may be a reason why fear has been creeping in again the way it did when I was a child. It's time to re-establish control through ritual. Fear is not an acceptable option for me because being a medium is not something I can stop. It is part of me and needs to be maintained like people maintain their bodies through exercise and eating well. A nightlight is not going to fix this problem. Only I can.

October 31 -- Samhain Eve
Also known as: November Eve, Feast of the Dead, Feast of Apples, Hallows and All Hallows Eve.

Possibly the biggest festival of the Witches’ year, Samhain is a time to remember those who have passed on, celebrate the Summers end, and prepare for Winter months ahead. The Sun God and earth fall into slumber, as the nights lengthen, and winter begins.

The last day of October marked the end of the Celtic Old Year and the beginning of the New. This time was considered by the Celts and many Craft traditions to be a "crack between the worlds." As time passed between one year and another, it belonged to neither, standing beyond the confines of normal reality. It was believed to be the one night when the veil that separated our world from the next was at its thinnest, allowing the dead to return to the world of the living, where their spirit and memory would be welcomed and celebrated by a feast attended by their kin.

The Feast of The Dead, or Festival of The Dead, was a festival of remembrance, honoring those who had left this world. On this night, the deceased were believed to make their way back from the grave to revisit their old homes. In many areas, on the eve of Samhain, people would leave their houses lit throughout the night to help the dead find their way along the dark path from the tomb. And once these travelers arrived, they were welcomed and refreshed with food and drink. Many prepared a feast, and set a plate at the table to for their dead relatives. On the eve of November 1, or on the morning of the following day, the custom in parts of Europe was to bake “soul cakes” or “soul bread” for those returning souls. In Wales, special food was prepared and left outside, and before everyone went to bed, the hearth was carefully prepared for the arrival of the dead relatives. Tradition also teaches that the aid of spirits and guides from the other world was easily enlisted at this time, so in the increasing moonlight of longer nights, many used this time to hone their psychic and divinatory skills, especially with regard to love and marriage.

The Christian religion has adopted this day as All Saints Day, or All Hallows Day, celebrating the eve as All Hallows Eve, or Halloween. The superstition and misconception linked to this celebration by the early church, led people to take some unusual precautions to protect themselves. They adopted the tradition of dressing in frightening costumes or disguises, and displaying scary looking Jack-O-Lanterns to help protect them from spirits they considered to be evil. In the British Isles, the young people would disguise themselves with hideous masks and walk through the village, lighting their way with lanterns made from carved turnips.

However you choose to celebrate Samhain, be adventurous and investigate some of the older traditions... There is a large amount of interesting and sometimes comical lore surrounding this date. It's O.K. to dress up as Witches' or Goblins and have fun with the more nonsense aspects of this holiday. However, it’s good to set aside some time to learn the true meaning behind this date and follow those observances as our ancestors did.

The alternative date of November 6th ('Martinmas' or 'Old Hallows') is sometimes employed by Covens.

Traditional Foods:
Apples, Pears, Pomegranates, All Grains, Pumpkin-pie, Hazelnuts, Cakes for the dead, Corn, Cranberry muffins and breads, Ale, Cider, Herbal teas (especially Mugwort) and Meat unless vegetarian and then tofu will do.

Herbs:
Calendula, Cosmos, Chrysanthemum, Wormwood, Hazel, Thistle.

Incense:
Mint, Heliotrope, Nutmeg, Sage or Floral's.

Woods and Herbs Burned:
Apple, Heliotrope, Mint, Nutmeg, Sage.

Sacred Gemstone:
Aquamarine.

For further information on rites and rituals to celebrate this holiday, see the following books:

A guide for the solitary practitioner by Scott Cunningham.
Everyday Wicca by Gerina Dunwich.
To Ride A Silver Broomstick by Silver Ravenwolf.
Celtic Magic by D.J. Conway

Blessed Be!*


Corn has been shucked,
grain has been threshed,
herbs have been hung to dry.
Grapes have been pressed,
potatoes have been dug,
beans have been shelled and canned.
It is the harvest season,
and food is ready for winter.
We will eat, and we will live,
and we will be grateful.


Samhain is here, cold is the earth,
as we celebrate the cycle of death and rebirth.
Tonight we speak to those through the veil,
the lines between worlds are thin and frail.

Ghosts and spirits in the night,
magical beings rising in flight,
owls hooting up in a moonlit tree,
I don't fear you and you don't fear me.

As the sun goes down, far to the west,
my ancestors watch over me as I rest.
They keep me safe and without fear,
on the night of Samhain, the Witch's New Year.


This is the night when the gateway between
our world and the spirit world is thinnest.
Tonight is a night to call out those who came before.
Tonight I honor my ancestors.
Spirits of my fathers and mothers, I call to you,
and welcome you to join me for this night.
You watch over me always,
protecting and guiding me,
and tonight I thank you.
Your blood runs in my veins,
your spirit is in my heart,
your memories are in my soul.[If you wish, you may want to recite your genealogy here. This can include both your blood family, and your spiritual one.]

With the gift of remembrance.
I remember all of you.
You are dead but never forgotten,
and you live on within me,
and within those who are yet to come.


The harvest has ended, and the fields are bare.
The earth has grown cold, and the land is empty.
The gods of the death are lingering over us,
keeping a watchful eye upon the living.
They wait, patiently, for eternity is theirs.

Hail to you, Anubis! O jackal headed one,
guardian of the realm of the dead.
When my time comes, I hope
you may deem me worthy.

Hail to you, Demeter! O mother of darkness,
May your grief be abated
when your daughter returns once more.

Hail to you, Hecate! O keeper of the gate,
between this world and the underworld.
I ask that when I cross over,
you may guide me with wisdom.

Hail to you, Freya! O mistress of Folkvangr,
guardian of those who fall in battle.
Keep the souls of my ancestors with you.

Hail to you, O gods and goddesses,
those of you who guard the underworld
and guide the dead on their final journey.
At this time of cold and dark,
I honor you, and ask that you watch over me,
and protect me when the day arrives
that I take my final journey.


A year of beauty. A year of plenty. A year of planting. A year of harvest.
A year of forests. A year of healing. A year of vision. A year of passion.
A year of rebirth. A year of rebirth. This year may we renew the earth.
Let it begin with each step we take. Let it begin with each change we make.
Let it begin with each chain we break. And let it begin every time we awake.

*Copyright © 1997-99 Akasha, Herne and The Celtic Connection wicca.com. All rights reserved.