[Coven] Samhain

[I.R.]

Hestia posted:
"On Samhain, according to folklore, the old King dies and the Crone Goddess mourns his passing for the next six weeks."

I love Hestia, and I know she knows all about this already, but the phrasing's kinda hazy and it's one of my pet peeves, so...

That's how it goes in Wiccan lore, which is something like 50-70 years old, so while I welcome anyone to celebrate Samhain with that symbology in mind, just don't do it because you think it's how they did it thousands of years ago or anything; the God/Goddess thing IS pieced together from various bits of myth here and there, don't get me wrong, just the wheel of the year story as we know it from Wicca is pretty new put together the way it is.  There were trinities in ye olden days, but there was never *a* god and *a* goddess, except maybe (it's a stretch, but a possible one) in some Mystery cults, but we'll never know for sure, since they were (and remain) mystery teachings.

Totally not discouraging the use of the mythology here though; just 'cause a religious belief is new doesn't make it any less valid just on the basis of age.  My inner pedantic scholar just rears its ugly head now and again when the word "folklore" is used vaguely enough to imply commonly held ancient beliefs or anything.

As for the rest of Hestia's post, although I've read it before, as always, it's informative and helpful.  I don't do much for Samhain myself, because I don't really do religious rituals a lot.  More often I throw together a spell here a sachet there a candle here a prayer there when I need them and then sporadically honor my deities when I've got time and resources.  The rest of the time, I ride the synchronicity highway.

What I usually do, when I do anything at all, is make a small meal at nighttime, go out back, sit under the apple tree in my yard, cut everything in half, and share a meal with my ancestors.  I hang out, I eat my half of it, I tell my grandmummies and my deities what's been going on in my life and what I'm thinking about doing, and things that I'd generally tell my grandparents and further descendants if they were still alive.  When I'm done, I sometimes pour a little vodka (sometimes I substitute milk and honey, but that takes time and effort to make, whereas vodka's on hand, so...) at the foot of the tree, drink a mouthful, say my goodbyes and leave the other half of the meal for ancestors and deities and spirits and whoever else wants the offering.

Just remember that if you're going to do even a casual brush with dead things, *especially* if you're going to a graveyard to an actual family grave of some kind, bring protection with you.  Rue's pretty good for that, but you can search around in your tradition if you have one and find an appropriate substitute.  Most spirits don't really care what you're doing, but some nasties will follow you home if you let them, and that's trouble you just don't need.

And really, if you're not feeling it, don't make yourself do anything.  Going through the motions because you think it's what you should do is really rather pointless, kind of like getting a brand new shiny magical name just because you think you're supposed to do it.  If all you wanna do on Halloween is have a party and dress up and wear costumes... go for it!  You're celebrating.  Unless you have some deepseated desire to do something religious, there's no reason for you to make yourself do it... lots of people don't go to mass on Christmas but are still perfectly good Christians who stay at home and have dinner with their family and friends instead of going.

On a final note, I wouldn't recommend anything at all by Silver Ravenwolf as anything other than firewood or just a lot of entertainment and laughs (although I do hesitantly let To Stir a Silver Cauldron by, just barely, but only because it isn't as bad as the others).  Certainly they're great when taken as fiction or read for amusement factor, but as far as helping with religious or spiritual stuff... there are much better books out there.  Really, the best resources, most of the time, will NOT come from Pagan books.  They'll come from history books, written by people who are less interested in making your religion look spiffy and neat and flashy so you'll spend more money on it, and more interested in researching and recording past practices.  There ARE good Pagan books out there (Ronald Hutton's among them, although again, it was meant to be a history book), but unless you've got recommendations from someone you know and whose opinion you trust, the anthropology section is almost always a safer bet.

Unity,
Incanto
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