Saturday, November 12, 2011

Happy New Year, Folks!

As many of you know, Samhain (which for me just happened, as I follow the cross-quarters as opposed to the Gregorian calendar date) is the Witch's new year. It makes sense to me, as my ancestors were agriculturally based people- and this is the end of the growing season.

The dead have been making their presence known. Some, who passed this year in less than desirable circumstances, are restless and needed aid in their passing. We, as Witches, helped with that. Still others returned for a visit and some unsolicited advice. (Just because someone is dead doesn't make their advice any more valuable or correct, sadly! You still need to look at the source of the advice as an individual.)

This past weekend, I attended two Samhain rituals- one for initiates of my religious tradition, the other was a more open ritual. Both were lovely and seasonally appropriate. In the more public one, we had an element of the ritual that focused on the new year aspect- we put wishes for the new year or things we wished to purge from the previous year in the cauldron then set it ablaze. We then stood around, being contemplative and enjoying the warmth and watching our intentions char. They eventually rose into the air, releasing our intentions into the world.

How did you celebrate the new year?

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