Samhain 2012

We did pretty good despite rain, cold, wind, smoke and a little confusion! The ritual took place at midnight in our new altar space with a huge fire roaring and providing a nice warmth for everyone. We had a freeze warning out for this area so we were kinda moving through the ritual fast as we could.

We setup up 4 altars, one for the Chthonic Deities, one for the Glorious Dead, one for the Ancestors, and one for Pets & Familiars. After the wordy part of the ritual everyone was given the chance to pray and make offerings at each altar, as well as look into a scyring mirror and attempt to see anything. No pressure, just to try.

Right after we did our offerings, just as we set up for meditation, a series of high, excited yips went through the year. We realized that there were coyotes in the field closest to us, scavenging about for their Samhain meal. It was a moment of sincere excitement and you could feel the group energy rising rapidly. Coyotes seemed an apt sign, as their nature makes them conveyors of death in the form of scavengers.

Animal Symbolism Coyote

Once we came inside and got everything from the ritual all cleaned up, we set about the task of mead making. We came to a decision a while ago. We made a big, 5 gallon tub of plain honey mead last night, taking turns stirring it and adding honey and water. But for the secondary fermentation, we will split up the mead into 5, 1 gallon jugs, and everyone will get the chance to experiment with flavors and spice mixtures. We will also, most likely, start another batch of mead. *grins* I think I’ve started a trend.

So far the flavor concepts we have are:
-Peach, Almond and Candied Ginger
-Apple, Cinnamon
-Pear and Clove
-Pomegranante
-Raspberry, Strawberry, Blackberry

We talked about what exactly it is we want to do in our newly formed circle, why are we making this decision, and how. We each chose  book to read for the next two months, and went over what the curriculum will look like. All in all a very satisfying night. I think we finished around 3 am.

Ritual Space

As Samhain draws closer, my group has begun setting up our ritual space in my back yard. Being that we are going to be starting out lessons after this Samhain, we decided on having two ritual spots. Since I have the bigger back yard, more out in the country, I offered to host the Sabbats. They are kind of bigger ceremonies and celebrations, and I have the room to make it more of a fete. Moon Ceremonies (not just full moon) are being hosted by a fellow member who’s yard is smaller but more intimate.

Would anyone be interested in seeing pictures once everything is up and running?

On that note, I am setting things up for the classes so that they happen every two weeks. I wanted to do them every full moon and Sabbat, but the full moons are falling very close to the Sabbats in 2013, sometimes within the same week, so that would make thing a little overly hectic and problematic for everyone. So whenever we get together, we will celebrate whatever phase the moon is in (because hey the full moon isn’t the only important one) and have our lessons.