Samhain

From Oct 31st to November 2nd is the festival of Samhain ( pronounced Sow-en ) and is the beginning of the Celtic winter and the Celtic New Year.
The word Samhain, means summer's end, the time when the flocks and herds are brought back from their summer pastures and like-wise it is believed that the ancestors will return and be welcomed at the family hearth.

Animals would be slaughtered for the harsh winter to come or cleansed ritually by the Halloween fires before being stabled in barns.
Now is the time for the Goddess to leave her creation for three days and this is when the otherworld releases fairies and mischievous spirits as well as the benign family ancestors, for it is now that the veil that seperates these two worlds is at it's thinnest.

The focus of this time is upon remembering those family ancestors, for looking back to the past and also forward to the future.
A time for over-coming fears, especially those concerning ageing and mortality, for releasing the past and the hurts that reside there and also the need for control that only serves to restrict you.

An opportunity to use divination to see what the future may hold.

*HAVE A HAPPY HALLOWEEN*

Day of the Dead

From October 31st to November 2nd, the people of Mexico celebrate el Día de los Muertos - the Day of the Dead! The festival is a traditional and beautiful celebration of the lives of those who have passed on and allows the living to remember them in their own way. The festival encompasses bright costumes, dancing skeletons, candy skulls, showers of marigolds and the odd indulgence in a tequila or two.
So sit back and enjoy the music and the show.

Waning Moon

The Moon's Waning period lasts until the waning cresent disappears from the sky as it's energies decrease and wind down.
Now is the time to focus on :

Removing obstacles that hamper success and happiness,
Lessening negative influences,
Reduce the hold of addictions and compulsions,

Banishing negative thoughts, grief, guilt, anxiety and destructive anger,

Removing pain and sickness with postive actions and thoughts,

Protection against the envy and malice of others,

Ending Relationships Gently,

Seek advice if you have financial worries, so that you have a plan to put into action when the waxing moon returns.

During the time of every waning moon, give up something, no matter how small, that you no longer want in your life - whether it be an activity or person that no longer enhances your life - Work towards releasing yourself from fears and obstacles that hold you back. The patience and effort you spend doing this will be rewarded by freeing up space and time in your life to take up new things that keep the cycle of your life fresh and open.

     

Full Moon ( Hunter's Moon ) - well almost

It is said that the energies of the Full Moon are at their most potent on the night that it first appears in the sky ( assuming there is no cloud ) but in practice, the full moon energies are powerful for 24 hours before it arrives and also during the week of it's visit.

This October's Full Moon is the Hunter's Moon, so named because plenty of moonlight is ideal for hunters shooting migrating birds in Northern Europe. The name is also said to have been used by Native Americans as they tracked and killed their prey by autumn moonlight, stockpiling food for the winter ahead.

Use the Full Moon energy to Focus on :

Fulfilling an Immediate Need,

Boosting your Power or Courage Right Now,

Asking For Promotion or Attending a Major Interview

Actually Changing Career or Location,

Moving House,

Leave for a Major Trip or Long Distance Travel to Minimise Delays and Ease any Regrets at Leaving 

Raising a Large Sum of Money that is Urgently Needed,

Healing Acute Medical Conditions,

Protecting Yourself Emotionally and Psychically from Malice,

Making a Permanent Love Commitment by Marriage

or Hand Fasting

Consummating Love and Conceiving a Child

Having those Make or Break Discussions in Relationships that are Shaky, to
Resolve them Either Way, 

Initiating Action for Justice and Fairness, whether Legal or
by Putting Things Right Yourself,

Taking Major Steps Towards Fulfilling an Ambition or Dream,

Because the Full Moon can cause restlessness, it is important to channel your natural desire for change and action to avoid irritability tipping over into bad temper or making changes for chnages sake.

If discussing relationship issues, set boundaries and avoid recriminations and pointing the finger of blame.

Do something decisive and positive by using the Full Moon's energy to carry you forward on the crest of it's wave. If there is something you want to get rid of, use the days after the full moon as they are still very potent to carry you on the tide of change.

October is Auspicious

This October has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays and will not occur again for 823 years, according to Feng Shui it is a prosperous and auspicious time....

Waxing Cresent Moon

As the moon increases in size, so does the influence of its Lunar energy and now is the best time to use those energies for focusing on the following:

Making a New Beginning or Starting a New Venture, Especially Something Creative,
Working Towards a Long Term Goal,
Improving Your Health through Exercise,

Gradually Increasing Prosperity,

Enhancing Fertility,

Home and Environmental Improvements,

Job Hunting,

Making Future Plans,

Finding New Friendship, Love and Romance,

Increasing Psychic Awareness,

Activities that Involve Physical Participation,

Visiting New Places,

Try at least one new activity or visit one new place during each waxing moon for the year and even if only in a small way, notice how your life has moved more toward the way you want it to be.

We Plough the Fields and Scatter

The past few days have been Golden October weather and this is now the time to do the ploughing. We went to Holland-on-Sea to enjoy the Autumn sun and stopped to watch the gulls following the tractor, flying around it as though someone had shaken a snowglobe.

New Moon

Early societies regarded the Moon energy as that of being Female, believing that she brought fertility and growth to the plants,animals and people as she grew in the sky each month.
During the two and a half days of darkness of the New Moon, the old moon from the previous month is being re-born, so that the cycle can eternally continue every 29.5 days.

The New Moon began last night at 6.30pm GMT and so for the next few days, now is the best time for meditation and quiet reflection.

In indigenous societies, this was traditionally the time for fertile women to be menstruating. In Native North America, the women would live apart from the rest of the tribe, in a specially constructed Moon Lodge to rest, contemplate and dream, whilst the older women cared for the family. The women in the Moon Lodge were considered Sacred and to possess prophetic powers at this time.

 

Kitchen Gods and Household Guardians

All folklore traditions have their own versions of beneficial housekeepers and family guardians, here are just a few:

In China, every kitchen has a shrine, where a picture of the Tsao-Wang ( Zao Shen ) the Gods of the hearth or stove is placed, so that it faces south. Pictured next to him is his wife Tsao-Wang Nai-Nai, who carries the sayings of the household's women to the Jade Emperor in heaven. Three sticks of incense, food, drink and flowers are offered to him to ensure the safety and good fotrune of the inhabitants. 

In the Japanese Shinto religion, a kamidana or Gods shelf serves a similar purpose. Set high on the wall, daily offerings of evergreen twigs, rice, wine and salt are made to the divine spirits and prayers and thanks are given for blessings received. A bell that hangs above the shrine is rung, two bows are made, two claps and one more bow in honour.

In Scandanavia, Germany, Eastern and Western European myth, belongs the House Wight.  

The term 'Wight' is a general term for a sentient being, but it can also specify spiritual beings who are neither Gods nor human. The House Wight helps with protecting the home, but should the Wight feel unhappy or slighted, then mischief and problems may be caused. So a good relationship with a House Wight ensures everything runs much more smoothly.

House Wights will often choose beautiful ornaments or amethyst crystals in which to settle, and an amethyst kept by the hearth, welcomes these protective essences into your home.

Also from Scandanavian and Germanic traditions, come the Disir, who are evolved spirits similar to Ancestral Mother Guardians who protect a family through the generations. Lighting a white candle on a Friday evening and sitting with it quietly, helps you to draw strength from their wise maternal energy. Connection with Your Dis is especially powerful on Christmas Eve. 

The Bean-Tighe of the Irish and Scottish Celtic people are similar to the Disir. Bean-Tighe means woman of the House, she guards children and pets especially during the night and she will even move house with a particular family. Furniture removal men have asked where the old lady went, as they unload the belongings into a new home, only to be told there was no one like that. 

In Spain, Central and South America they are called Duendes, gossipy middle-aged fairies dressed in green, but unlike the Bean-Tighe, they were sometimes jealous of the women of the household. Whilst they would clean up a mess which they disliked, they would also move furniture and hide possessions if annoyed. However they would protect a family from any external harm, for only they were allowed to be bad tempered with the family they guarded.   

In Russia the house Wight is called a Domovoi and often looks like a hairy tiny man, but he can be a shapeshifter and can appear as a cat, dog, rat or a rabbit and also can transform himself into inanimate household objects as well. He is known to tickle people whilst they sleep, knocks on walls and throws pots and pans about. Tidyness, caring for your home and leaving him little treats, makes him happy, but he is not too shy to himself to things as well.

House Elves and Brownies are also welcolme house guests who bring good fortune and enjoy domestics chores. Gnomes are also social, but prefer gardens and forests and are more attached to the plants, birds and animals in them, than their owners. They care for the earth and it's minerals and encourage the growth of the plants and trees. A coin buried beneath the statue of a gnome is said to bring a steady flow of money into your life.

To attract helpful Elven energy which can make a home feel warm and welcoming: place shiny objects like crystals and costume jewellery in a dish by the hearth ( elves of all kinds love shiny things ).

Or hang crystals or old necklaces from a tree if you have one in the garden to attract nature spirits and protect your boundaries.

Hang a string of bells or windchimes just inside the front door to attract elves into the house.

If things keep going missing, such as keys and electrcail fuses keep blowing, place a tiny bowl of sugared porridge with cinamon and a little pat of butter on top, by the hearth stone overnight. Then in the morning give it to an animal, for the elves only eat the essence of it.

Scandanavians still do this on Christmas Eve and sometimes on Thursdays - the day of the Tomte, their house elf.

But beware of Boggarts, Bogles and Kobolds for they can be hostile, mischievous and best avoided.

It's October, Don't Eat the Blackberries.........

The feast of St. Michael or Michaelmas is celebrated on 29th September and it was believed that as St. Michael cast Satan out from heaven, the devil contrived to put his foot on a blackberry bush as he fell to the nether regions. 

Since then, blackberries are said to have the devil in them from Michaelmas day onwards and are thought to be useless for jam making and likely to cause digestive troubles.
The truth comes from the fact that at this time, overipe blackberries have lost most of their pectin ( which assists jam to set ) and it is due to this reason that they produce an unsatisfactory preserve.