Playing Games
A little whimsy
a bit of fun
a little cuteness
never hurt anyone
Sometimes we need
to just let go
a little giggle
can be hard won
Let your laughter
clear the air
and let your smile
spark creative flair
Samhain and Halloween In My Practice
Today’s post is brought to you by one of my Discord servers. Below are some discussion questions that were posted for a “witchy chat” that they had on their server. Although I couldn’t attend the chat, I thought I’d answer the questions here.
Samhain Questions
- Is Samhain a holiday you celebrate or intend to celebrate?
Absolutely. Samhain is a holiday that my sister and I celebrate together each year.
- What does Samhain mean to you?
Samhain is the time of year when the veil is at its thinnest between our realm and that of the spirit world. It is a time to acknowledge and honor our ancestors and those loved ones that have passed on. It is also the witch’s new year, and marks the end of the wheel of the year’s cycle. After Samhain, the world goes into dormancy for a time and will then begin to rouse once more following Yule in December. This makes Samhain a perfect time for letting go of the past and past habits.
- What are your Samhain plans?
Each year my sister and I have a dumb supper to honor our ancestors and loved ones, followed by a ritual with much of the same theme. At the end of the ritual we include spellwork to assist in the letting go of things best left behind as we move forward and step into the energy of a new cycle on the other side.
- Do you consider Samhain to be the start of a new year? Do you have any “New Year” traditions you enjoy on Samhain?
I think I pretty much covered this above. L has shifted her new year to Beltane in the spring, but she still also participates in my celebration of it during Samhain in the fall. So in essence, we’re celebrating two new years, each one distinct from the other. For the fall new year, we often will write out things we wish to leave behind on bay leaves and cast them into the fire to release their energy from our lives. This part of our ritual is something we include each year without fail.
- Do you celebrate any other holidays around the same time as Samhain? What are they? How do you celebrate?
No. My previous holiday was Mabon in September, and my next will be Yule in December. That said, there are a lot of concepts of Samhain that are shared by other holidays in other cultures, a common theme and common thread of beliefs connecting these different holidays around the world.
- What do you think of the way that October has become “the season of the witch”? Do you enjoy that witch-themed things become more mainstream for at least a little while?
I don’t mind it. I guess the commercialism of it all should bug me. But the thing is? It is a time of year that makes it easy to find certain supplies and decor that you just can’t seem to get your hands on any other time of year. It opens society to a more accepting (if commercialized) view, which in turn makes it less dangerous to be a witch in the first place. So, in accepting the good with the bad, I suppose a little “Season of the Witch” each year isn’t an entirely horrible thing.
- Do you separate Samhain from Halloween and celebrate them distinctly from each other?
To me “Halloween” is about candy, parties, and trick or treating. It’s about costumes and fun and games. So yes. It is very much a separate thing from the solemn and respectful theme of Samhain.
I absolutely do celebrate both, sometimes with more leaning on one than the other… but always both.
It’s Just Dirt
At the moment, I’m playing catch up after having not kept up on my blog posts for a few days, so I don’t remember what the meditation was like today… or if I did it, to be honest. I will return to updating about my meditation each day once I’m caught up with my posts again.
Today’s draw is is the Five of Pentacles, which is traditionally a representation of tests, trials, and hardship in the area of one’s finances, resources, health, hearth and home, and manifestations.
What really stands out to me in this card are the crab creatures. I mean goddamn… at least they’re not spiders, right? Still. Creepy as fuck.
The creep factor aside, though, we have a depiction of a creature that is clearly not suited to the cold outside reaching for the warmth beyond the walls of the church. Caught in the cold, they look to the warmth of the light shining through the window and see salvation. Would they be welcomed in should they go knock on the door? Who’s to say? What world are we in? Perhaps they would be… or perhaps they would be turned away in fear.
The message here is not to be afraid of those in need. It’s easy to look at the homeless as something to fear… but the truth is? They’re people too. People that are down on their luck. People that are struggling. People that may not be on their medication because they can’t get their medication. Sometimes these situations make them dangerous, but more often than not? They’re just people struggling to stay alive.
It’s a reminder not to ignore these people or their plight… and to treat them with kindness. Take a moment to be grateful, perhaps, as well… that it is not you in that position.
DECK USED: TAROT OF HAUNTED HOUSE
LionHart’s #TheOctoberTarot #SeasonOfTheWitchChallenge Prompt
Question: How/where can the Spirit World aid my current path?
Reading Summary: Providing me with quick direction (Eight of Wands) that will allow me to make good choices out of the options before me when I’m feeling overwhelmed (Seven of Cups), leading to a far more grounded and satisfactory emotional well-being (Queen of Cups).
Take Away: This is something that I am pretty much already aware of. My spirit guide are there to help me in making good decisions that are to my benefit. They are on my side and want to help, and all I need to do to take advantage of that help is listen and follow the guidance provided.
DECK USED: ZOMBIE TAROT
#DiscordTarotholicsOct2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: How can I safely explore echos from the past that are trying to get my attention?
Reading Summary: The Seven of Wands is about defense, while the Queen of Wands is about “soft” control. In the Page of Cups we have the encouragement of an open heart, but there’s zippered lips and a snake heading towards her face in the imagery that indicates a need to take care just what you are opening yourself up to.
Take Away: The advice here is the need to stay on the defensive, and yet open to emotions even while being selective. Remember what you’ve learned so far about your emotions and your emotional intelligence, and when exploring the echoes of the past, it’s important to stay in control even while being receptive.
This is about balancing caution and receptivity, as well as about staying alert and aware so that you can go on the defensive when needed for safety’s sake.
DECK USED: HALLOWEEN MAGICK TAROT
#MysticStarChallenge October Challenge Prompt
Question: How can I honor my relationship with my Guides?
Reading Summary: Take the time to listen (Temperance), focus on moving forward into someone better (The World), and treat yourself with understanding, while continuing to explore your emotional intelligence (King of Cups).
Note: The King of Cups in this spread is about how Gideon treats me, and using him as an example of how I should treat myself.
Take Away: In order to honor my relationship with my guides, I need to honor my relationship with myself and which includes being kind to myself and accepting of myself. I also need to stay focused on becoming a better me as I move along my path. In each moment of growth, they offer guidance that I need only to be receptive to in order to honor them. In being receptive to their messages, I then move forward, cycling from a lesser me to an even better me than the me that I was before.
DECK USED: HALLOWEEN SPIRIT TAROT
Gideon’s Challenge
A Heartbeat
Tendrils
of smoke
create a moment
of needed peace
as scents
of cedar smoke
swirl in the air
and breathing in
brings to mind
forest walks
beneath
cedar boughs.
Photo © ZenStatePhotography
Morning Bonus Read – Thinning Veil Spread
Because I am trying to show a bit more of my decks this month, as I have a whole LOT of October/Halloween/Samhain decks, I’m doing a few extra bonus reads over the month. This is one of those extra readings.
Your Higher Purpose
Page of Pentacles
Learning how to connect to the earth and to develop my manifestation abilities no matter what life throws at me along the way. It’s about adaptability and staying grounded while still moving forward. There is also an indication here about the speed of that movement. This is not fast movement, but rather slow and steady with the focus more on what you learn along the way than where you are going to end up.
Advice From Beyond the Veil
The Lovers
So many of my readings that have included this question end up throwing this same answer to me again and again. Make good choices. This isn’t about making choices that advance some agenda but rather about listening to my moral compass and allowing deeper needs and motivations to lead rather than surface wants and desires.
A Lesson From This Side of the Veil
Strength
The events of my life thus far have been about survival. It’s about taking your licks and keeping moving, no matter how much it hurts or how debilitating the experience should be. This is a lesson in inner strength. Most of my “misfortunes” along the way were not about making good or bad choices, but about the strength gained along the way as I move through and beyond the ramifications of what has happened, continually adapting as I go.
Your Shadow’s Influence
Ace of Wands
As the shadows within work to whisper in your ear, it can be hard to keep your inspiration and enthusiasm going. The influence of my Shadow upon this lifetime is to teach me how to sustain that enthusiasm, even as those whispers try to distract me and drag me into backslide after backslide.
DECK USED: SKELE-TAROT
Examining Motivations
At the moment, I’m playing catch up after having not kept up on my blog posts for a few days, so I don’t remember what the meditation was like today… or if I did it, to be honest. I will return to updating about my meditation each day once I’m caught up with my posts again.
Today’s draw is is the Ace of Wands, which is traditionally an interpretation of new inspiration and enthusiasm toward new passion projects. It’s not so much about the idea or the act of participating in a project, but about the spark of fire and drive that kindles in your soul when you are inspired.
It feels like there’s a message here in the clouded, deformed figures down in the lower right corner, and yet even now it doesn’t want to rise to the surface and speak to me. It’s about motivation behind why things spark your interest, and the hidden secrets we keep sometimes.
Oh… there it is.
The thing is? Sometimes when we feel that spark of inspiration? It’s important to take a pause and look at our motivations. Why are you so keen on this new idea or project, where is the interest and enthusiasm coming from? Is it pure? Or is it something being used to conceal or run away from something else you don’t want to deal with.
For example. Mopping the floor and cleaning the windows sucks. But it might look really appealing if you’re trying to avoid cleaning the toilets instead.
The best projects and creative endeavors are bred not from avoidance, but from pure inspirational spark. Make sure that when you feel a spark in your soul that you are eager to explore, that that exploration is pure curiosity and interest…. and not motivated by procrastination or avoidance.
DECK USED: MADAM LYDIA WILHELMINA’S TAROT
LionHart’s #TheOctoberTarot #SeasonOfTheWitchChallenge Prompt
Question: In what way am I suggested to protect my personal energy?
Reading Summary: Grounded advance (Knight of Pentacles) and overcoming lack of joy in your entrepreneurial spark (Four of Wands Rx) through the sharing of that passion with others (Queen of Wands). It’s okay to feel, but don’t allow those feelings to mellow and stagnate (Queen of Cups… it’s about her face and how she’s holding the cup).
There is growth and advancement here in the inclusion of greenery both in the Queen of Wands and Queen of Cups. Emotional influences blending with inspirational drive will allow for a breaking free of the cage you feel like you’re trapped in. As long as you stay grounded, it’s okay to move slow.
Take Away: Whether these cards are read left to right, or right to left, the key here in moving forward and continuing to grow in both my emotional wealth as well as my business requires some grounding, as well as slow but steady progress. Don’t remain stagnant. It’s not healthy, no matter how appealing it might seem.
DECK USED: THE VAMPIRE TAROT
#DiscordTarotholicsOct2020 Challenge Prompt
Philosophical Question: How important is play in living a healthy and fulfilling life?
Reading Summary: Play is the music of life. Whether you’re on your own and singing to the sky (imagery of Queen of Swords), or with those you love and serenading them from the heart (imagery on Ten of Pentacles)… either way that joy of play is what clears away the smog (imagery in Death).
Take Away: Clearly, it’s very important. It’s the fresh air that clears away the stagnancy and cobwebs in our lives and allows us to look at ourselves and the world around us with fresh eyes. Lack of play encourages stagnancy and lack of growth.
DECK USED: DEAD WAITE TAROT
#MysticStarChallenge October Challenge Prompt
Question: How does the message from the 19th help me with my greater purpose?
Reading Summary: It helps me open my eyes (Eight of Swords) to the fact that I’m not allow and am receiving strength from others (Strength) that are near and dear to me and have my best interests at heart (Four of Wands).
Take Away: My spirit guides are represented here by the Four of Wands, as they are with me all the time… from birth to death they will be there to help and provide a stable “home base” of guidance along the way.
The message on the 19th was that they are behind me 100% and are my cheerleading squad, there to cheer me on and give me strength. The message opened my eyes to this face, and that knowledge provides me with an undercurrent of strength that I didn’t have previously.
DECK USED: THE GOTHIC TAROT
#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge by E Roebuck-Jones
Question: What has most influenced my spiritual path?
Reading Summary: Learning about different traditions and adopting what has felt right for me (Seven of Swords). Hardships along the way that have taught me strength (Five of Pentacles). Following my gut concerning what is right for me… and what isn’t (Eight of Cups).
Take Away: This is about the development of my independence and finding the path that is mine alone. It’s about accepting that I have my own path, and that that path is directed by my intuition and moral compass rather than by what others think or feel is right for me.
