Countdown to Samhain – Part 2

I discovered this little challenge on Instagram and thought I’d give it a go.  Since it’s not demanding a card pull each day, I thought it might be fun to use it for a couple of my Pagan’s Perspective posts instead of adding it to my daily rotations.

Countdown to Samhain #samhaincountdown

16 Halloween Tarot
Two of Imps – Make good choices using the knowledge and advice that they give me.
The Chariot – Take control of your life and steer it in the direction you want to go while allowing my ancestors to help guide me.
The Hanged Man – Make time along the way to see others perspectives and try and see my ancestors perspectives as well.

17  Off and on around this time of year some things happen.  But it comes with the territory, as the veil between the spirit world and the living one is very thin at this time of year. I am rather certain I had a visitation from my father last Samhain season, and it was not a positive influence for me.  I’ve made precautions this year in the hope of it not being a repeat occurrence, but I would never forbid him from visiting entirely unless it became a repetitive issue.

18  As with the answer to the tarot card question asked in part one of this series, I don’t really have a suit that I associate specifically with this time of year.  I think this might be because I see the suits as elements rather than seasons.  When I am required to assign seasons to the suits, the Autumn season is earth/pentacles. But that is not limited to just Samhain, but the entire Autumn/harvest season.

19  Pumpkins (obviously) and other gourds.  Apples.  Dried orange and lemon rinds.  Dried grasses and grains.  Chrysanthemums, wormwood, and thistle.

Halloween Tarot20 Listen to me… Listen to your inner knowledge… Listen to your intuition. Just listen and know.

This card is about making sure that I’m listening to my inner voice, inner knowledge, and intuition.  These elements are things not based in logic or fact, and yet have the ability to guide you forward with true purpose toward your soul’s completion. 

In acknowledging that my ancestors and guides speak to me through the signs and signals that my intuition and inner knowledge use to guide me, this essentially “doubles down” on the importance of making sure I’m not turning a blind eye to those messages, regardless of the fact that they come from a “less logical” source.

Halloween Tarot21 Stop judging yourself so harshly. It’s okay to be tired, it’s okay to take breaks, it’s okay to take a little time for yourself.  

You work hard and do a lot for other people as well.  There’s nothing wrong with taking a little time for yourself when you need it… or even when you don’t feel like you need it, but just want it.

Don’t allow your father’s voice and judgements rule your life and take away your joy, or enjoyment of the world around you.

Look at all the good you’ve done and stop judging yourself on the little things that don’t matter.

22  Yep.  I used to love dressing up and going to parties with my sister. These days we don’t party all that much, but for the past few years I’ve still decorated for Halloween and handed out candy.  And, as outlined in part one of this little quiz, I obviously also celebrate Samhain.

23  Every year around Samhain I watch two movies without fail. The 1968 version of the Night of the Living Dead and the 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

24  IMG_7078

IMG_7076

Halloween Tarot25 I need to stop trying to close myself off emotionally from others that are just trying to help (Four of Ghosts).

I can do this by making sure I stay in contact with Gideon, and by making sure that I express my feelings to him honestly so that he can help in understanding what I’m feeling and other people’s feelings and reactions, as well as guide me in making better emotional choices.

26  Not this year. For the first time since I moved into the building I live in, I won’t be answering the door to trick or treaters this year. So… I won’t be dressing up.   Altho… I might wear a pair of bunny ears to the farm in the morning when I go.  Just for the hell of it.

Halloween Tarot27 The shadow aspect of myself being revealed here is my “Not enough, never enough” shadow. 

This shadow rose up pretty heavy and strong last year, and I’ve noticed a slight resurgence of it this year as well. It makes it difficult to ask for help, and that is something I struggle with year round but usually becomes even more prominent during this time of year when I’m trying to get prepped for the holiday rush.

Halloween Tarot28 Take time to learn how to step away from the scarcity mindset.

This was an interesting solution to giving love to the shadow mentioned above, and yet… it also makes sense to me.  

The thing is, that when I am feeling like nothing is ever enough, I’m also feeling like I can’t catch up and can’t get ahead.  That scarcity is right there on my heels, nipping at me along the way.  It drives he harder and pushes me to do more. But it also feeds that shadow’s feelings of inadequacy.  

Therefore, if I want to give this shadow some love, easing those feelings of scarcity is a must.

29  I don’t think that I have a favorite song for the season, actually.  Although… Enya maybe, as far as music in general goes. Her music always feels just right at this time of year.

30  Halloween Tarot

IntentionPage of Imps – Exploring and expanding upon my interests and curiosities. This summer, I had the intention on doing a lot of different little craft projects and inspirations.

ObstacleStrength – The problem? Was that you can only put so much on your plate at once.  I allowed myself to put myself first instead of the business, which for me is pretty huge. 

Best OutcomeSix of Bats Rx – Staying put. I didn’t really advance all that much in my business over the spring and summer months. My heart just wasn’t into it and I was far too focused on my own self care and life stable and balanced.  As a result, there was very little progress and very little change.  Which honestly?  Isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because it didn’t damage my business or cause a backslide and/or loss as a result.

31 Thinning Veil Tarot Spread by TwisttheLeaf

Countdown to Samhain – Part 1

I discovered this little challenge on Instagram and thought I’d give it a go.  Since it’s not demanding a card pull each day, I thought it might be fun to use it for a couple of my Pagan’s Perspective posts instead of adding it to my daily rotations.

Countdown to Samhain #samhaincountdown Okay so this one might be just a lil’ weird since this is my blog and all.  But… Hi, I’m Twist. I’m in my early 30s and live in the Pacific NW.  I have a twin sister and a beautiful tortie cat named Luna.  I am a farm hand, a jewelry designer, a gardener, a nature photographer, a fortune teller, a teacher and a student, a non-theist pagan, a survivor (of cancer among other things), and I am in a life-long battle with the inky black pit of clinical depression. I have an education in botany and horticulture, and a deep affinity for the earth and those things that grow from it.

My favorite thing about Samhain is the crisp feeling in the air. I love that the weather has changed and the scent in the air at this time of year is more than just that of a season’s change, but speaks to me of so many elements from the thinning of the veil to the wet and decay that autumn brings.

My favorite divination tools are cards.  Sometimes tarot, sometimes playing cards, sometimes image only cards.  But it’s cards.  Always cards.  It’s not the only divination tools that I use, but absolutely is my favorite.

Samhain is about religion, Halloween is about aesthetic.  Samhain is about ancestors, Halloween is about spooky stuff.  Samhain includes a dumb supper, Halloween includes trick or treating.

SkeleTarot - Knight of Cups The page of cups is all about going after your heart’s desire.  It’s about taking that pursuit seriously and using your creativity combined with action to not just claim what your heart wants, but express your emotions clearly and openly… essentially wearing your heart upon your sleeve.  The Knight of Cups as the focus for this month is an indication that if I want things to go a certain way? It’s time to act upon those needs and heart’s desires to make sure that I am able to achieve what I want.  I feel this is a direct play off the COTD I had the other day which indicated you must “start as you want to go forward”.  In other words, don’t procrastinate in finding that grounding and balance with my life, responsibilities, and emotional growth.  Do it.

Turkey.  I mean, we’re talking seasonal food so, yeah.  Oven roasted turkey.

Okay, so I’ve done this before on this blog and you can see my altar setup in that past post. Nothing really has changed concerning it’s set up other than the fact that the hand mirror in the photos for that post has been removed and replaced with my great-great-grandmother’s divination cards.

To be honest?  I don’t really have a tarot card that I associate specifically with Samhain, or with any of the Sabbats for that matter.  I tried to think about it and pick one out, but I guess that I do not see the Sabbats in that way… or see the cards in that way?   It seems like an odd correlation to me.  Now, I have a crapload of decks that are Samhain/Halloween based.  But not a specific card.

I have created two of them for this month that are focused upon Samhain and the season.  One is focused on the animal and plant correspondences of the season… and the second is focused on the plant and stone correspondences of the season.

SkeleTarot - The Devil and Eight of Pentacles10  The Ghost of Samhain Past is represented by the Devil and the Eight of Pentacles.  These cards mark the path that I have taken in the past during this time of year.

The temptation to work myself to the bone and forsake sleep or any kind of self care in order to gear up for the holiday rush and be full prepared for what is to come.  It indicates that that temptation is something that has become a bit of an addiction, and a habit that I am working to now break.

SkeleTarot - Nine of Swords11  The Ghost of Samhain Present this year is represented by the Ten of Swords.  This card speaks of coming to the end of a journey.  Not just the end of any journey, but the end of a painful journey that has not been kind to me along the way.  That journey is the habits of my past that are indicated in the cards pulled for the Ghost of Samhain Past.   I am, in essence, working to kill those bad tendencies and the addictive pull to push myself too hard and treat myself too harshly.  The Ghost of Samhain Present says that I have reached a point where I can put that behind me and start anew on a new path… but only if I am willing to pick myself up from the ashes and keep moving forward… not looking back.

SkeleTarot - Six of Pentacles12 The Ghost of Samhain Future is represented by the Six of Pentacles. As a card of generosity and economic balance, it’s appearance as the card of the Ghost of Samhain Future indicates that in riding out this change and using this time to find my grounding and my path, my balance and a better way forward, that the future ahead looks bright.  Allowing for balance to take hold and the ability to sustain and flourish with this new way of doing things not just possible but absolutely probable.  This card indicates that there is no need to worry about if I’m going to find a new balance that is healthier and more sustainable.  It’s not just possible… but the most probable outcome looking at the trajectory forward.

13  A number of them, actually.   My sister spend the time between Beltane and Samhain planning our Samhain ritual.  The time between Mabon and Samhain is our favorite time of year and we participate in a number of spellcasting and rituals together during this time of year, culminating in our largest ritual of the year on Samhain.  Included in this ritual is a dumb supper and respectful offering to our ancestors, as well as spellcraft that involves the releasing of stagnant energy and habits that are no longer useful us.

14 Green is slowly turning to oranges and browns.  There’s a great deal of evergreen plants in my area of the world, but the deciduous trees and seasonal plants begin to lose their leaves, which causes the forest’s greenery to take on a darker shade as there are more trunks and branches and more old growth evergreens rather than the brighter green of the plants that do not keep leaves year round.   Leaves start to leave their imprints upon pavement, stamping the pavement with the echos of their shapes as rain washes away the debris.  By the end of the month, most trees that are going to lose their leaves will have lost them all, and the gray skies will be back in full force making each day “sweater weather” damp and comfy.

15  Yes.   As I mentioned above, my sister and I will present offerings to our ancestors during Samhain, and invite them to join us in our dumb supper, setting places for them at the table and significant items for those we remember in the center of the table to make sure they know they are being remembered.

#31DaysofWitchcraft Prompt No.7 (non)VR to Heather Carter

Heather Carter on YouTube put together a series of prompts titled #31DaysofWitchcraft that she’s been working her way through since the beginning of May. I really liked this idea, but I can’t handle the responsibility of any more daily posts, so I thought that for the next little while I would do one (or a few) at a time for the end of week “My Pagan Perspective” posts.  I still have a handful more to go… but this week I’m doing Prompt 7.

hummingbird

7. Do you work with a specific animal spirit? If so, which animal and why? If not, is there one you would like to work with?

Although I don’t work with specific animal spirits, I do feel a connection to them and have used their representations in ritual as a connection to specific energies. This isn’t something I do often though, as I feel that even if I am asking for permission first, there is an element of usury involved in using creatures (whether they be nature’s animals, the Fae, or any other creatures) in my magic and ritual.

This isn’t to say that animal spirits, or animals themselves, are not welcome in my practice.  But, I feel that if the choice is not entirely voluntary, without me asking first, then it is taking advantage.   Interestingly, bees are very eager to take part in my practice and are often drawn to my spellcrafting and ritual when it is performed outside.  I’ve also had the occasional squirrel, butterfly, hummingbird, moth, caterpillar, fly, dragonfly, chipmunk, robin, ant, chickadee, crow, and the Fae step in to participate without request.

These unprompted voluntary participation are always welcome.

#31DaysofWitchcraft Prompt 28 (non)VR to Heather Carter

Heather Carter on YouTube put together a series of prompts titled #31DaysofWitchcraft that she’s been working her way through since the beginning of May. I really like this idea, but I can’t handle the responsibility of any more daily posts, so I thought that for the next few weeks, I would do one (or a few at a time) for the end of week “My Pagan Perspective” posts and work through them a bit at a time.

acorn

Today’s prompt is #28, and is about how I was raised and the path that it lead me to be on now.  This is a topic I’ve probably posted on before and definitely one that I’ve discussed with you… but I didn’t want to leave it out.

28. What belief system, if any, were you raised with? How has that impacted your personal practice?

I was raised in a Wiccan/Buddhist household.  My mother is Wiccan and was pretty much almost solely responsible for the spiritual upbringing of my sister and I.  We were raised to follow the wheel of the year and worship the god and goddess and their cycles.  We were taught spellcraft and ritual from a young age, and I do not have a memory of a time when we were not participants in my mother’s sabbat rituals and often participants in her spellcraft as well.

Much of my mother’s path in Wicca resonated… but much of it also did not.   When my sister and I were around nine years old, my mother introduced a pagan parenting mentor to our family unit.  This person helped in mentoring our mother on different ways to include us in her practice and guide us in her beliefs, bur in truth Z (that is the mentor) really ended up taking over a huge majority of our spiritual upbringing herself, as well as teaching us about independence, autonomy, and the development of ethics and a moral compass.

When I moved out on my own at 16, I took those beliefs I had been raised with along with me into my independent life, and Z encouraged me to adjust my practices to fit what felt right for me.   The first thing I dropped was deity, as the god and goddess part of things never really felt right to me.

From there my personal practice was born.  I already had a vast amount of experience and knowledge in spellcraft and rituals, and I took that forward with me into my path and practice, weeding out the things that didn’t work for me, and planting the seeds for those things that did fit.

For this reason, although sixteen years have passed since I’ve been under my parent’s roof, there are still traces of Wicca and Buddhism in my practice.   These lingering bits and pieces are those things that still “fit”.

#31DaysofWitchcraft Prompt 12 & 13 (non)VR to Heather Carter

Heather Carter on YouTube put together a series of prompts titled #31DaysofWitchcraft that she’s been working her way through since the beginning of May. I really like this idea, but I can’t handle the responsibility of any more daily posts, so I thought that for the next few weeks, I would do one (or a few at a time) for the end of week “My Pagan Perspective” posts and work through them a bit at a time.

spellbook

12. Do you have a separate witchy name? Why, or why not?

My “witchy name” is the same as my online name.  It’s Twist the Leaf.

This name comes from a line in a ritual that my sister and I wrote together as children.

To be fair, when I first came online, I used just “Twist” and then “Twist the Leaf” for circles and pagan events and activities.  But over the years, the two have melded and I now use Twist the Leaf in most places, and “Twist” as the shortened version here and there.

As for why.  My mother used to take my sister and I to a lot of Wiccan functions, and having a “witchy name” was all the rage in those circles.  I chose my “witchy name” initially in order to finally get them to stop pestering me about choosing one, but over time it’s become… more than that.

I no longer go to those events and haven’t for… at least fifteen years or more. Other than my sister (and our mentor recently as she’s been living with us for a bit now), my practice is primarily solitary.  But the name has stuck, and these days it seems that I’m actually more comfortable being called Twist than I am called by my birth name.

13. Do you write your own spells, use pre-written one or do a mix of both?

I write my own spellwork, or at times work on it together with my sister.

This falls back on the way we were raised. To be honest?  I don’t spend a lot of time reading pagan/wiccan/witchcraft books.  This isn’t how I learned my craft.  Because of this? Although I knew that published books had spells in them, I didn’t realize these were actually spells people used.  Like, letter for letter and word for word, used like a recipe to bake pastry.  This realization that people actually do that was baffling to me.

My sister and I were taught to write our own rituals and our own spellwork.  We were taught that it is a part of the process of casting a spell to do the work behind the spell, which includes doing the research to know what elements to include in the spellwork, and constructing the spell and wordwork ourselves.   I guess that because of this, I assumed that the spellwork in published books was there as a “jumping off point”?  You know, providing ideas and examples… but not there to be used as-is.

#31DaysofWitchcraft Prompt 5 & 8 (non)VR to Heather Carter

Heather Carter on YouTube put together a series of prompts titled #31DaysofWitchcraft that she’s been working her way through since the beginning of May.

I really like this idea, but I can’t handle the responsibility of any more daily posts, so I thought that for the next few weeks, I would do one (or a few at a time) for the end of week “My Pagan Perspective” posts. This is the third installment!

Coffee

5. Have you had a teacher in the craft? Have you ever taken a course or classes to help you learn witchcraft? What were your experiences? If you haven’t, how are your thoughts and feelings on such courses?

I have had a teacher in my craft.  In fact, I’ve had a couple. The first was my mother, who raised my twin sister and I in the Wiccan path, while my father provided influences from his Buddhist beliefs.

When we were around the age of nine, my mother reached out into the pagan community and welcomed a pagan parenting mentor into our lives to help with better teaching us the Wiccan path and incorporating us into the rituals and celebrations of that path.

What really ended up happening is that the mentor (Z) ended up being our main teacher and guide concerning not just our spiritual path, but also our moral compasses, learning self worth and independence, and many other things.  She cared for us a lot, and we spent a great deal of time at her house and attending different rituals and celebrations with her throughout our youth.

When I emancipated from my parents, she was there to help encourage me to find my own path.  A path that would fit me and feel right to me.   Even now, she is a part of my life and I consult with her often.   In fact she’s currently living with my sister and I because she’s stuck abroad while things are closed down and restricted due to the pandemic.

I have never taken a class about witchcraft.  I actually wasn’t even aware that there are classes available for witchcraft.  Apparently there are, but I’ve never seen them or heard of them before.  This is probably because I am primarily solitary, though.

I don’t really have a lot of thoughts and feelings concerning the idea of classes and/or courses on witchcraft.  Primarily, because I haven’t taken one and have no idea what they cover or if they would encourage individualization… or require conformity.  I lean in the direction of individualization… obviously.

8. Do you refer to yourself as a witch? If not, why not? If so, what does the word mean to you?

Okay so, yes.  I refer to myself as a witch.

In my opinion, the term “witch” is just another label for “person that does spellcraft/magic”. So therefore, whether you call yourself a witch or not is pretty irrelevant. A duck is a duck is a duck… call it a mallard (witch)? It’s still a duck.

As I do not live in a place where calling myself by what I am puts me in any real danger, nor am I in the closet or trying to hide myself in some way, I see no reason not to use the term.

I do understand choosing to not adopt a label tho. Labels can be problematic if taken the wrong way by family, society, etc and can even create personal safety issues. I think it’s okay to not use the label… but important to acknowledge that you are a part of the underlying group that includes that label, even if only to oneself.