The Celtic new year fell on a Wednesday this year as all the pagans out there know. As for the rest of you it was Halloween. Of course, there aren't really any Celts out there who celebrate the new year anymore but there are tons of pagans. I've been a practicing something or other for the better part of twenty-five years. I say "something or other" because what I do has never really fell into anything specifically recognizable. Although, I always feel rather witchy in the fall and so my Samhain was a return to my witchy ways. It had been a while since I last participated in a Samhain eve celebration and I wasn't sure I had what I needed to bring it together. However, as with any spiritual practice, you don't really need anything but a desire. As it happened, I found everything I needed right around the house. I guess once you've aligned yourself with mystical energies, whatever you may need to express that alignment is always close at hand even if it's been a while. You can see in the picture of the altar I constructed. I used candles of course and I used my Tarot deck for many representations of deities and universal energies. There were also recognizable symbols for each of the four elements like birds for air, incense for fire (could be air too), water, and a stone for earth. The point is to do what feels right for the practitioner. I could never respond to any spiritual practice that held too stringently to anything specific. I used my time within the circle and between the worlds to meditate on my spiritual guides and those who have gone on, since All Hallows Eve is the best time to be in touch with the dead. I'm normally very introspective, but the fall draws me even more into myself and I become aware of the movement of the Earth until New Year's, then I begin to focus on goals for the coming year.
Blessed Be!
