Do you believe the original meanings of many festivals have been lost?
THE wheel of the year constantly turning has brought us once more to Hallowe’en, or Samhain (pronounced sow-in), as our Celtic ancestors would have known it.
Continue reading All fired up for our celebration of life
WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (AP) — Halloween is an important time for Wiccans, practitioners of a fast-growing polytheistic religion who recognize the day as the start of their new year.
Followers say the holiday, which they call Samhain, is when the veil between the living and dead is the thinnest.
“It’s a time to let those who have passed know we appreciate your time here and want you to know you are not being forgotten,” said Nicole Ross, 19, of West Bloomfield.
Continue reading Wiccans mark Halloween as start of new year
Wicca has become incredibly popular in the past ten years,” one witch in Salem, Massachusetts, told Catherine Edwards Sanders, author of Wicca’s Charm : Understanding the Spiritual Hunger Behind the Rise of Modern Witchcraft and Pagan Spirituality. In her book, Sanders tries to find out just how big Wicca is (you’ll find them in Salem but also in Topeka), what the attraction is, and what others can learn from them.
Continue reading Catherine Sanders on Wicca
Wicca devotee Chris Jones wants to clear the air about the symbols of Samhain, or “the night where the veil between life and death is the thinnest.”
Continue reading Truth or scare? Facts about Wiccan symbols
Allhallow’s Eve, a night of ghosts and goblins kids in costumes, going door to door, yelling “trick or treat,” pumpkins carved into jack-o’-lanterns – this is Halloween.
Wicca is a polytheistic, nature-based religion. I worship a Goddess and a God or one of the many aspects thereof.
Nature has male and female aspects; I believe the gods do, too. The God is a dying and rising God. The Goddess is eternal.
In one aspect, the God represents the grains, fruits and meat we eat. The Goddess is the mother that nurtures us and helps us grow. We celebrate eight Sabbats (holidays):
Continue reading Wiccans bewitched by nature
Like urban legends, the symbols of contemporary Halloween festivities make great theater, but bear little resemblance to their less fanciful origins. Malevolent ghosts, leering jack-o’-lanterns, witches plying the skies atop broomsticks — when it comes to embodying authentic traditions, they’re no more accurate than chocolate bunnies and plastic eggs in mirroring the Christian roots of Easter.
Continue reading Myths about witches: Pagan roots behind Halloween never were meant to be spooky
Enjoy today, and tonight. Remember to light some candles for loved ones that have passed.
A Picture Share!
Originally uploaded by cpuangel.
A Picture Share!
Originally uploaded by cpuangel.