Death Customs

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Samhain, October 31, is the Night that the Horned God Dies, and passes through the veil of life into the land of death. This is the night when the veil separating the land of the living and the dead is at its thinnest, and the spirits of the dead walk in the lands of the living. This is the celebration of the death in life, to support the continuance of life, and the celebration of the sacrifice of the Horned God. It is a time to name the loved ones who have passed and talk of them. Leave an offering to the spirits on the doorstep, a bowl of milk and a bit of meat and bread, to sustain them on their journeys.

The most symbolic item of this season, for the Witch, is the broom. In the old time the broom was the sacred symbol of Womanhood, as it was the tool of the Woman within the house. To those outside the Craft the broom may be the symbol of drudgery but the members of the Craft know it for the symbol of the mysteries of women and the Goddess, and that makes this the most potent symbol of the Craft. Within the Craft, this symbol of womanhood is the symbol of the woman's mystery, the symbol of birth, death and rebirth.

When the Sabbat fire has flickered and died to embers, and the wind sighs down the chimney in the wake of the Crone, and as the Moon climbs high shedding Her silver Light on the rooftops, we bank the fire and bid good-night to the silent spirits who have gathered all about us. Warmed by the love they had for us in life, and the knowledge that they are not really gone, we bid farewell to the season that has ended.

SAMHAIN RITE

Arrange the alter with a burning bowl, censor, candles, and a sun dish, and a natural knife, and some pomegranates.

Cast a circle

Invoke the Goddess and the God

Stand before the alter and lift a pomegranate, pierce the skin, and pull forth several seeds, and say;

On this night of Samhain I mark your passing,

O Sun King, through the sunset into the Land of the Young.

I mark also the passing of all who have gone before,

and all who will go after.

NAME THOSE WHO HAVE PASSED

O Gracious Goddess

Eternal Mother, You who gives birth to the fallen,

teach me to that at this time of the greatest

darkness there is the greatest.

Taste the Pomegranate seeds, burst them in your teeth, and savor the bittersweet flavor. Look to the sun plate and think of the wheel of the year, the cycle of the seasons, the continuing rebirth of all that is, the end and beginning of all creation.

Magic works may follow, this is the perfect time for divination works. But leave the dead in peace-if those souls have been reincarnated, you will have trouble, but the to contact those not yet reincarnated may invite hauntings.

Celebrate the feast.

Release the circle.

Books in PDF format to read:

Melita Denning - The Aurum Solis
Howard Phillips Lovecraft - The Tomb

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