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Episode 35: Spooktober Samhain
546 Plays2 years ago
Welcome back Witches! Samhain is right around the corner so we're continuing our month of Spooktober covering our favorite sabbat! We're going to talk about history, traditions, correspondences, and give you some ways to celebrate the end of the Pagan year and the harvest season! So get in losers, and let's discuss Samhain!!
We would be forever thankful if you left our podcast a 5-Star review. If you really loved the show and want more Get in Loser content, check out our Supercast & Buy Me a Coffee links below. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @GetinWitches, on TikTok @weredoingwitchcraft or email us at weredoingwitchcraft@gmail.com. You can support our show through our
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Music by Darren Curtis- My Dark Passenger
- Beyer, Rebecca. Wild Witchcraft. (2022). Simon Element, an Imprint of Simon & Schuster. (pg 175-179)
- Cunningham, Scott. Cunningham’s Book of Shadows. (2018). Llewellyn Publications.
- Wright, Jennifer. Samhain Correspondences (2008). Pagan Pages. https://paganpages.org/emagazine/2008/10/01/samhain-correspondences/
- Samhain. (2021). Written by the History.com Editors. https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/samhain
- Samhain. The White Goddess, Pagan Portal & Forums. http://www.thewhitegoddess.co.uk/the_wheel_of_the_year/samhain.asp
- Samhain (Samain)- The Celtic Roots of Halloween. New Grange. https://www.newgrange.com/samhain.htm
- Samhain: The Celtic Origins of Halloween (n.d.). The Westport Library. https://westportlibrary.libguides.com/Samhain
- Barbezat, Suzann (2022). Day of the Dead in Mexico- The Complete Guide. Trip Savvy. https://www.tripsavvy.com/day-of-the-dead-in-mexico-1588764
- Japan Rail. (2022). Obon Festival Guide: Meaning, Traditions and 2022 dates. https://www.jrailpass.com/blog/obon-festival-in-japan
- Youtube:Scarlet Ravenswood
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Get In, Loser' podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Do you feel drawn to learn more about witchcraft in the occult, but feel lost in where to start? Then welcome to Get In, Loser. We're doing witchcraft, a podcast all about what it means to be a witch and where to get started on your journey. Join us as we navigate through various witchy topics and share what we have learned about the craft. So get in, witches, and welcome to the fourth episode of our Spooktober series, all about sowing.
Supercast Book Club Promotion
00:00:48
Speaker
Yeah, so before we get started, we wanted to take the opportunity to plug our book club that we're doing on Supercast. And this is a Supercast only exclusive situation. And this is something that we're gonna, we've started this month and we are doing every month. And if you are listening to this episode and you're like, Oh my God, a book club that sounds awesome. I want to join.
00:01:11
Speaker
but you're like, but they've already started this month. That's okay. You can still join. Yeah. And the episodes that we've recorded already that are on our supercast website, you will have access to all of those. So if you want to go back later and read and then listen to it as you're reading, that's awesome too. And if you want to join our next month's book, you can, but what book are we reading this month, Tiffany?
00:01:37
Speaker
Well, it's over three months, right? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Hold on. Yeah, I mean, over three months. Yeah, it's a bigger book. So we broke it up across three months.
Discussion on 'New World Witchery'
00:01:53
Speaker
It's New World Witchery by Corey Thomas Hutchison. And so far, it's amazing.
00:02:00
Speaker
It is really interesting. Yeah. And if you're in, in, in, and you don't even have to be like in North America or anything to really like this book, because I feel like when I'm reading it, like I can connect to a lot of the things because I'm American, but then also it's so interesting to read a book that's about like North American witchery, because a lot of stuff that we even just
00:02:24
Speaker
research for the podcast that ties in, which of course, obviously ties in back to Europe a lot, but it's cool to read about some of the things that we have that are just native to America or that have evolved from other traditions and how it has like exploded in America. Yeah, I like that it also
00:02:46
Speaker
It talks about witchcraft from Mexico and the Native Americans that were obviously here before us, but it also ties in some of Russian traditions and Irish and English and Germanic traditions that have migrated to America. So I think that's pretty cool. It is, yeah. It's really cool because a lot of times too, I feel like
00:03:11
Speaker
whenever you read about anything about America, a lot of times, and just Americans and themselves, there's, I feel like an identity crisis because we're trying to trace back these roots, but we don't really, like if you're an American and you, like, I think we've talked about this already on the podcast, but if you're an American and say you have German ancestry, like you will identify more with
00:03:37
Speaker
other Americans around you that have no German ancestry than you would somebody who lives in Germany. And so like it's it's cool to see how these traditions came from
00:03:49
Speaker
like Germany and like you said, Russia and like any of the Slavic countries and England and Ireland and everything. And then it comes to America and how it just evolves and changes and kind of intersects with a lot of the indigenous traditions that are already, or that were already in America.
Invitation to Join the Book Club
00:04:07
Speaker
I agree. I really like it so far. So if you're not on our supercast and you want to join, we include that in our show notes and it's on our socials, like in our bios. We do book club now once a month. So on the first of each month, we will upload our discussion. And it depends on the book, like how big the book is versus how long it'll take us to read it.
00:04:36
Speaker
So some of them might be a month and some of them might be a three, like this one. Exactly. Yeah. And it's never too late to join. So if you're interested, like Tiffany said, the link is in our bio. So what are we talking about today? It's our favorite. It's salad. I'm so excited for this episode. Me too. And it was so cool. I mean, obviously we knew a lot about it already, but it was cool to kind of dive in.
00:05:02
Speaker
and look at some research behind it and just read it. Or even just expanding, like I knew what a dumb dinner was, but like going through and like really fully learning about it and understanding it was really cool too.
Introduction to Samhain Episode
00:05:16
Speaker
Yes. And then like I read your notes already. And so just reading about it and seeing exactly how it's done and why and everything. I'm just like, I kind of want to do it this year. Anthony was like, let's just spend Halloween, just us and do a dumb dinner. And I was like, okay. I love it. 100%. I will do that. Yes.
00:05:36
Speaker
I love that he's always just like, yeah, let's do it. Come on. Oh my gosh. We love, love, love a amazing partner who is super supportive. For sure. So Samhain occurs on the evening of October 1st and it ends on the evening of November 1st for the Northern Hemisphere.
00:05:54
Speaker
And in the Southern Hemisphere, it's April 30th through May 1st. Some other names for Samhain would be November Eve, Feast of the Dead, Feast of the Apples, Hallows, Halloween, Shadowfest, Third Harvest, Harvest Home, Day of the Dead, Spirit Night, Candle Night, Ancestor Night,
00:06:16
Speaker
Nutcrack Night, which made me laugh really hard for some reason, probably because I'm a child. Applefest, Allentide, and All Hollows Eve. I've never heard of Nutcrack Night, right? I even looked it up and I was like, it was literally just like a certain group of people that like, I mean, like, you know, it's a harvest season. So it was just like all about like cracking the nuts. So they called it Nutcrack Night. I was like, this is a really funny name for like such a
00:06:47
Speaker
Boring answer. Boring reason on why. I thought you were just going around kicking people in their balls. Yeah, cracking nuts. No, it's really boring. They were just literally cracking nuts.
00:07:05
Speaker
Yeah, nothing cool. Nothing cool. Nothing cool. So Salan is one of the eighth pagan holidays and the name Salan derives from old English, which means summer's end. And even though this is an old Irish translation, when we say ancient
00:07:22
Speaker
pagan Celtic practices like within the episode and we discuss them. This also includes Scotland, Wales, and the Isle of Man. And it's derived from an ancient, like I said, Celtic festival. A lot of traditions surrounding this holiday have evolved throughout the years. So it marks the end of the harvest season as well as the end of the year and the end of the summer season.
00:07:45
Speaker
Sound is a time of reflection for the last year and of coming to terms with life and death as well as a time to fully celebrate the dead. It's also considered one of the most potent nights of the year for magic. It marks the Celtic New Year and it's the division of the year between the lighter half being summer and the darker half being winter.
00:08:06
Speaker
And it's also when the division between the spirit realm and the physical realm is at its lowest, making contact with the dead much easier. The Celts believe that night preceded the day, so that's why Samhain begins on the evening of October 31st, and then it runs through the following evening.
00:08:23
Speaker
And this belief that the veil is at its thinnest is really prominent during this time. And what I was researching about this and just watching like more like YouTube videos and whatnot about it with Salwyn. And as Tiffany said, this is the time of year where
00:08:39
Speaker
contacting the dead is easier. And that's because there's this belief that the veil is at its thinnest during this time. We also see this with Beltane as well. And it's during this time, it's considered the liminal time of year, both Samhain and Beltane because it's like this in between zone.
00:08:57
Speaker
So it's like the end of one season, the start of the next. And so that space between life and death and the realm between the spirits and the living is at its thinnest because of this transitional
Ancient Celtic Samhain Traditions
00:09:10
Speaker
time. And that's where we get this belief.
00:09:12
Speaker
Samhain is one of the four greater Sabbats and fire festivals of the year and it's marked as being the most important of the four as this was the time of harvesting and preparing for winter and the darker half of the year. Samhain bonfires symbolize man's attempt to aid the sun on its journey as it began to lose its strength and the days grew shorter.
00:09:33
Speaker
It was believed that the sun descended into the underworld at this time and the darker period allowed the god of the underworld and his creatures like ghosts, fairies, and other nondescript creatures to then walk the earth until the sun's return. It's also the time in the god and goddess cycle where the god dies to be reborn through the goddess at Yule.
00:09:53
Speaker
So there are a lot of traditions that are under the whole umbrella of Celtic traditions as it relates to Samhain. And if you hear my dog barking, I'm really sorry. He's barking at somebody on the trail, apparently. I don't know who let him outside. This is a likely instance to happen today on both of our ends because my husband is at work, which means the puppy is on her own right now, which usually means she barks a lot. Yeah. So ancient Celtic traditions,
00:10:23
Speaker
had Samhain being celebrated the three days before October 31st and
00:10:28
Speaker
through three days after October 31st. And it was considered a mandatory celebration. And there are many different feasts and activities going on during this time. And obviously, like it's celebrating bringing that last bounty of the year. So this is a time where they would slaughter the animals and preserve them for winter. And it was known as the holiday of death because they are understanding that life is ending, but the wheel continues to turn and new life will begin anew.
00:10:57
Speaker
So it's also the birth of new things and not just death. And there's always that assumption that that rebirth is coming. So I am glad that you talked about this because I had read about the mandatory celebration part and I was going to look more into it and just completely forgot to go back and research that because there was something that I, like one of the pages that I had read through for Samhain talked about how it was a mandatory celebration.
00:11:26
Speaker
And that if you were caught not celebrating and participating in Samhain activities, like back during ancient Celtic times, that you could actually be put to death. Wow. Yeah. And so I want to say this was like, I was looking on like.
00:11:41
Speaker
the history channels website because they had an entire thing on Samhain, but I wanted to research that more and I forgot about it. Oh my gosh, could you like, first of all, why would you not want to celebrate it, like, also, but also imagine you're like, I don't really have it in me this year and they're like, Samantha celebrate Samhain
00:12:19
Speaker
Yeah, so I forgot to go back and research that so if you guys are bored and just want
00:12:29
Speaker
a little like historical mandatory celebration thing
Samhain Rituals and Soling
00:12:32
Speaker
that I would definitely look up. Yeah. So during the celebrations, it also marked the end of trade and warfare for the year. So various tribes would connect and come together during this time. And it was, I mean, obviously,
00:12:50
Speaker
It was just peaceful. Like the, there was no fighting or anything going on when these tribes would meet up and these tribes were, you know, just a few weeks before that at war with each other. So there'd be ton of drinking contests and feasting. And a lot of what we know has been passed down through like oral history or like pictures that have been carved on things. We don't have like any written accounts that predates Christianity on this just
00:13:17
Speaker
basically what's been documented by Christians observing it, but then also oral history passed down through the ancient Celtic people. But usually these celebrations involve some kind of sport. And the most popular sport during Salwyn was horse racing, which I thought was kind of interesting. And of course, one of the best, like the biggest aspect of the whole celebration were bonfires. They were incredibly important in the celebration of Salwyn. Again, we don't know a lot, but what we do know is that
00:13:45
Speaker
The hearth fires were left to burn out while the harvest was gathered and the Druids were very important in the celebration of Samhain. And so they would come and they would light a sacred bonfire for Samhain and they would use a wheel that would cause friction and spark flames. I'm not sure, like, I don't know, but that's just what it said online. So I don't know what made it cause friction, but who knows?
00:14:10
Speaker
But what would happen is everybody would take a torch and they would light their torch from the sacred bonfire on Samhain and then they would bring it back to their home and light their hearth fire with it. And so like everybody was benefiting from this communal bonfire.
00:14:25
Speaker
which I think is beautiful. I wish we still did that today. And then the Druids would toss in sacrifices into these bonfires and often there would be two bonfires lit. And so the Druids would also like walk between the two bonfires and they would bring livestock through the bonfires as a way of cleansing. And that's something that we also saw in Beltane with getting like the animals to the field. I remember us talking about that.
00:14:49
Speaker
but um so they do this again at Salwyn and then um another thing that the ancient Celtic people did was that they would leave offerings for ancestors as well as the fae outside of their door and often these offerings would be milk and honey so that the fae would just leave them alone and not bother them again like with this liminal time fae were known to be able to cross that space between um like the magical
00:15:19
Speaker
And the, the dead and the spirit realm into the living. And so, um, Faye and Irish culture was something that they just needed to be very wary of. So they would always leave out offerings. I love that the Faye tie into pretty much every, like, Sabbath. I feel like everyone that we have covered this far.
00:15:43
Speaker
there's something about them. I want to say that it was Beltane that you could anoint your eyes with thyme oil and it would help you like see the fae and like be able to see the dance of the seed and all of that. And then there was like another the, I can't remember which the other one was, but it was something similar to that like a way to be able to see the fae or whatever. And now they're like, please leave us alone.
00:16:07
Speaker
Like they tie into every holiday or Sabbath like in some way and I think it's funny. So like Sam said, there are a ton of Celtic, Samoan traditions. So I just kind of pulled some of the more generalized historic traditions to go over.
00:16:25
Speaker
So something that is, I feel like a bigger theme out of all of the ones that we cover is just honoring your ancestors that have passed and inviting them home while also warding off any harmful spirits. Because this is like a time when the veil is at its thinnest, this is a time that like you can spend honoring your ancestors as well.
00:16:46
Speaker
costumes were worn to help disguise a person as a harmful spirit as a way for them to avoid other evil and harmful spirits. And this is again, this is just a tradition that we see carried on today where people dressed up on Halloween and little kids go trick or treating in their costumes. So yeah, like back factoring like ancient Celtic times wearing costumes was a way to protect yourself.
00:17:11
Speaker
Sal and bonfires were lit because fires considered the earth's counterpart of the sun. Soling was a tradition of going from home to home, begging for a treat in exchange for a prayer for the dead, and today this equates to trick-or-treating, but prayers for the dead are no longer customary.
00:17:28
Speaker
Pagan Saxons slaughtered their livestock for winter fair, as well as to make sacrifices to the gods who would help them survive the winter. They referred to November as bloodmona, which meant blood month. And then a dumb supper can be held. If you want a good example of this, I got this from Wild Witchcraft by Rebecca Beyer. And she spells out her entire tradition and like the types of food she makes from start to finish.
00:17:57
Speaker
It's honestly like really cool and makes it really easy if this is something you want to try. So in this case, dumb means silent and historically dumb was used to refer to those who were not able to speak. So rude, but it's a history. Yeah.
00:18:14
Speaker
So this is a dinner that's eaten to honor the dead on Samhain. By partaking the entire dinner in silence, you're allowing your loved ones that have passed on a magical space to commune with you.
The Dumb Supper Ritual
00:18:27
Speaker
Dumb suppers can be done alone or with family and friends, and they're usually done by candlelight.
00:18:33
Speaker
You basically just need to make some food, take time to like welcome good spirits into your home and then light candles. You ring a bell three times and continue with all of the following in silence. So basically once you ring the bell, you start your dinner in silence.
00:18:50
Speaker
So what you have to do is set your table backwards. So you would place your cups, then your silverware, then your plates, and you include an extra setting for the dead. And once everything is set, you serve the food, including food for the dead with a little bit of everything. You consume your meal in silence while paying close attention to the shadows cast in
00:19:12
Speaker
the candlelight. So like I said, you're going to do this by candlelight with the lights off. I forgot to like mention that you start like once you ring the bell, you also turn the lights off and light your candles. And so like while you're eating, you watch the candlelight to see like the shadows or the way the flames moving. And it's said to bring you messages from your ancestors that you're honoring.
00:19:32
Speaker
Once the meal is finished, you blow out the candles in the dark, you wish the spirits farewell, and then you would ring the bell three times again and turn the lights on to send any lingering spirits away. And if you like get Wild Witchcraft and read her section on Samhain and how she does the dumb dinner, she also has like what you can say to welcome the spirits in and what you can say to like bid them farewell. I thought it was really cool.
00:19:57
Speaker
I like that. Yeah. We talked about this a little bit in our, I believe our last episode was our Halloween superstition look, right? I think it was the one before that. So a couple episodes ago, like within the last couple of episodes, we covered Halloween superstitions. And we talked about how turnips used to be carved in place of jack-o'-lanterns. But obviously now we carve jack-o'-lanterns. But it's a way to ward off evil spirits and a form of projection for your house.
Cultural Comparisons of Samhain
00:20:26
Speaker
Other festivals that are in line with Samhain, so there's the De Valley or the Deepa Valley festival. This is a Hindu festival known as the Festival of Lights, and it marks the Hindu New Year. And then Dia de Los Muertos is Mexico's Day of the Dead.
00:20:41
Speaker
And kind of branching off of that and just talking a little bit more about Dia de los Muertos. I don't know how to speak Spanish. I took French, so I don't know what I'm doing. But it's the Day of the Dead in Mexico and it's celebrated between October 31st through, you know, November 2nd. And this is a Mexican holiday where ancestors are remembered and celebrated. And it isn't gloomy or macabre by any means. It's usually very colorful and
00:21:09
Speaker
and festive, especially if you've seen the movie Coco, you won't understand. But during this time, it is customary to visit graveyards, decorate the graves of their deceased loved ones and spend time there. And often the streets from the graveyard are lined with flower petals to guide the spirits to their family's home. That is so cute. Isn't that cute? I love that, but it's beautiful. Right?
00:21:33
Speaker
They also build altars called ofrendas, welcome the spirits of their loved ones. And these ofrendas were filled with food and it said that the aroma and the essence of the food is what's consumed by the spirit. And then the living then eats the food and usually they'll share it with their friends and neighbors as well. And usually the altar includes sugar skulls with the deceased loved one's name put on it somewhere, marigolds and pan de muertos, which is a special bread made for the occasion.
00:22:01
Speaker
And historically though, before colonization, the dead were buried close to families' homes. And there was this cultural belief in Mexico that the deceased should remain tied to their living families. But this changed when the Spanish came to Mexico and people were then buried in cemeteries. But the traditions live on and are merged with what we know now as the Day of the Dead. And so that's kind of where this
00:22:24
Speaker
came from. It's kind of like a meshing of the two cultures. And the spirits returned to the realm of the living for one day to spend time with their families. That's the whole purpose. And I didn't know this part. I thought it was pretty interesting. So children and infants, like if they've passed away, they arrive on October 31st at midnight and spend that day with their family. But the adult deceased relatives arrive the following day. I wonder why
00:23:01
Speaker
beautiful, like, I don't know, what is it, a ceremony? Like just the thought of just like all the flower petals and like, just foods that with all the smells to share with your like past loved ones, but then taking that food and sharing it with your neighbors. Yeah, I think it's beautiful. And it just brings about that community that you see a lot in a lot of these other cultures. And I just wish that we were more communal like that nowadays. Yeah.
00:23:14
Speaker
I don't know. Yeah. Why don't they just come together? I don't know. Yeah. Spend the whole time together, but who knows. Yeah. And then another.
00:23:28
Speaker
But what can you do? So another one that I researched a little bit is Oban. And Oban is a Japanese festival that is celebrated August 13th through the 15th and sometimes in July as well. So it's not necessarily celebrated during like when we would celebrate Samhain, but it has a lot of the same ties to it. So this is a Buddhist festival that's been celebrated for well over 500 years.
00:23:54
Speaker
and this Japanese holiday commemorates the remembrance of deceased loved ones. So during this time it's believed that spirits of past loved ones can come back to visit their relatives and they will create paper lanterns called choching and they're hung to guide spirits and they do Oban dances as well and these are called Ban Oduri and they perform them to
00:24:19
Speaker
like guide the spirits and to pay honor and respect to them. And then in some places the bonfires, in some places bonfires are lit to guide the spirits too. So kind of a interesting, it's just interesting to me to see how so many different cultures have so many of the same beliefs. Yeah. But in Western
00:24:41
Speaker
like society, we've kind of branched out from that, which is sad, but families will visit the burial sites of their loved ones and they will bring food and offerings to like temples and altars around the grave sites. And then at the end of the festival, the families will guide their spirit loved ones back to their graves with their choching lanterns. And in some places in Japan, the lanterns are floated down rivers to allow their family spirit
00:25:09
Speaker
to be released into the sky, which I thought was beautiful. So I'm hopeful that when we reach Japan, we'll be able to see something like that. It would be so cool if we had stuff like that in America, but it's like you said, it's like, we don't even have the community aspect to begin with. Like there is another country is it is one thing I miss about living in Germany is that like even going to just something as simple as like October vest where the whole thing is centered around drinking and eating like
00:25:37
Speaker
pretzels and you know stuff like that. Everybody comes together and you sit with people that you've never met in your life and you spend an entire day with these people sharing stories and just sharing time and fun and
00:25:51
Speaker
laughter, whereas like in America, if you were sitting at a table and some random stranger came and set up, you'd be like, why are you here? Who are you? Exactly. Yeah, that is true. Such a different like lifestyle and take on everyday life. It really is.
Christian Reinterpretation of Samhain
00:26:06
Speaker
So as with everything, customs evolve over time. Christianity attempted to reframe Samhain as a Christian celebration. In the fifth century Pope Boniface,
00:26:17
Speaker
moved the celebration to May 13th as a day to celebrate saints and martyrs, but then in the 9th century Pope Gregory moved it back to its original dates declaring it All Saints Day and it was celebrated on November 1st. They also created All Souls Day for November 2nd as a way to honor the dead as well.
00:26:36
Speaker
When I was reading about like where the name Halloween came from, it was basically merged from that. And so it was like a mixture of the All Saints' Eve, All Saints' Day, All Hallows' Eve, and All Souls' Day. And that's how they combined it to kind of create Halloween. And so you see Halloween, like the term being used in the 15th century. Also another name that they would use was All Hollow Tide, which I've never heard that one before. Me either. Which is weird.
00:27:06
Speaker
They essentially, I mean, they change the traditions, of course, because they have to change everything. But at its core, you know, the holiday is still there. Yeah. Yeah. Typical. I feel like Schmidt in that scene of New Girl. A white man. A white man. Typical. Literally, a white man. Yeah, literally. Some correspondences for Samhain.
Samhain Symbols and Correspondences
00:27:32
Speaker
Your symbols are going to be black cats, bats, ghosts, scarecrows,
00:27:36
Speaker
autumn flowers, bones, corn stalks, colored leaves, crows, gourds, Indian corn, pomegranates, pumpkins, scythes, and the waning moon. And a lot of these I feel like a lot of it kind of repeats itself because for some reason I couldn't find a lot on correspondences outside of like maybe three references for some reason for Samhain. I feel like every time I look up correspondences for any of the Sabbats it's like
00:28:03
Speaker
an abundance of various things and they organize them all so differently. So I found like maybe three and they all listed things like symbols were just like a jumble of everything and then your other correspondences were broken down like we always do them. So if they're repeated that's why.
00:28:23
Speaker
The element for Samhain is water. Your deities for goddesses, you're going to have any and all crone goddesses. Caridwen, Hecate, Hel, Oya, the Morrigan, Lilith, Kali, Ishtar, Rhiannon, Persephone, Inanna, Baba Yaga, Isis, Pomona, Bast, and all death and other world goddesses, as well as the Banshee was listed multiple times.
00:28:50
Speaker
Oh yeah, we love our banji. I know. I thought it was cool that it popped up because we literally just covered the banji. For gods, you have Osiris, the horned god, Hades, her and the hunter, Kernanos, Anubis, Loki, Odin, Bran, any and all death gods, and all dying and rising gods.
00:29:13
Speaker
For incense, you have copal, sandalwood, mastic resin, benzoin, sweetgrass, wormwood, and mugwort. Yeah, and I basically found like the exact same things because you're right, there isn't a lot listed as far as correspondences, but the only other ones that I found that weren't listed were sage, myrrh, and patchouli.
00:29:35
Speaker
I wonder why Samhain is harder to find correspondences for. Yeah. It's interesting. It's just crazy because it's supposed to be like the most important one. One, it's also like the one that I feel like everybody, even if you're not in the know, like in the pagan or witch community, like this is something that you know and you partake in some form of celebration. Exactly. Yeah. You just call it Halloween. Yeah.
00:29:58
Speaker
So your colors and candles are going to be black, orange, yellow, red, brown, or white. Again, for these you can really just kind of think of like your harvest colors or autumn colors, and then of course anything that resonates to you is going to work for a candle too.
00:30:16
Speaker
For your tools, the bezum is used to sweep out the old year and the cauldron for transformation, but also pretty much any divination tool. So like tarot cards, scrying boards, runes, pendulums, mirrors, those kinds of things.
00:30:31
Speaker
And I was reading to online. I love this idea. So, you know, we're always trying to talk to you guys about, you know, you don't have to go out, you don't have to buy a bunch of things. You don't have to like have the, you know, amazing cauldron or anything like that. Um, and I was reading that if you don't have a cauldron, like a bowl filled with water or, um, black ink.
00:30:52
Speaker
is just fine. And I really like that idea because it's making sure it's inclusive of everybody no matter where you are on your journey. Yep. We, I feel like we said, we were really good at the beginning of the podcast, like saying that constantly, like you don't have to go out and buy everything. Like don't make people feel, make you, people make you feel any less for not having things and improvise when you can, you know, you don't have to spend copious amounts of dollars to, to practice witchcraft or to be a pagan or
00:31:22
Speaker
make whatever you have work for you. For plants, you have pumpkin, apple, any grains, pomegranate, mugwort, wormwood, dittany of Crete, acorns, oak leaves, gourds, root vegetables, and rosemary because rosemary is a plant of remembrance. And so you're honoring and remembering your dead. So rosemary was a really important one. And that was just a small amount because this one was really long.
00:31:51
Speaker
It was really, there was a lot of plants. There really are. So some herbs and flowers. Um, we have almond, apple leaf, autumn joy, said set them. I've never heard of that before. Um, bay leaf, calendula, cinnamon, cloves, garlic, ginger, hazelnut.
00:32:10
Speaker
Hemlock cones, mandrake root, marigold, mums, nettle, passion flower, pine needles, rue, sage, sunflower petals, and the seeds, tarragon, and wild genseng. For food, basically any and all pumpkin or apple dishes work.
00:32:30
Speaker
um, or root vegetables, meat, nuts, pomegranates, squash, roasted pumpkin seeds, cakes with tokens in them. And an example of this, and this is something that, um, my husband and I make pretty much every saloon is barbed brack bread. So once, once we get closer to Halloween, I will be sharing that recipe as I make it on our socials. And if you're a super fast subscriber, it will also be in our newsletter.
00:33:00
Speaker
For drinks, you can do mead, apple cider, mold cider, or mold wine. Your stones are going to be obsidian, carnelian, onyx, smoky quartz, jet, and bloodstone. Your animals will be bats, black cats, owls, as well as any livestock. Otherworldly creatures would be
00:33:24
Speaker
I have little descriptions for each of these just because some of them, I didn't know what they were. So I was like, if I don't know that, I mean, that's not saying much, but maybe someone else doesn't know either. So the first one is the puka and the puka is believed to received harvest offerings from the fields. The lady Gwen, she's a headless woman dressed in white who chases night wanderers and is accompanied by a black pig.
00:33:53
Speaker
Um, fairies and seeds, which we've talked about already in this episode, spirits, obviously. Um, and this can be both bad and good ghosts and ghouls. The doula hen is an impish creature that sometimes.
00:34:08
Speaker
It's basically like the headless horseman. It's a headless man on a horse carrying their own head. Their horses were described as having flames for eyes, and they were considered a death omen to anyone that encountered them. I mean, if I saw that, I'm going to die. Literally. All I could think about was
00:34:33
Speaker
like Sleepy Hollow with Johnny Depp. I was like, oh, like, or the TV show. Did you ever watch the TV show? It's newer, but still old, newer than the Johnny Depp Sleepy Hollow. Yeah. I think I started watching it or I had seen maybe a couple episodes, but I didn't have the channel that it was on or something. I never finished it, but it's really good. Anthony, I watched it like start to finish and loved it.
00:34:57
Speaker
He has no head. I love the Johnny Devers. Me too. It is so good. It's really good, but it's pretty funny. It is hilarious. Fairy hunters basically went around and kidnapped people. As they do. Yeah. And then the slua, they basically broke into houses to steal people's souls.
00:35:21
Speaker
I just, when I read this, because I didn't know that the Sluas were like real things because they are in, what is that book series? Um, these twisted bonds was the second one. So the hallowed vowels. Yes. And I love that series so much. And so I was like, that's a real thing. I mean, that's like a, the author didn't just make this up. Like it's actually foreign legend and yeah.
00:35:51
Speaker
So those are your other worldly creature correspondences.
00:35:57
Speaker
Altar decor can be leaves, fall flowers, pomegranates, apples, pumpkins, corn, grains, corn dollies, gourds, nuts, seeds, chestnuts, acorns, photos of your ancestors, and really whatever is in season or is a symbol of this time of the year for you. And honestly, anything that we've listed before also fits into what can be put on your altar.
Modern Samhain Celebration Ideas
00:36:22
Speaker
some ways to celebrate you could just like simply take a walk go out in nature spend some time observing like the colors the aromas the sounds any sensations of the season while reflecting on your year you can decorate your home with sound symbols and colors and really whenever you are looking at ways to celebrate using seasonal imagery and just everything that you do so this can even include
00:36:49
Speaker
the kitchen. So using gourds, apples, and pumpkins, basically whatever's in season right now and
00:36:56
Speaker
whatever represents the last of the harvest season to you and your area. So you could create a summer pot, roast pumpkin seeds, make pumpkin bread or pie, or even like a root veggie stew with some pork in it, because pork is supposed to be really great to use during this time of year. Yum. And if you don't eat meat, I mean, just a root veggie stew sounds so life-wise. I would maybe with some lentils or something. I love that.
00:37:26
Speaker
You can create an altar for your ancestors with photos, heirlooms, and other mementos.
00:37:31
Speaker
Yeah. And then with this too, I mean, as somebody who leaves offerings for my ancestor, my father, um, and then for my spirit guides, one thing that I will do for him, like, um, whenever I do leave him an offering on my altar is I will include whiskey, which is one of his favorite drinks. And then you can even do a food item. And I was reading about this. You can also incorporate a tarot card into your ancestor altar. And the one that comes up frequently is death, not because.
00:38:00
Speaker
Of death and we, you know, we've already, we just had our Tara episodes. It's all about that transformation, right? And so understanding like having the death card representing that, okay, yes, they might've died in their physical sense.
00:38:12
Speaker
but they're still with you and there's that transformation into the spirit realm. And it's this time of year where there's that liminal space and you can interact with them probably easier than other times of the year. So that's a really good tarot card to use on your altar if you like to put tarot cards on your altar.
00:38:31
Speaker
And then outside of just creating an altar, this is also a great time to work with your ancestors. So get in touch with your spirit guides as well. Maybe you have one of your ancestors as part of your spirit guide team, which is amazing if you do. And then also you can even visit a medium and try to connect with your ancestors or your recently deceased loved ones that way. And then like I talked about the dumb supper earlier, you could host a dumb supper, just holding space for your ancestors and your loved ones.
00:38:59
Speaker
And with that dumb supper too, you can even leave the plate of your ancestors food that you make them on your altar overnight as a way to, you know, be more respectful to them if you would like when you leave food offerings do you bury them, or do you throw them, or do you eat them.
00:39:16
Speaker
I, so it's crazy because one thing I have noticed, like whenever I put, I mean, I only leave food up there for like that night, but I will, I put it in my, my backyard. But one thing I've noticed, like when I put flowers on my altar, this is kind of off topic. When I put flowers on my altar, if I'm doing like an ancestral altar or something, they don't
00:39:39
Speaker
Wilt like normal flowers do. Okay. I don't know why, like, I don't know if that's just maybe it's where I'm putting them in my house. Yeah. Which I don't know why that would have any effect on it. No, I don't think that would. But I've noticed like, like, for instance, I noticed that this summer whenever I did the last ancestral altar I did was back in June.
00:39:58
Speaker
And I had clipped fresh lavender from my front garden and put it in like a little vase or whatever. And I like had it up there for the whole month and the flowers never wilted or anything, but I had clipped other lavender and had it around my house, like in little bitty vases, like in the bathroom and stuff.
00:40:18
Speaker
And that like wilted and died and like, all the lavender was falling out. But this, yeah, that's really cool. I love that. But yes, I feel like that is a question that I know a question that I had, like when I had researched some of this stuff and I read all different things, like some people bury it. Some people like just throw it away or pour it down the drain. And then some people were like, no, I eat it. And I was like, Oh yeah, I've not, I've always just left it. I think it's like.
00:40:48
Speaker
If, I mean, it'd be fine obviously to eat it too. Um, but I like, so I like to like put it in the backyard and Barry, if it's something that can be buried and then if it's something that can't like whenever I made, I made those cookies and I wasn't sure if like, it would be a good idea to put like the sugar and stuff into the ground. That one I threw away.
00:41:07
Speaker
But outside of that, I mean, I'll just bury it in the backyard and hopefully at our next base, like I want to get a compost, like a kitchen compost area. And so that would be a great place to put it as well. And then you can put it back into your ground when you're done. Interesting. The more you know. Yeah.
00:41:28
Speaker
You could tend to grave sites at a cemetery leaving offerings like flowers, dried herbs and water and like just cleaning up the area and maybe cleaning the headstones kind of thing.
00:41:41
Speaker
Yeah. And you can do this even if say like you are not living in an area where your loved ones are buried, even just visiting any cemetery or grave site and giving back that way and doing those things is an amazing way to pay homage to the local ancestors of the place that you're living in. So it doesn't have to be your
00:42:00
Speaker
exact ancestors that you're, you know, remembering and you're respecting during this time. It could be the ancestors of the place that you're inhabiting. I love watching the cleaning the grave videos on TikTok. They're so satisfying. They're so satisfying. It's amazing. And then obviously we've talked about it multiple times in this episode, but bonfires. And if you don't have a space, like an outdoor space that you can light a bonfire,
00:42:24
Speaker
You can use a fireplace if you have one, use your cauldron or even just light a candle. Something you can do to like further this, write down things that you wish to release in the new year and then burn them in the bonfire. That one is a time of like reflection and looking back over your past year and letting go and moving on to like new things. So you can write it down on a piece of paper or a bay leaf and just burn it in the fire to release it.
00:42:50
Speaker
Yeah. Any sort of fire magic is wonderful during this time because it's all about that starting over, starting new, taking this transitional time and using it to its full advantage and understanding that change is coming. Change is inevitable. That wheel keeps turning. So why not embrace it during this time is a great, a great way to celebrate. Yeah. And then something that most of us probably do anyways is you can dress up in a mask or a costume because again, this was
00:43:20
Speaker
like an old Celtic tradition to protect themselves from evil spirits. They would wear the mask or a costume that made them look like an evil spirit. You know, now this year, I feel, or not this year, but now like this in this time.
00:43:35
Speaker
It's like, how can I like make everybody laugh? What's the funniest costume I can wear? Or like you always have the like sexy costumes or, you know, but just participating in that is also a way to kind of keep those traditions alive. It really is. And it's super fun. And it's a great way to tie into your community and try to establish that community. So there you go. I sent Anthony, I came across those couples costumes yesterday.
00:44:05
Speaker
And it was the guy was dressed up like a lamp. The girl was a moth. I love it. You guys should do that. Right.
00:44:14
Speaker
Mike and I keep so I like to do really scary ones or like really out of the box ones and Mike is very like he doesn't really like to dress up anyway so if he does like it's got to be pretty basic but this year he wanted to go as Bob from Bob's Burgers so I'm going as Linda and we were trying to get the kids to go as like
00:44:36
Speaker
Tina and Louise. Yeah. They will have none of it. And I'm just like, Oh my God, you guys are kill joys. They both want to go as animals, which is fine, but you could have been so cool. One of them be coochie Coppy. That's what we told him. He said it wanted to be coochie Coppy. Cause I knew that neither one of them could be a horse. Exactly. That's what I told Emily. I said, you can go as a horse. And she was like, no, I'm not doing that. And I was like,
00:45:05
Speaker
Right. Neither one of them wanted to be Tina. And I'm like, well, one of you guys can go as Linda. I will go as Tina. Like, first of all, Tina would be the best costume ever. Exactly. Yeah. I will go wherever you guys are going. He'll be Jean. I'll be Tina. Perfect. Perfect. Louise wasn't born yet. I was going to say I'm probably more of a Louise, but
00:45:27
Speaker
Probably. Yeah. I was just like, oh my gosh. But yeah. So my wig and glasses came today. I'm so excited. Waiting for my apron comes tomorrow. What were you last year? You were something hilarious last year. I was the little lad.
00:45:43
Speaker
That's right. And then what sucks about it though is like, nobody knew who I was until I did. I don't just like, how do you not know? Like this is the best costume. You're like, this is very obvious. You should know this.
00:46:03
Speaker
I really wanted Mike to do a couple's costume with me last year and go as that SNL skit, the Timothy Chalamet and Pete, what's his name? The one that David said, Pete Davidson, whatever.
00:46:16
Speaker
Anthony wants me to make him a shirt that has that whole thing on it. Oh my God. I love that skit. I think it is so funny. And I'm like, it's perfect. We do that all the time. Yeah. I was like, this is all we need is like sweater, like sweatsuits. That's it. And then two wigs. That's it. And we'll just draw on our faces. Perfect costumes. He wouldn't do it. And I'm just like, you, there was like an entire period of time where it would be like,
00:46:43
Speaker
like I would be in the catch end and Anthony would be like doing something in another room and I just hear him go, you never loved me. I love that. It is such, it is one of the best SNL skits. It's so funny. It's so funny. But yeah, so, but I told him, I said, I really wanted this year. I really wanted to go as Reagan from the Exorcist and I wanted Mike to go as the priest.
00:47:11
Speaker
And he wouldn't do it. He said no. I'm just like, Michael, let's get it together. That's, I told him, I said, well, next year that's what I'm going as is Reagan from the exorcist. So I hope you're prepared. We would love to know what you guys are dressing up for Halloween.
Social Media Engagement with Listeners
00:47:32
Speaker
Yes. Send us a message, tag us in your pictures on social media, and we will upload pictures of what we are going as, as well. So that you can see us in our amazing Halloween costume.
00:47:44
Speaker
I don't know if we're dressing up this year. You guys raise up. Maybe not. Well, cause I knew you were doing a dumb supper, but yeah, we're going to do a dumb supper this year. And then like Anthony's also traveling, so he'll come back like on the 30th or the 31st, like he's coming home that day, essentially. Cause he is going to see rez and Spokane with Donald because. Rough life. Rude.
00:48:11
Speaker
But, well, um, if you do pass out candy or something, there you go. Throw on a witch's hat and be a witch. I don't know, do something, but take a picture of it and tag us to listeners, whatever you wear on Halloween, however you celebrate, Samhain, not Halloween, however you celebrate, however you dress up for the holiday, let us know.
00:48:45
Speaker
That's it for this episode of Get In Loser, We're Doing Witchcraft. You can find our source material for this episode linked in the show notes. If you love this episode, we will be forever thankful if you leave us a five-star review on wherever you listen to your podcasts. If you really love the show and want more Get In Loser content, check out our Supercast link provided in the show notes or search the Supercast website for Get In Loser, We're Doing Witchcraft.
00:49:07
Speaker
There you can purchase a membership to our podcasts and obtain exclusives, like getting episodes early, shadows on the show, access to our Ask Me Anything Forum, our monthly newsletter, a promo code for merchandise, and more. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at Get In Witches, or email us at we'redoingwitchcraft at gmail.com. Check us out next week for our final Spooktober episode, where we will hopefully scare your socks off with some spooky stories. Until then, Blessed Be Witches.
00:49:51
Speaker
you