Halloween Festivities and Samhain Reflections 🕯 (Challenge Entry!)

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Hello all!

For my entry to this week’s Weekly Witchy Challenge- Beyond the Veil, I will share my Halloween and Samhain experiences :grin:

I decided to split the weekend into two parts- birthday and Halloween festivities on Friday and Saturday, and Samhain reflections on Sunday.

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Poland traditionally doesn’t celebrate Halloween (they celebrate All Saint’s Day instead) and despite the many protests in support of women’s rights (among other protests) and the new pandemic restrictions- for a while it looked like I might not be able to celebrate my favorite holiday :cry: .

But my partner and I managed none-the-less, and despite some challenges we had a lovely mini celebration with just the two of us! We enjoyed pumpkin carving, orange bubble baths, mummy hot dogs, toasted pumpkin seeds, and Halloween classics (The Addams Family never gets old lol :bat:)

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After a fun Friday and Saturday, I spent Sunday taking down the Halloween decorations, cleaning up, and baking the pumpkins (pumpkin bread, anyone? :jack_o_lantern::bread:)

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I had planned to make an elaborate Samhain altar, but I was so exhausted and it was quite late by the time I finished tidying up. I decided to do a simple but meaningful arrangement instead.

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:fire: Three tealight candles to symbolize the three loved ones I lost this year.
:candle: One large candle to represent all those who have gone over the years
:bird: A feather to carry my wishes to them

I had a nice meditation as the tea lights burned about the past and how it is so important to enjoy things while they last. I felt good about my weekend celebrations- fun and partying with a loved one but also a quiet reflective time as well. It felt balanced- like, despite all the chaos and calamity around us, everything was okay in that moment :person_in_lotus_position:

The weird energy in the air I was feeling last week seems to have let up and I am feeling good going into the Witches’ New Year! :raised_hands::confetti_ball:

I plan to have a soothing cup of tea and spend some time reflecting on the weekend for the After Samhain Tea Time Ritual that @Susurrus kindly organized.

Whether festive or reflective- I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend! May the good energies of the Blue Moon, Halloween, and Samhain continue to bring you blessings throughout the week.

Lots of love- Blessed be! :sparkling_heart:

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Sounds perfect @BryWisteria. My Dad joked that he wished he had "saved the receipt for 2020 because he would return it… " He has not been able to enjoy traveling and with the new surge of illness sweeping the country it looks like ZOOM is going to be my only connection to family for a long time to come. We need to be creative about how we celebrate and your solutions look perfect! Be safe… I value you in my world.

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I love your ritual idea @BryWisteria! Sometimes simple is best. It sounds beautiful!

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I used my pentacle necklace with black obsidian that I wore to my friends as a pendulum to ask if my mom and Nana were around the family and my friend asked if her father was around her family. We didn’t dive too much into it with the questions as we were nearing the end of our celebration and it was time to go. It was a good time though.

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Thank you for sharing! Looks like you had a wonderful day despite not being able to fully celebrate. I couldn’t either. And sure, I’d love some pumpkin bread! :bread: Looks delicious :yum: I love it when you take pics of food bc it all looks so good!

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Good day to all. My Samhain was pretty low key. Just cleaned my apartment, organized my altar and called the quarters. Brewed a clensing bath with Chamomile, sage, Bay leaf and cinnamon.(However i did not get a chance to use it yet because ran out if time. I showered but the cleansing bath was too hot to use. Plus I like to leave for a day or two.) Lit candles to my ancestors and just meditated and gave thanks. I didn’t feel like doing any spells. Just wanted to say thanks for the past year. The night was cold, raining and windy. Perfect Samhain evening, however, i could not see the moon on account of it being cloudy. But, i did make moon water and bathed my crystals under the moonlight.
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I love your dad’s sense of humor, @Berta! I also want to return 2020 :laughing: I know keeping in touch with loved ones via video call is tough. Creative celebrations are definitely the key to being safe for the time being :+1: And thank you, you are very sweet! I value your presence as well :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

Very true, @Amethyst! Thank you :heart:

Glad you had a good time and enjoyed a wonderful Samhain celebration, @Susurrus :blush:

Hooray!:laughing: Haha I’d be happy to share pumpkin bread with you, @Christina4! I made a whole loaf and only used about 1/4 of the pumpkin puree… I have a prediction I will soon be very sick of pumpkin foods :joy::jack_o_lantern:

Your Samhain celebrations sound so relaxing and soothing, @walter! And such a gorgeous altar too- it looks lovely :two_hearts: I am glad you had such a lovely day. We also missed out on the moon here due to cloudy skies- but I could feel her beautiful energy none-the-less :full_moon_with_face::sparkles: Many blessings and a Happy Witches’ New Year to you!

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It sounds like you had a wonderfully fun and also productive Samhain weekend!

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