Thank you, @MeganB! 
I noticed we have a few Goddess and Horned God workers, so I thought it might be helpful. 
If I have the energy, I’ll try to do the preparation one before Samhain arrives and leave it at that. It feels a little strange to have two of the rituals and none of the preparatory instructions. 
You’re very welcome!
We do have several people who work with those entities and it’s very kind of you to put these out there for everyone!
No worries if you can’t get the preparation one out before Samhain. You’re doing a lot, and it’s already very generous of you to spend your time doing this for the coven 
Well golly, I’m always up for travel stories! I’m on the way to the orthopedist with the 9 year old (hello buckle fracture the FIRST day of Fall break), but when I sit down at my desktop later, I’ll hash it all out. It was such a fabulous trip!
excellent meditation! thank you very much!
Another gift from the wonderful Katerina- thank you so much for taking the time to translate and share this! It’s a beautiful meditation 
Oh no! I hope they are okay and that the appointment went well No worries and no rush on story time- feel free to share whenever you have the time and energy! Wishing all the best to your kiddo 
@BryWisteria Thank you! He is good! He fell off a bike while he was staying at a friends house. He has a handlebar bruise on his stomach, a pretty skint up knee, and a buckle fracture on his arm. It’s weird… it’s a fracture because the bone compressed in on itself, but it’s not really a fracture fracture? Anyway, he’s in a brace for four weeks with no lifting, spots, pe, or general “fun stuff”. His birthday next week was supposed to be at the trampoline park, so we are postponing that til he’s all healed up! It’s a rite of childhood, he’ll soon mend!
That sounds like a smart idea- the trampoline park will be much more fun once he can bounce around freely! Wishing him a speedy recovery and a happy birthday 
Alright, here we go… Apologies in advance. This one was rough and I probably butchered half of it.
When preparing an altar for the ritual, you can place photos of your dead on it. They can also be people you didn’t know personally but had a great influence on your life: spiritual masters, teachers, those who inspired you and have already passed on to the afterlife. Place the image of Welesa[1] and Marzanny[2] on the altar, as well as food for souls.
Before the ritual, take a cleansing bath. You can do it in the dark by burning only a few candles in the bathroom. Meditate on the ancestors, on how everything must go and that even the gods die and are reborn in the great circle of life, death and rebirth. Understanding and accepting this is the true Mystery[3].
After bathing, put on a ritual robe, put on a mask[4] and take a candle or torch in your hand. First, walk around the entire room with the fire in one hand and the rattle in the other. Make some noise with it. This way you will scare away all uninvited guests that night. Then, make a circle using the ritual knife. Say at the same time:
I cut out the door, without the door key,
To let the old people in here today,
I open the gates of Nawii[5],
May souls come to Jawii[6] today!
Then, put the dagger aside and light the fire in the ritual cauldron, placing the torch you carried around the room there. Into the burning fire, start pouring honey, saying:
My ancestors, my grandfathers!
My ancestors, great-grandmothers and ancestors!
Food for you today—food and honey!
Come to me tonight! Feast with me!
I cordially invite you to my home!
You, thanks to whom I exist today,
Look after me from above!
Keep an eye on me!
Glory to the ancestors!
Now pour poppy seeds, groats and grain into the fire as a symbolic offering. Leave the rest of the soul food on the bowls and plates — do not burn them.
Then take the bone and the horn with the honey and make a sacrifice of them, saying:
Mighty Welesie!
It is because of your will that souls visit the living today!
You are the one who takes care of us,
Who rests enthroned among the roots of the Cosmic Tree[7],
Who teaches me the secrets of magic and death.
Glory to Welesowi!
Now offer some of the cake, a bit of flour and honey to Marzanny (Morana):
Marzanno! Morano!
Lady of winter and death!
You, who holds the keys to Nawii and the golden apple!
You who lead souls to the other side!
Let the dead back into this world today!
Let them come back for this one night of the year,
So that they can enjoy food and drink
And seeing your loved ones!
Glory to Marzannie!
After the burial, you can perform various spells and fortune-telling related to the time of Forefathers’ Eve.
Note 1: In many Slavic languages, ending a word in -a makes it feminine and singular, while -i often refers to a masculine word and plurals. Hence, we see karaboszki and karaboszką for plural and singular respectively. Similarly, the masculine version of my last name is Atanasov, whilst I use Atanasova.
Note 2: The same entities have different spellings in the one piece. It’s likely a feature of grammar, the noun being modified based on usage.
[1] Welesa: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veles_(god)
[2] Marzanny: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morana_(goddess)
[3] “Misterium.” While not directly related, see Misterium – Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia. There’s a section under “Plot, place, and time of action” that says something like: Time in the mystery had a sacred character – it showed not the linear sequence of things, but the eternity and simultaneity of the most important aspects of the entire history of salvation.
[4] Karaboszki are masks typically made of wood, placed around the ceremonial circle or worn on the faces of participants in the Forefathers’ Eve ritual. On one hand, they symbolised ancestral spirits, and on the other, they served a protective, magical function. The malevolent spirits roaming the earth on this day left those who wore masks in peace. Additionally, they were not supposed to hear the voices of the living from under their masks. By hiding your face under the karaboszką, you remain safe.
[5] Nawii: Nawia is the world of human ancestors, the sphere of the spirit, encompassing the memory of the past and the vision of the future, thus ensuring the continuity of time. - Prawia, Jawia i Nawia – Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia
[6] Jawii: Jawia is the sphere of matter and happening, here and now, where things appear, connect, but also fall apart in a random way. - Prawia, Jawia i Nawia – Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia
[7] The Cosmic Tree is called “Kosmicznego Drzewa,” and is much like Yggdrasil. - Axis mundi – Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia
If someone could edit the main post to link to this, that would be much appreciated.
- [A Private Ritual for Dziadów (Forefathers’ Eve)](https://forum.spells8.com/t/slavic-witchcraft-a-samhain-spell-and-a-meditation-to-the-goddess-god/42339/15)
Dziady!!! 
Although many of the old traditions in Poland have been lost in the face of Christianity, I really enjoyed seeing the traces of traditional culture still alive- and Dziady was one such occasion!
We were told not to leave candles in the windows of the home around this time of year, as it would attract the spirits who were out wandering. Instead, the spirits are supposed to go to the cemeteries- which are fully decorated with lanterns, lights, and beautiful colors- or to the places where people built Diazy fires (much like this ritual!) 
(pictures in an old post here)
Love, love, love the notes- I had (correction: still have!) a tough time with the grammatical gender in Slavic languages and all of the conjugations it causes 
On that note, if I can add another little tip that helped me, when a feminine name (ending in -a) is changed to ending in -o (for example, Marzanna —> Marzanno) in Polish, it means you are directly addressing (calling) the person in question. In this ritual, you are calling straight to the Goddess, addressing Her directly.
Really awesome work here, Katerina- this was so neat to read! Your translation work is awe-inspiring. Thank you for sharing this ritual for everyone to enjoy! 
Oh my stars, that’s such an amazingly beautiful sight.
I’m realising in my earlier translations, I just replaced it with Samhain so I didn’t have to explain that. But when I got to this one, I left it and now, I feel bad about changing the earlier one.
But the entire chapter is on Dziady. It just lists the names from other cultures next to it for context, I guess.
And then when you’ve mastered a language by the textbook standards, there’s the native speaker “knowing when to break the rules” stuff! And all the funny terms and phrases that mean totally different things! 
There’s a funny one in my language that means “I don’t care” basically, but the actual phrase is “my asshole is itchy.”
Aww, you’re too kind. Thank you.
Ooooo, this is so nice!
I don’t think there’s any reason to feel bad about it! It helps to give context, especially for those who are unfamiliar with Dizady. And just as you said, the book itself lists various names for the holiday at the start of each segment- no harm done!
Shame I can’t start using that in English- that’s hilarious 
Right?! 
I don’t think anyone would appreciate that at all.
That’s still worth a chuckle! (and still can’t be used in most daily conversations lol )
Continuing the discussion from 
Spells8 Book Club XXX - Readers' Reviews!:
One thing I forgot to mention in relation to this is that in ancient times, the gymnasium was also used for intellectual pursuits – where philosophers would often congregate and debate. This bled over into more modern times, where we’ve sometimes called the high school itself a gimnazija or similar (gymnasium).
The word γυμνάσιον (gumnásion), from Greek γυμνός (gumnós) ‘naked’ or ‘nude’, was first used in Ancient Greece, in the sense of a place for both physical and intellectual education of young men. The latter meaning of a place of intellectual education persisted in many European languages (including Albanian, Bulgarian, Czech, Dutch, Estonian, Greek, German, Hungarian, Macedonian, Polish, Russian, Scandinavian, Serbo-Croatian, Slovak and Slovenian), whereas in other languages, like English (gymnasium, gym) and Spanish (gimnasio), the former meaning of a place for physical education was retained. - Gymnasium (school) - Wikipedia
So to clarify, the word “gymnastics” in this context is a more holistic full body and mind approach to spirituality, I believe.
Looking at the origins, this makes sense! 
Although I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget about the connotation of gymnasium = naked now that it’s in my head Though perhaps it’s better than the memory of the awful leotard from gymnastics class 
Thank you for sharing your language wisdom, Katerina- these are so interesting to learn about! 
Oh no, we’ve replaced one silly image with another.
Which reminds me, my partner recently sent me this:
Settling debates by standing up and flexing… what a boss move
Also “Plato was a Chad” is hilarious and a most welcome new connotation- I love it
