I decided against the pumpkin cake in the end.
Instead Iāve got a hearty beef stew in the slow cooker which Iāll serve with rye bread. Smells great and I canāt wait!
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@sofria oh how lovely! It sounds like you are having a wonderful Samhain, you have some amazing things planned. I picked up the tradition from a neighbor, during my high school years. I started practicing the ritual faithfully when my middle son was 5 yrs old. Everyone was scared of this lady who lived at the end of my block because they thought she was a Witch, so me being me I wasnāt scared, I was curious.
During Samhain (it was Halloween to me back then) one year I saw her carving pumpkins on her front porch so I went up to her, introduced myself, and asked her what she was doing and she then invited me to carve a pumpkin with her, so I did and then thatās when she showed me her pumpkin magic. Her name was Vicki, she was nice to me and didnāt care if she was a Witch, we carved pumpkins together every year from then on until I moved away. (my school friends thought I was crazy and started to call me a Witch! lol) 
She also taught me the importance of blessing the seeds and shared the chant with me. I am delighted that you found it useful. 
-much love
-many blessings
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I was slightly limited on kitchen magic ideas that were doctor approved but I did carve a small pumpkin which I carved thinking Rayelynne and urging her to just hang out a bit longer (I ended up giving it to my ex husbandās daughter because she loved it)
Today I made the toasted cinnamon sugar pumpkin seeds that I posted earlier today. Hereās a picture
I soaked them in salt water (I used pink Himalayan salt to draw love) for an hour and played them on paper towels in the sunlight (strength and clarity). I coated them in butter (For friendship and happiness), sugar (for making sweet memories in the year to come) and cinnamon (love). I feel like it would be good made with either brown sugar or nutmeg as well and while making them mediated on things I wanted to attract to the coming year. And since I ended up solo tonight I ended up doing a small silent supper where I placed an extra bowl of chicken stew out for my granny, grand dad and my son and as I ate in silence I thanked them for watching over me and my girls and and for their guidance that helped me get this far. I ate by candlelight using orange and black candles (I didnāt take pictures of this because I unfortunately wasnāt able to set an actual table I just placed a couple of extra bowls around the coffee table next to The couch where Iāve been resting.
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One of my favorite things in the whole world is my Nanaās āChicken~&~Dumplins ā they are my comfort food like no otherā
My Dads Biscuits~N~Gravy
are a very close 2nd ā lolā
She passed a year or two after she wrote this for meā she had written one a decade ago ā but I kept asking for a new oneā sheād tell me ānothings changed sweetheartā but it isā¦. I feel an energy when I walk past this recipe ā I see her hand written ātime, love and nourishment all here on this page and in my heart ā well and my tummy 
.
The magic of this paper is u deniable for meā and she didnāt think it was differentā¦ but the first one -was 3 pages long ā lol
This is one Full Page ā lol
I miss Her
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Hereās some pics from our Samhain:
My daughterās were the ghosts in Charlie Brownās Halloween, complete with a rockā¦ lol. Franklin was the great pumpkinā¦In his mummy PJs.
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Ah finally had some time! Today I woke up made some muffins for our neighbors and decorated the lid!
We didnāt end up having time to carve pumpkins because we went and spent some family time with my sister her husband niece and mom,
But hereās some pictures from today, I made breakfast it was sooo good, I hope everyone had a good Halloween and blessed Samhain 
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Itās time for a friendly reminder!
This challenge will close TOMORROW
If you would like to participate and havenāt done so already, please post about your challenge experience(s) by the deadline: Tomorrow: November 2nd, 7:00 AM CET (Central European Time Zone)
Blessed be! 
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That sounds like a really fun memory, @Garnet- the Halloween party you made for your kids must have been such a blast!
Congrats on your first witchy Halloween, @Peaches! Iām drooling at the thought of your simmer pot- it must have smelled amazing! 
So many delicious goodies on the menu, @mary25- you had a true Halloween/Samhain feast! That chilli sounds lovely and nutritious, thank you so much for sharing your beloved recipe 
A beautiful food blessing- thanks for sharing @Princess_Tara! 
What a fun family tradition, @moonshadow! And I love your notes on Pumpkin Magick- the Jack O Lantern Blessing is absolutely perfect And of course the seeds as well! It sounds like you and your family had a very blessed Halloween- thanks for sharing! 
Tada! Look at that fine pumpkin, @Kasandra- great job! And oh my goodness- 200+ bags!?! You must have been busy! Iām sure the kids appreciated them Lovely seed blessing as well- hope you had a fun holiday!
Pumpkin smoothies sound amazing @mary25! 
Canāt say Iāve ever had one before, but I like just about everything pumpkin- would love to give this a try! 
Despite a limit on time you really worked some wonderful magick, @stephen! The pumpkin bread, seeds, and treats all sound lovely, and your altar looks fantastic Great job- hope you had a fun time!
Hooray for Taco Soup, @Rowan! Iām sure it turned out lovely. Hope you had a nice dumb supper and adventure- did you find the local legend? Sounds spooky but fun! And I love the pictures- looks like a blast! 
I guess your pie kept the pentacle for itself, @Amethyst- oh well, the thought was there! And Iām sure it was a very delicious pie for prosperity too 
Beautiful blessing- thanks for sharing and hope you had a lovely holiday!
Yum yum! Beef stew is a favorite, @IrisW- hope it turned out well for you! 
That pentacle pie looks delicious, @Peaches!
It sounds like you had a nice holiday, @phoenix_dawn- and hooray for the tasty pumpkin seeds! Keep on resting and take good care of yourself
Goodness I would love some of your nanaās Chicken-and-Dumplings, @steph- they sound delicious! It sounds like a lovely holiday treat that brought back some happy memories. Thanks for sharing!
You are so kind to bake for your neighbors, @Misfitbabe! It looks like you had a lovely holiday- good for you
(And excuse this, but itās a mandatory question I have to ask as a moderator- if the children in the photo arenāt yours, did you receive permission from their parents to post their picture online?)
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We didnāt quite get around to carving the pumpkin this weekend (we chopped and baked one up two weeks again for pumpkin bread and soup and needed a break lol ), but we did have a little birthday ceremony!
One candle because we are lazy
My partner worked as a pastry and cake chef in the past and made me a Polish tort (birthday cake). Light vanilla cake in three layers with homemade whipped cream sugar frosting, peaches, and ground dark chocolate 
We celebrated with the usual good wishes and candle blowing (which many believe was originally a pagan tradition 
). Iām only slightly ashamed to say I singlehandedly ate half of the cake by myself over 24 hours- it was that good
Today is what could be the āPolish version of Samhainā- All Saintās Day. Today, most people around the country will make some time to go to their local cemetery. We will dress up nicely later today and head to my partnerās ancestors graves to clean them, and place candles and flowers as offerings 
While All Saintās Day is a largely Christian holiday (and Poland is a very religious country), Iām learning that many local traditions actually predated the arrival of Christianity and there are still hints of local Slavic traditions to be found. Itās interesting to see and Iām excited (and honored) to celebrate tonight! 
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Itās my son and neice!
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Sounds like you had a happy birthday @BryWisteria! Your tort looks awesome! Happy belated birthday!
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Happy Birthday @BryWisteria!
I posted my entry for the Weekly Challenge here, itās a bit lengthy. 
it includes pictures of our evening. My husband came out to play photographer because it was the 2nd year that the 3 of us got together for Samhain.
@Rowan so funny storyā¦ on Saturday night my neighbors had a costume party with some mutual friends & everyone was dressed up. My husbandā¦ never dresses up so didnāt have a costume. He found a white sheet & cut to eye holes in it & walked over. The first thing my kids & I said was that he needs a bag with rocks & he needs to add some more holes & maybe sunglasses to really pull the Charlie Brown costume together 
Dammit I wish I had the picture. I will find it & add it when I can.
@steph I love chicken & dumplings too! & we have biscuits nā gravy for dinner or breakfast. It is definitely getting to be comfort food time.
@phoenix_dawn they look delicious.
Amazingly, not only was my daughter late by 45 minutes for Trick or Treating , she didnāt even carve a pumpkin! We have the fully intact pumpkin sitting on newspapers 
in the kitchen. It was weird to have this be the 1st year in 20 that we didnāt have a carved pumpkin out front.
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Happy belated birthday @BryWisteria!
From the looks of it, it seems hope everyone here had a blessed Samhain! I had a great time these last three nights!
Last night, I lit an orange and black candle, offered some beef jerky to the Dragons and meditated on what I have learned since last Samhain. The list is very, very long. Some of the things I learned were: giving thanks each and every day, meditation, various teas and their health benefits, astrology, Draconic Magick, Cat Magick, Dream Magick, magickal properties and health benefits of various herbs, magickal properties of crystals, reading Tarot and Oracle cards, seven Chakras, shadow work, reading auras, and how to write my own spells (I now have over a dozen in my BOS), and more that I might be forgetting.
By next Samhain, Iād like to learn more about all the dragons from around the world, do some more research so I can answer if Yahweh (from the Old Testament) was actually a dragon, learn more about the constellations (since the dragons in my newest oracle deck are connected to the stars) and connect more with my Dragon Guardian.
For some the winter months are depressing since itās colder and the days are shorter. I ended my ritual by meditating on the more aspects of winter. The season allows us to appreciate the warmer and brighter days of spring and summer, (it also gives me a refreshing break from the heat and humidity), we can spend more time with family and friends, and the colder, longer, and snowier nights are an excellent time for some quiet introspection. Honestly, meditating by candlelight with a hot cup of tea on a cold night is an underrated method of unwinding!
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@BryWisteria Happy 
Birthday!
Hope your day was filled with beautiful moments and gifts both physical and blessings from the universe, just as you are a gift to our coven.
@Susurrus that is too funny! Canāt wait for the pics!
@Amethyst that is a beautiful verse/blessing!
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Well I didnāt cook anything, but I did find some things and add some altar offerrings. Hope that counts.
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Ā”Hola a todos!
Wishing you all a Happy Samhain, I hope you had a great day full of magick and light! 
I celebrated Samhain yesterday with my little brother, who came home to visit, and we spent all day together. At night, we dressed up and went outside, I dressed up as a witch and he used a costume I used 2 years ago, a Hogwarts student. I felt like I graduated and heās now studying this whole world of magick, haha.
So, we went outside and enjoyed the night, many people were outside too, with their costumes. There was music, motorcycles, and cars caravan all dressed up and throwing candies to the air, the environment was full of energy and fun.
After that, we came home and performed the Samhain spell found here, he knows Iām a witch now and yesterday, was the first time he joined me in a spell, but not only him, because some other friends joined the spell virtually, each one of us honoring our families and dead ones. I lead the spell the best way I could but in the end, everyone was happy to spend some time together doing some magick.
This is my best Halloween for me so far, the first time I celebrate it as a real witch, honoring and remembering my Great Granny who joined us yesterday too. I feel thankful and blessed with the Goddess and God, the Universe, la Pachamama, and myself, for finding the way that lead me here.
Thank you also to you, guys, for being you. May the Goddess and God bless every and each one of you. 
Here are some pics:
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