Halloween… What’s a Witch To Do?

Halloween will be here before you know it. The local stores are putting out the decorative wares for the season. The Dollar General had the most adorable Ravens in stock. There are glittery pumpkins on shelves. Costumes have been put at children’s eye level. The festivities will soon begin!

How does a Witch celebrate Halloween?

Like any other person she welcomes the turning of the wheel. There is excitement in the children which is always a blessing. There are treats to be made to share with children who go door to door, and friends and family who gather to honor the solemnness and sacredness of the day. And then there is the house, most of us probably enjoy decorating the Sacred Temple. There are Ravens, Pumpkins, Skeletons, and Spiders. It is amazing isn’t it? All of these things speak to our beliefs yet the average person isn’t aware of the symbolism. Ah, but something stirs them at the cellular level. There is the attraction, everybody likes to participate. On some deep level everyone rejoices during the celebration of the old ways, they just don’t know it.

The symbols are representative of the turning of the wheel. Take the pumpkin, sometimes carved into a Jack-O-Lantern sometimes used as a table top decoration and very often a festive food source. The pumpkin represents the harvest that has just come and is now waning. It is the fruits of our labor. The skeletons represent the change coming the destruction, clearing, and ultimately the regeneration. They may seem scary to some but not those who embrace and understand the Goddess. The tales of Demeter and Kore tell us of the mother who loses a child but it is not permanent. She will return and love will be again. The wheel will turn. Hecate is there she takes away our fears. She is often represented in the form of three. She faces behind for she was with us before, she faces ahead because she guides us to the next realm, she faces forward because she is with us during the here and now. There is the Raven who represents the sacred watcher, the messenger who travels and communicates between the veils. Ah so many of the symbols displayed it warms the heart. The heart will absolutely glow as more and more women embrace the Goddess and teach her ways to their children. The old ways will come back slowly but surely they are returning. Thank you to Witches everywhere!

This sacred season is also a time to honor the women and loved ones who have gone before us. It is sad to see the great crone displayed in such a way as to attract ridicule from the unenlightened and just plain cruel. As a society we should honor the crone. Embrace the time we have left with her. She was a daughter, a maiden who grew perhaps into the mother whose sacred body was the vessel that carried your soul into this world, she is now a crone who is preparing to begin the cycle again. There is nothing to fear here for the crone represents the ultimate expression of love. She has experienced it at all levels. The passion and lust in youth, the compassion and nurturing during the mothering years, the ability to treasure and love and understand the fragile value of life as the wheel turns during her crone years. The season of Halloween marks the beginning of the time of the crone for it is not an ending but a beginning a time of preparation to reenter the cycles. Love and cherish your crones sisters, their wisdom has value beyond measure, their love a depth that never ends. They are sacred. They are also warriors as they have struggled through the turning of the wheel and experienced the highs and lows that life brings. They are the survivors.

An excellent way to honor the crone aspect of the season is a family altar. The altar doesn’t have to be limited to strictly blood family it is a place to start. Add pictures of those who our crones love and remember and yearn to embrace again. Add objects that are sacred to them and the ones who have passed. Add photos or mementos of those who passed without reaching the age of the crone. They are sacred and loved by all. That is the message of the Goddess to honor, value, appreciate the gift of life in all forms. This is how love grows. Love and compassion are the greatest gifts of the Goddess. When you receive them pass them on and they will return to you ten fold as your wheel turns.

This is a very busy time for the modern witch. She often works, mothers a family, cares for the home, furthers her education with classes, tends to the less fortunate in the community. Remember the lesson Goddess gives us in the form of Bast also. It may seem odd with the season being a solemn one but it is important to remember to play. Your body will ultimately grow weary it is the way of the turning of the wheel but your soul doesn’t have to. Incorporate play, remember to share with and enjoy those you love as you do what witches do. Witches carry on the traditions and teach them while remembering to have fun. Enjoy this time sisters, decorate, cook, dance, while honoring those who have passed and the sisters who suffered mercilessly at the hands of the patriarchy in the burning times. It is what a Witch does! Blessed Be!

Tags: Bast, Blessed Be, Crone, Demeter, goddess, Halloween, Hecate, Kore, Love, old ways, Pumpkins, raven, Sacred, skeleton, Spiders, Temple, turning of the wheel, Witch