Pagan

[Nat]

Anybody doing anything this year for Halloween / Samhain / Day(s) of the Dead / All Soul's Day?

I will definitely be doing something to honor friends and family who have passed over. I can't this year but I would love to do a dumb supper some year.

[Bit]

{{{{{{{{{{{{Nat}}}}}}}}}}}}}} Hi hon!

My plans are for Halloween and Samhain both. Our neighborhood association always has a huge Halloween party in the park, and Gryph and I are part of that.

This year our local Pagan group is having a Samhain party on the Friday before, and I'm really looking forward to it! I don't know if it will include any actual ritual but I'm okay with it either way.

One of the things I always do--obsessively, lol--is play A Soalin' by Peter Paul and Mary. This performance actually mentions Trick or Treating and relates it to the souling tradition. I don't mind the Christmas verse at the end because I sing this song for the whole entire season and sometimes--if I'm not sick of it yet, lol--all the way to Valentine's Day.



Lorraine Washburn also has a stunning version of A Soalin'. She ties it to Autumn with falling leaves.



Sting ties it to Christmas. This youtube includes pictures of the Swedish countryside and is just gorgeous.



It is impossible for me to be still listening to this song!! Doesn't matter how much I hurt, this song has me dancing. What better way to bring in Samhain?

[Bit]

Oh my gosh, look what I found!!! Links galore on this page, as well as the lyrics to the youtube below.
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?f...ogId=516025050

[Bit]

It's that transitioning time of year again. The fruits and vegetables are changing; squash comes into season, melons go out of season, apples and pears replace berries, sweet potatoes replace tomatoes. The leaves have started turning on the Virginia creeper along my back fence and my neighbors' trees are starting to show soft yellows and oranges. Music comes up from the depths of my soul, channeled through childhood memories and recent discoveries alike. The Gardener in me simmers down, and the Baker wakes up: tis Autumn time.

In my yard, the barren heat of the Summer drought has ended. The dandelions and plantains are green and growing, leaves tender, succulent. The violets which barely survived the summer are strengthening. Ragweed is blooming enthusiastically. Who knew it was such a mimic? The sassafrass-mimicking giant ragweed is gone now... but the "pigweed" has just shown itself to also be a ragweed and must come out as well. The beggars' ticks have gone to seed, all sticky with tiny hairs, long seeds barbed like harpoons. I pull them whenever I find them and the yard is free of them for the winter, but they'll be back again come spring, just like the poison ivy. The grass is frantically blooming and setting seed. Vines and trees all over the neighborhood have blazed forth with red berries. The Autumn Leaf Show has not truly begun yet, but it's coming... it is coming. The world beneath the surface growth is slowing down, taking a breath; tree roots are preparing for the long sleep. Earth is awake and content, just a little drowsy around the edges as sleep time comes closer.

Samhain is just around the corner. It seems to be coming unusually fast this year, but I know tis only because Summer held on through what should have been the first month of Autumn. Only two weeks now, and we will be in the U.S. Holiday Season: Samhain/Halloween, Thanksgiving, Solstice/Yule/Christmas, New Year's, Valentine's Day. Tis the inner Baker's dream season, time to set butter-and-flour magic into motion, time to create breads and cakes, muffins and cookies, brownies and gingerbreads. Tis time to stock the larder; grocery store sales on the staples of a Baker's kitchen are just around the corner. Time to slow roast squashes and root vegetables, time to create stews and roasts, time to cook to my heart's content.

I find myself feeling connected to generation upon generation of cooks and bakers. An image persists in my heart's eye, a cook in a huge stone kitchen, feeding a small army's worth of children and adults all through the winter, secure in the knowledge her larder is full. How many hundreds of years does this image go back, its cauldrons and kettles and bake ovens steaming? It lives in me like an archetype and I am happy to be inspired through the long Autumn and Winter months by the Cook's happiness, by her need to feed the multitude of those she cares for, by her great satisfaction in practicing the arts of Kitchen Alchemy.

The Gardener, though, has not entirely let go. Autumn is a slow time but still a growing time, and this year the Gardener in me is determined to save some of these plants and bring them inside. It means finding a way to keep cats and dogs out of the containers, finding space for them all, obtaining lights to keep them growing and happy. The bell and banana peppers, the mint, the geraniums will all winter over nicely if protected from freezing. Tis time to think about starting herbs for wintering over, as well, and choosing a place within the house for a garden area, which leads to thoughts of preparing the house for the coming Winter, sealing the windows and doors against drafts, checking the furnace over, moving the furniture to take best advantage of heat vents--and back to plants we come, for those which must go dormant will need to be in a room which has no heat vent, and those which will continue growing will need to be in warm rooms.

The Singer in my soul has taken note of the direction of my thoughts, these changes, preparations, anticipations, transitions: chants and carols come bubbling to the surface, invoking the falling Autumn leaves, the Soul Cake traditions, the remains of Pagan music hidden in holiday songs. "A Soalin'" winds through my heart and soul like a thread weaving the traditions together, half-remembered childhood folk music favorites bound into recreated Medieval custom, "God Rest Ye Merry" trailing through "Soul Cake" on bright ribbons of brass and love. Red leaves fall through the newer "Autumn Time" chant, and the Beloved Dead speak through the Souling Song. The Singer does not care if the message fits her tradition or not, for the old music is Pagan to its bones and the spirit of Autumn reaches even through others' words. She sings, and cries for the magnifence of the gift resurrecting itself down through all the generations, and sings again--and the Horned God, the Green Man hear: the songs are once again Pagan in her mouth.

Life is full and overflowing in this most beautiful and magical season of change. Bright Blessings for the deep roots of Love to us all,
Cath

Soul cake recipes:
http://www99.epinions.com/content_4439384196 Montrose Family Tradition, 5th generation, gingerbread
http://www.food.com/recipe/soul-cakes-143070 cookies (source not specified), spicy but not gingerbread

Autumn music:
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnbD3QLU5o4&feature=related"]YouTube - Peter Paul and Mary, A Soalin[/nomedia] Peter Paul and Mary, A Soalin
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uI637NIdP88&feature=related"]YouTube - NEAL WOODALL A Soulin'[/nomedia] Neal Woodall, A Soulin' (A Soalin)
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL4zpBjSTt0"]YouTube - A-Soalin' - Loraine Washburn a Peter Paul and Mary Cover song[/nomedia] Lorraine Washburn, A Soalin
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KH2AjW1_h1s&feature=related"]YouTube - A 'Soalin'[/nomedia] (BYU?) Choral Christmas Version, A Soalin--just beautiful, medley with A Wassailing and God Rest Ye Merry
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07tu3e-otkU&feature=fvsr"]YouTube - Sting, Soul Cake.[/nomedia] Sting, Soul Cake--photos from Gotland, Sweden--utterly gorgeous and IMPOSSIBLE to sit through without dancing
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoJvo3_xm9s"]YouTube - Libana- Autumn Time[/nomedia] Libana, Autumn Time
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j35dvmdse9k"]YouTube - Halloween Music - "Souling Song - Samhain Version" - Kristen Lawrence[/nomedia] Kristen Lawrence, Souling Song, Samhain version
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=21280497&b logId=516025050 Kristen's lyrics

[aldebaran]

Originally Posted by Bit

It's that transitioning time of year again. The fruits and vegetables are changing; squash comes into season, melons go out of season, apples and pears replace berries, sweet potatoes replace tomatoes. The leaves have started turning on the Virginia creeper along my back fence and my neighbors' trees are starting to show soft yellows and oranges. Music comes up from the depths of my soul, channeled through childhood memories and recent discoveries alike. The Gardener in me simmers down, and the Baker wakes up: tis Autumn time.

In my yard, the barren heat of the Summer drought has ended. The dandelions and plantains are green and growing, leaves tender, succulent. The violets which barely survived the summer are strengthening. Ragweed is blooming enthusiastically. Who knew it was such a mimic? The sassafrass-mimicking giant ragweed is gone now... but the "pigweed" has just shown itself to also be a ragweed and must come out as well. The beggars' ticks have gone to seed, all sticky with tiny hairs, long seeds barbed like harpoons. I pull them whenever I find them and the yard is free of them for the winter, but they'll be back again come spring, just like the poison ivy. The grass is frantically blooming and setting seed. Vines and trees all over the neighborhood have blazed forth with red berries. The Autumn Leaf Show has not truly begun yet, but it's coming... it is coming. The world beneath the surface growth is slowing down, taking a breath; tree roots are preparing for the long sleep. Earth is awake and content, just a little drowsy around the edges as sleep time comes closer.

Samhain is just around the corner. It seems to be coming unusually fast this year, but I know tis only because Summer held on through what should have been the first month of Autumn. Only two weeks now, and we will be in the U.S. Holiday Season: Samhain/Halloween, Thanksgiving, Solstice/Yule/Christmas, New Year's, Valentine's Day. Tis the inner Baker's dream season, time to set butter-and-flour magic into motion, time to create breads and cakes, muffins and cookies, brownies and gingerbreads. Tis time to stock the larder; grocery store sales on the staples of a Baker's kitchen are just around the corner. Time to slow roast squashes and root vegetables, time to create stews and roasts, time to cook to my heart's content.

I find myself feeling connected to generation upon generation of cooks and bakers. An image persists in my heart's eye, a cook in a huge stone kitchen, feeding a small army's worth of children and adults all through the winter, secure in the knowledge her larder is full. How many hundreds of years does this image go back, its cauldrons and kettles and bake ovens steaming? It lives in me like an archetype and I am happy to be inspired through the long Autumn and Winter months by the Cook's happiness, by her need to feed the multitude of those she cares for, by her great satisfaction in practicing the arts of Kitchen Alchemy.

The Gardener, though, has not entirely let go. Autumn is a slow time but still a growing time, and this year the Gardener in me is determined to save some of these plants and bring them inside. It means finding a way to keep cats and dogs out of the containers, finding space for them all, obtaining lights to keep them growing and happy. The bell and banana peppers, the mint, the geraniums will all winter over nicely if protected from freezing. Tis time to think about starting herbs for wintering over, as well, and choosing a place within the house for a garden area, which leads to thoughts of preparing the house for the coming Winter, sealing the windows and doors against drafts, checking the furnace over, moving the furniture to take best advantage of heat vents--and back to plants we come, for those which must go dormant will need to be in a room which has no heat vent, and those which will continue growing will need to be in warm rooms.

The Singer in my soul has taken note of the direction of my thoughts, these changes, preparations, anticipations, transitions: chants and carols come bubbling to the surface, invoking the falling Autumn leaves, the Soul Cake traditions, the remains of Pagan music hidden in holiday songs. "A Soalin'" winds through my heart and soul like a thread weaving the traditions together, half-remembered childhood folk music favorites bound into recreated Medieval custom, "God Rest Ye Merry" trailing through "Soul Cake" on bright ribbons of brass and love. Red leaves fall through the newer "Autumn Time" chant, and the Beloved Dead speak through the Souling Song. The Singer does not care if the message fits her tradition or not, for the old music is Pagan to its bones and the spirit of Autumn reaches even through others' words. She sings, and cries for the magnifence of the gift resurrecting itself down through all the generations, and sings again--and the Horned God, the Green Man hear: the songs are once again Pagan in her mouth.

Life is full and overflowing in this most beautiful and magical season of change. Bright Blessings for the deep roots of Love to us all,
Cath

Soul cake recipes:
http://www99.epinions.com/content_4439384196 Montrose Family Tradition, 5th generation, gingerbread
http://www.food.com/recipe/soul-cakes-143070 cookies (source not specified), spicy but not gingerbread

Autumn music:
YouTube - Peter Paul and Mary, A Soalin Peter Paul and Mary, A Soalin
YouTube - NEAL WOODALL A Soulin' Neal Woodall, A Soulin' (A Soalin)
YouTube - A-Soalin' - Loraine Washburn a Peter Paul and Mary Cover song Lorraine Washburn, A Soalin
YouTube - A 'Soalin' (BYU?) Choral Christmas Version, A Soalin--just beautiful, medley with A Wassailing and God Rest Ye Merry
YouTube - Sting, Soul Cake. Sting, Soul Cake--photos from Gotland, Sweden--utterly gorgeous and IMPOSSIBLE to sit through without dancing
YouTube - Libana- Autumn Time Libana, Autumn Time
YouTube - Halloween Music - "Souling Song - Samhain Version" - Kristen Lawrence Kristen Lawrence, Souling Song, Samhain version
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=21280497&b logId=516025050 Kristen's lyrics

Bit,,, thank you for the beautiful, soulful welcoming of the season and Samhain.
I am new to BFP but feel so welcome especially reading all of your posts on this thread.

[Bit]

Hello aldebaran, it's nice to meet you! Welcome to the Planet and to Pagan!

[IrishGrrl]

I'm looking forward to attending next weekends Samhain fest. Hopefully I will be able to go up on thursday for the sweat lodge. I will also be working on my alter this week.

For the last couple of years I got so busy with life in general, that I havent taken the time to nurture my spirit. I havent taken the time to process in the way that is healing for me. For at least the last year, things have gotten to a very stressful, unhealthy point spiritually. When I get stressed it's much easier for other energy to influence my own , and I dont like that, it's very uncomfortable. Time to redirect and meditate. Back to my journey..the one I have neglected for far too long.

Irish

[Nat]

Winter solstice tonight - full lunar eclipse starting in about two hours y'all. Happy Yule!

The last time winter solstice and a full lunar eclipse happened was during the first year of bloody mary's reign. Princess Elizabeth was locked up in the tower of London at the time, and Protestants were being burned at the stake in England by early the next year.

[Turtle]

Ahhhh, it's amazing out tonight. It is crisp and clear and the moon is beautiful Enjoy y'all....