Heyyy, Lunatics!
We are at the very end of October, and for me, it’s been a month-long celebration filled with all types of activities. As you can imagine, or if you don’t already know, All Hallows Eve (or Halloween) is the highest holiday for us pagans, Witches and Wiccans. However, like many other pagan holidays, other people jump on the train to celebrate Halloween.
The quick story
I was very little when I discovered my love for dressing up in costumes, playing games, eating candy and all things Halloween. Strangely enough I remember singing a song about going to a pumpkin patch and collecting pumpkins to carve them. Ironic, I don’t know there are pumpkin patches in Puerto Rico and I certainly don’t remember pumpkin picking. All through elementary school, most of my teachers decorated their classrooms with Halloween posters featuring cats, witches, ghosts and haunted houses. I was always so excited to see them! Not to mention, I LoVeD Bugs Bunny’s Halloween Special!
Anyway, as an adult, I still love Halloween and have embraced it as *My month of the year* to really celebrate it. The difference now is that I celebrate in two ways.
The fun way I celebrate Halloween
Dressing up as ghosts, ghouls, vampires and Witches, and then heading or hosting a party – it’s all part of the fun way to enjoy a little celebration! I get to hang out with friends or family, have some fun and be silly.
However, I have only ‘dressed as a Witch’ this year. Imagine that! I only did it because a group of friends chose that as the theme, so I obliged. Of course, I did it differently too!
I have dressed as a Baseball player, as Rosie the Riveter, as a Scarecrow, as Baron Samedi, as a clown, and as cartoon characters to match my grandson’s costumes. I absolutely love it! It’s a lot of fun and it’s the only time in the year when it’s acceptable for us to be ‘who we are not’ for a little while. Of course, then there is all the candy!
The serious side of Halloween
The other way in which I honor Halloween is more ceremonial and reflective.
On the more solemn side of Halloween is the spiritual part of it. That’s when I get to really connect with Spirit and when I feel a stronger connection to the spiritual realm. Even though throughout the year I also get to connect, especially during the Full Moon and the New Moon, the energy is not as vibrant as it is during October. Why is that?
The veil between the worlds begins to thin as All Hallows Eve is on the heels of Day of the Dead. For me, Spirituality is a real thing, feeling the energies is a real thing. I can feel things as in physical things. Not scary things, but I am very well aware that I’m not walking alone on this physical world.
So what does a Witch do during All Hallows Eve? There are so many things, and it all depends. Most years, all throughout October, I have done different things from visiting Salem in Massachusetts to pay respects at the cemetery, decorating the house, going pumpkin picking even before I had grandkids. Most times, I also take a nice herbal ritual bath while burning incense, sitting quietly, listening to chill music. I may journal. If there is a Full Moon, I also like to charge my crystals and create moon water.
Personally, I like to get to do some self reflection and start visualizing what’s happening next for the rest of the year and into the early part of the next. I also like to meditate a little bit or pray, depending on what I’m in the mood for. That is the beauty about being a Witch, I don’t need to follow a prescribed procedure.
This year for the first time I feel like I have connected to the Spirit side and it’s been building over the last few weeks – very deeply.
Spells, rituals and hexes – maybe?
Of course! Well, not hexes – I don’t have the habit of cursing people even if I am mad at them or they’ve done me wrong. I believe everyone works on their own karma, so…
As far as spells and rituals go, I perform them if I have a need to do so.
First, I open a circle of protection to make sure negative entities stay out while my Guardians protect the work I am doing. Once the circle is open, I do different things. I may meditate, consecrate some altar tools, create a spell for prosperity, abundance or self love. I may run a ritual to burn off things that no longer serve me. Again, it all depends.
This year, specifically, I set up an Ancestors Pathway – el Sendero de los Ancestros – at home with photos of my grandparents and other loved ones. It’s a small shrine at home where I honor them with things that remind me of them being alive. I talk to them as if they were alive and ask them to always protect me.
I may do a ceremony to honor my deities with flowers, candles, food. It all depends.
I follow what’s in my heart and what sits right with me. As I’m getting myself ready to go into, I listen. I can hear Spirits telling me and guiding me as to what tools I should use, what I should do, what item(s) I should use. This is NOT to be confused with voices as the ones mental health patients hear!!
Once I am done, I always, always, always close the ritual and thank my Guardians before sending them off to the spiritual realm.
Some practitioners may go a little deeper than I do with their rituals. I may be done in maybe two hours, other times can go a lot longer depending on how much I must prep and clean up.
If I am lucky, I may feel, somebody touching me and I know because I get goosebumps. Yeah. It’s for real.
Anyway, I’m curious to see how do you spend Halloween if you do anything fun and if you don’t, that’s OK. You can start a new ritual or tradition in your own family and see where it lands! You will be surprised how truly connected we really are!
