Samhain: October 31, 2022

October 31st marks the third and final harvest of the year and the holiday celebrated is Samhain or All Hallows Eve. Samhain is the celebration of the dead. This Sabbat honors the ancestors —human, spirit, and God — that have crossed over through the veil. The veil is the thinnest on this day so spirits can come through and visit their loved ones. Many celebrate with their dearly departed by leaving plates of food for them and lighting candles to lead them home. Pumpkin carving was carried over by this tradition for lighting a candle and placing it inside a jack o lantern would ward off evil spirits. It is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals.

The solar god is in his last days of dying as he stands before the threshold of the last Gate of Death and preparing to enter into the womb of Sheol to await his resurrection at the Vernal Equinox. He is revered for his self-sacrifice to nature by his diminishing powers and allowing nature to transition into a new growth cycle. The dying and wilting away of spring and summers productions gave way to new growth. Even though the green has browned and trickled away from plants and trees the plants continue to thrive and live beneath the earth. It is an analogy of our own selves when we retreat from the cold winter air to spring back out once the weather warms. So just as the goddess is reflected in nature by the seasons of change, she reflects within humanity as well. With this deep reflection during the dying days comes our need to think of loved ones passed ere go the days of the dead to live once more on our earthly plane. The power of thought to the dead by the masses transmutes energy to thin the veil between realms for them to roam and visit loved ones.

Though some think Halloween is a modern tradition celebrated on this day, the tradition of Halloween goes back to the Celtic traditions of Samhain. Folklore shows that on this day, during the thinnest liminality of the year, spirits enter into the realm of the living, both benevolent and malevolent. In Irish folk stories, fey spirits, renowned for their mischievous antics, would play tricks on the living. To avoid being tricked, people would dress up as monsters or other creatures. Jack-o-lanterns with a bright burning candle were wards for spirits, often made from any type of gourd or even turnips. So, while children run around gathering treats in their costumes, in the lore of the Irish, they are tricking the spirits into thinking they are one of them too and are allowed to pass peacefully through the night. 

Interestingly, Samhain hasn’t always fell in October and used to be celebrated on the day that Beltane is now celebrated. This falls in line with the Gates of Life and Death and this is also the date that the Southern Hemisphere celebrates their Autumn. Pagans celebrated Samhain as a celebration of life as opposed to mourning of death. This is seen with the Day of the Dead celebrations that take place on November 1st. So drink merrily and offer some to your ancestors. Eat heartily and offer some to your ancestors. Remember with your heart and offer it to you ancestors. Rejoice in your life as your ancestors do!

Ritual Correspondences

Altar cloths: Black, Orange, Dark Purple

Candles: white, black, orange

Herbs: honeysuckle, lavender, mint, roses, feverfew Mullein, Coltsfoot, Damiana, Dragon’s Blood, Myrrh, Patchouli, Clove and Sage

Icon of the year: Jack-o-Lanterns Besom, Masks, Cauldron, Balefire

Stones: amber, jet,

Observances: going through the veil, honoring ancestors, discarding 

unwanted memories and bad habits

Decorations: pumpkins, gourds, corn stalks, rust and purple mums, bales of hay

Sabbat Mythos: The Goddess mourns her slain consort and

Journeys to the Afterlife

Sun position: Sun is 15 degrees Scorpio

The Goddess Speaks of Samhain

The Star has arrived at a crossover
Where the end of the year is drawn
And the beginning of a new year dawns
Where the veil of shadows is at its thinnest
And the voice of the Star
Descends to the underworld
Where it shall remain in respite
Until the crowning of its majesty
Rises and shines through the days of cold

Dear Traveler
Descend with me as I walk the Star
To its resting spot in comfort and peace
Where it may regain its vitality
It's stamina and manna
And take the throne by my side once more
When the wheel turns
The time is nigh and we have few hours
For your soul to own passage
Without the fear of it remaining
Let Deaths hand of change
Walk you through the shadows
And offer you protection
From the demise the Underworld holds near

With change comes new opportunities
New life and new dreams
Let the day of the New Year
Course through your being
And remind you of wince you came forth from
The creatrix of life
And the womb of death
Vesseled within my growing garden
And sustained by the love
Of the Star as its last homage
Is paid in rest

Ancestral Prayer

Cosmic Quedem
Ancient Quedem
May they be blessed for all eternity
I bless and praise them
I adore and exalt them
I honor them and lift their names up
In reverence and love
I remember them 
And their blessings 
Both Cosmic
And through lineage
I wish you peace
As I gain understanding
I wish you joy
As I gain wisdom
I wish you happiness
As I gain fulfillment
Expunos Shalom

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Mabon: Autumn Equinox September 21st, 2022

The Wheel of the Year: Mabon

September 21st is the cross-quarter day of the Vernal Equinox, and the holiday celebrated is Mabon. This is when the wine is made from the ripened grapes of summer and prime time for apple and gourd season. Mabon is the Pagan Thanksgiving and the second of three harvest festivals. Farmers start preparing their fields for the winter months ahead, as does Mother Earth.

At Mabon, the Goddess has entered her crone stage with her God, the Sage. Autumn has officially begun, whether there are patches of color on the foliage or not. This time of the year marks a time to reflect and give thanks to the universe for all it has provided throughout the year, as the Witch’s New Year falls the next month afterward. We see our God withering away, surrendering His life to sustain the crops until the harvest season, as well as the Promised Child the Goddess carries.

Once the final harvest is completed, the Sage will completely wither and returns to the Goddess’ womb for respite to be reborn as the Promised Child. A time of personal reflection begins as the nights grow longer and the days become shorter. Our Goddess is now a Crone, and our God is the Sage. Together, they enjoy the twilight days remaining until they are once again separated, only to be reunited again at the Winter Solstice. The Goddess withdraws into her own quiet contemplation, and as she does, she pulls life back from the Earth as she waits for the final moments of life to be given to her consort.

Many Wiccans and Pagans gather for festivals and dinners to celebrate the Last Supper of the God before his departure at Samhain into the primordial womb of Sheol. They feast with apple wassail and moon cakes seasoned with the seasonal fragrance of cinnamon, cloves, and allspice. Thanks are given to the God for his sacrifice, and the ancestors are honored and given blessings as well. It is a time of reverence and reflection; much of the holiday is spent celebrating, eating, drinking, and crafting. In some traditions, a Wicker Man/Straw Man effigy is made to symbolize the King of the Harvest and lit on fire as a ritualistic sacrifice of the God of the Year. This was to replace the sacrificial human or animal of the ancient traditions it was modeled after.

Ritual Correspondences

Altar cloths: orange, gold, violet, maroon or brown

Candles: maroon, orange, gold

Herbs: marigold, sunflowers, hibiscus, myrrh, rye wheat

Oils: bergamot, gardenia

Stones: amber, jet, tiger’s eye, peridot, yellow topaz

Food: apples, apple pie

Drink: apple wassail

Observances: celebratory feast

Decorations: grapes, vine garlands, Indian corn, cornucopia

Sabbat Mythos: Goddess becomes a Crone as God’s essence showers the bountiful feast.

Sun position: Sun is at 0 degrees Libra

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Trinitarian Magick for Teenagers and Young Adults formatted

I have available for ebook download the manuscript sent Llewellyn. I have it in epub format, mobi, and pdf. They are available for $8 and the pdf is great for those who to print it out for a Book of Shadows add in.

Email me at kaseyhill02242012@gmail.com for your copy. It is up on www.trinitarianwicca.org/downloads.htm along with its complimentary page www.trinitarianwicca.org/trinitarianmagick.htm

I’m “patiently” waiting for a response from Llewellyn and the anxiety is mounting as well as thenervousness. This is a big step forward for the tradition by extending its doors to Teenagers and opening the minds of young adults. I was a young adult (which in my meaning is 20-25 year old) when I began the path as a Trinitarian Wiccan and that was 8 years ago. =] It’s life changing and doesn’t have anything to really do with the bible or with Christianity as most think it does. The book Christian Wicca: The Trinitarian Tradition came out in 2003 and its just been hell for us on the path. We have been presenting videos to the public to explain the tradition so misinterpreted.

Christian Wicca was later renamed to the tradition it should have been called to begin with, Trinitarian Wicca. Nancy was taking baby steps in the beginning but has shed light on so many people changing their lives forever!

“Christian” was a descriptive adjectve for the chosen pantheon of deities used in our Wiccan tradition, just as Celtic Wicca. Other than Mesopaganism, termed to us by Isaac Bonewitz, we cannot come up with a term to better suit and sum up our blend of Goddsses and Gods from Hebrew/Gnostic/Caananite times. the term “Christian” doesn’literally mean we takescripture and incorporate it into out workings. It’s the only way to get across the pantheon such as Jesus and all of the chosen Goddesses. We are NOT taking the religious context but reclaiming the rightful Gods and Goddesses eradicated from the texts making it polytheistic as opposed to the monotheism it has become.

In Trinitarian Magick, the reader can choose whether Wicca is what is needed in their life or if its just a witchcraft walk. That decision is the one no teen gets to make when they read other teenage witch books because the focus is Wicca. I hope my book reaches the masses of teenagers lost in thought and religion and shows them there is more out there.

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