Samhain’s Book of Days and Shadows
Blessings everyone! and welcome to my online magical blog. My name’s Samhain and I run this site Witchcraft Forums
you can also get to my site by clicking on most of the pictures on this page.My intentions with this page is to keep an online workings of my ritual practices, spell works and general magical thoughts. Some things will be copied directly from my site to here, then they can be kept in one place, others will be brand new. Some things will just be random thoughts and others more thought out. If you wish to copy anything on this page please email me at Samhain@moonwise.co.uk
Many Blessings
For the Summer only
I will be doing Online Summer Blessings, for more information and if you would like one, please click on the picture below
In the greek myth Persephone
is the most beautiful and fair of all the deities, so much so that Hades who is the king of the Dark under world wants to keep her for himself and make her his bride and first Queen of his kingdom. Persephone’s Mother is Demeter and she is Goddess of nature. When her daughter is everntually kidnapped by Hades, she goes into mourning and because she cannot show love to anybody or anything without her beloved daughter, everything dies and becomes barron. Zeus the king of all the Gods and Hades brother, is furious with him and demands that he lets Persephone return to her mother. Hades relunctly does this, but he doesn’t give up the fight completely as he tempted Persephone to eat from the holy pomegranet fruit and she ate three seeds. That meant for 3 months she would have to return and be the Queen of the Under World and while she was there, her mother returned to her mourning and this came to be known as Winter.This myth speaks to me on so many difference levels, its my belief that as living beings we are meant to experience all that life has to offer both the positive and negative and then at the end of our karmic journey, we take those experiences back to the source, The Divine and become one again with her. In the Winter Persephone goes within to a place she doesn’t want to be. She is truly experiencing the darkness, both figuratively and literally. In our lives we all experience the sun when we feel glad to be alive and joyous and we experience the dark as well when things seem bleak and desperate, can we really appreciate the one without the other? In our spiritual journeys we have to experience pain and discomfort, if we truly wish to experience that which is ALL. Paganism has never just been about love and light, it’s also about experiencing and embracing everything and really being alive and living. It did bother me at first that Persephone is kidnapped, but think about it, how many of us choose willingly to have a bad experience? although that doesn’t mean that we can’t or shouldn’t learn from it. In some myths Persephone becomes the Queen of the Underworld and she doesn’t just do the best with a bad situation she thrives! That says to me that darkness isn’t bad anymore than light is good. Darkness is an energy, it may be challenging, but bad is a judgement we put on it as humans and just because we see something as bad or negative doesn’t make it dark. What about Persephone’s mother? How many of our own mothers love us that unconditionally? Persephone’s certainly did do. Demeter didn’t make it Winter out of an act of revenge, it became Winter because her mother IS nature. Demeter went into mourning and sleep, she was willing to neglect the world, because without her daughter there was no world to her. When you need unconditional love, just call to the Mother Goddess, you don’t have to know her name, just call to The Mother as she loves you far more than you could ever love yourself, without any strings attached. If you have a difficult relationship with your mother meditating on the Mother Goddess can help promote forgiveness and acceptance on your part. (picture is of Persephone and she is the high priestess in the beautiful mythic tarot deck)
A DEDICATION TO MOTHER DEMETER.
Mother Demeter we know that we do not always treat you as we should,
We demand so much from you but give so little in return,
We expect the weather to be fine and our harvests to be bountiful,
We also expect your resources to be never-ending and very rarely replenish what we take.
Mother Demeter allow us to acknowledge that everything comes from you,
You give us all life and you take it,
We come from you and we return to the safety of your womb,
Mother Demeter please accept these offerings that we have made in your name,
May we be reminded to treat Earth with the care and love that we would give our own blood children,
May we worship you in our own ways daily,
Physically you are always there so may you also be never far from our minds.
SUMMER SOLSTICE AND YULE: opposites attract
A Pagan view of the world is the sacred connection of all living beings. If you take anything out of this then everything else is affected, everybody as a balance of feminine and masculine; where there’s an end there’s a beginning.
How does summer solstice relate to all this? Summer solstice has a sister festival, Yule: they complement each other and are opposites: to understand one (Yule) is to understand the other (summer solstice). Solstice is hot summer days where Yule is cold winter. At this festival we celebrate the longest day of the year and the shortest night, whereas at Yule we celebrate the shortest day and longest night. At Yule we celebrate the sun god’s birth and the strength of the sun that wakens all. Here the festival is tinged with sadness because after today the sun loses his power. It may seem strange that in winter we celebrate the waxing sun and in summer we honour the waning; actually if you think about this, it makes sense: to grow strong you must start off weak and to weaken and die you must start off strong. At Yule we enter the light, outer side of the year; after today we enter the dark side, where we must look into ourselves and start our inner journeys. A part of this festival is to look at what we’ve achieved on an outer level since Yule and celebrate this. At Yule all wheels were traditionally stopped as the world seem to hold its breath before the birth of their god. Today we are going to celebrate the movement of the wheel, and how celebrating the pagan year can enhance our lives if we are open to it. Today is also a traditional day to look at balance between light and dark as we are on the threshold of the dark side of the year even though some of the hottest days are still to come. Remember that darkness is an absence of light, like a shadow under a tree, and light is the absence of darkness: too much of one without the other is unhealthy. Too much sun can harm the skin, but a lack of light can cause depression. In Celtic terms the light is represented by the god who allows things to grow and the dark is represented by the goddess whose womb protects all living things, never is inherently good and bad, but like all aspects of Paganism we recognise that both light and dark have positive and negative areas, and if you are more drawn to one than the other you should meditate about the aspect you feel less comfortable with and what lessons that lady dark or lord light can teach you.
Finally today we must honour our Sun god, who will lay down his life in honour of the grain at the end of August.
GREEK GODS OF THE SUN
There are two Greek gods of the Sun: one is Apollo, son of Zeus (king of the gods), and Leto, a daughter of the titans. Apollo was never fed on his mother’s milk but instead was fed nectar and sweet ambrosia; this immediately endowed him with manly vigour! Hera, out of her eternal jealously for her husband Zeus’ constant infidelity, sent out a hideous serpent to kill Apollo’s Mother, armed with bows and arrows that the smith god Hephaistos had made. Apollo hunted the serpent to its lair and killed it. After he made a home for himself in the mountain gorge that had been the serpent’s nest and established his oracle there. Apollo became known as the enemy of darkness and could lift people from feelings of guilt and the toils of sorrow. However, Apollo is a tricky deity, as his oracle was double-tongued and elusive, and his arrows could kill both beasts and men. Thus he is the healer god who drives away illness and shadows, but he is also the god of sudden death.
Gods will be gods: Helios was the god who drove the chariot of the sun every day across the sky from east to west, and because of this he never had much time to see his son Phaethon, who lived far away from his father in Egypt. Phaethon’s friends didn’t believe that his father was the sun god and mocked him saying that he was no better than them. Phaethon pleaded with his father to let him drive the chariot across the sky to prove to everyone that he was telling the truth, and at first Helios wouldn’t hear of it because his horses were so wilful but because Phaethon pleaded so much in the end he backed down with strict instructions to the boy that he must not take them to high or too low and that he must follow the path that had been beaten out for centuries. The next day Phaethon took the horses out but as he travelled across the sky he realised that his friends were too low to see that it was him. He drove the horses lower, scorching the ground and the trees in the progress, and his friends cowered in fear. The horses who had never flown away from their path took control and became wilful: they flew so low that they scorched all of Egypt. In other places, however, they flew so high that the earth turned to ice. He called to his father in panic but he was unable to do anything to help. Zeus watching as always from Olympus, hurled one of his thunderbolts with deadly aim at the boy who fell to his death. A sad Helios went to retrieve his horses that had to come to rest on a mountain in Ethiopia, where the horses had scorched the land for miles around.
These two stories show that the life giving sun can be cleansing, joyful and fun; however if abused, it can be the harbinger of misery and death. Today as we celebrate the height and the decrease of the sun gods power, we must remember this lesson and be sensible where the sun is concerned, in order that we can reap the benefits that our sun god is willing to give us freely.
SUN VISUALISATION
You are walking in a shady dark wooded area, at the height of summer. The trees are a lush green, the air is scented by lavender plants and bluebells are scattered everywhere you look. 2 mins silence
This place feel so safe that you sit down and stretch your legs under a huge (but friendly!) oak tree 1 mins silence.
In the silence of the woods your mind starts to wander. As it does and you begin to think about the worrisome aspects of your life. What is the main thing that is on your mind at the moment that concerns you? 2 mins silence.
Worry tends to put people’s minds on overdrive, and you did not realise that you had got up and had started to walk through the wood. Your mind has been so concentrated that you have missed much of the beauty and restfulness in your surroundings. Through an opening ahead the brilliant sunlight pierces the darkness and even from this distance you find you have to squint. Soon you find you have the urge to run to the sunlight. Do so! 30 seconds silence.
You are in a beautiful cliff top, overlooking the sea. The sun is so powerful you realise you will have to be careful about how much time you spend under it but for now you are ok. Spend a few minutes under the sun. Do what you feel is right: you could dance, sun bathe or worship our father sun! 3 mins silence
You hear a deep voice shouting at you from the sun: ‘leave your worry with me and I’ll destroy it for you!’
You are surprised, not at the voice, but at the reminder of your worry that you had forgotten about in the sunlight. Are you willing to give Helios the sun god your worry? You must be willing to let it go, make a plan, if the future is in your hands, to resolve it, or simply let go if you do not have the power over your worry. 30 secs silence
Whether or not you gave your worry to Helios you feel a sense of relief that in the light of day things sometimes seem smaller than what they are. You feel the need to cool down and take a running dive off the cliff into the sea! 1 mins silence
Take some time exploring the ocean if you wish, then when you feel ready, head for the beach and thank Helios for his help. When you feel ready, come back
A SUMMER SOLSTICE PLAY
STARRING
WISE OLD CRONE
OAK KING
HOLLY KING
WREN
TOWN’S FOLK
CRONE: Long ago in the mists of time there were once two brothers who ruled over a town that learnt the lesson of sharing at Yule time.
FOLK: Our two lords agreed to share the rulership of our little town and not be greedy and rule the whole year. Our first lord, Oak King, has ruled over us since winter time: he is hot summer days and fun, but he is also hard work and incessant heat, and he promised to leave his throne on the 21st of June so we could rest and recuperate in the dark.
O KING: I will not step down. I realise I am a much better leader than my brother: my people work hard for me, producing goods that are the envy of the world around! In return they have the hot summer sun.
FOLK: We must also have dark, O master, your brother will allow us rest so we can be fresh to do your work once more.
H KING: I bring bitter cold and long winter nights but I also bring rest from work and time to be still, and I see that you have broken your promise to me my brother.
CRONE: How easy it is for the brothers to forget that the town needs a balance of summer and winter, light and dark, in order for it’s people to be happy and healthy. It looks like the brothers will have to fight again!
FOLK: We will never forget our brothers fighting; it was a horrible sight to see. They fought for days and we thought it would never end, but finally Oak King with his strength defeated his brother who fell to his death.
O KING: I have won the battle but I feel no joy: I have killed my brother who will never return.
CRONE: And so the Oak King went into hiding in his castle, as he was so ashamed of what he had done. In his brother’s absence the hot summer went on and on and the town’s people grew weary from so much sun and very soon death began to visit the town, taking the sun’s victims to the land in-between. Then one day a magical wren visited the village.
FOLK: You must not stay, O wren, as death may claim you too for his lands in-between!
WREN: I see that you are all so fearful. I have the power to cast but one spell to help, but think carefully, as I am so small that one spell is all.
CRONE: So the town’s folk went to visit their master and begged him to let wren bring his brother back to life. He agreed and the brothers met to talk.
O KING: I give you the throne, my brother, I am not fit to lead the town.
H KING: We must share: I will take control and allow you to rest for a while but please watch over the town’s folk, as they finish their work.
FOLK: and so it was agreed that Holly King would take the lead, but we needed Oak King to guide us while we finished our work so the summer would continue until the harvest is done. However, Holly King would protect us and allow us to rest as well.
All: Now the oak tree bears green leaves
as thick as the grass
but the sun will grow weaker as the summer days pass.
And the sun will grow weaker, the winter foresee,
and the first tree of the summer it was the oak tree.
And now our story we have told,
a tale of wisdom for young and old.
From the parts we have played let us be set free,
and our own true selves we now shall be.
SUMMER SOLSTICE IS:
· HOT LONG SUMMER DAYS
· THE RETURN OF THE DARK
· YELLOWS AND ORANGE
· FIRE
· HOLLY KING’S RULE
· SUN GOD
· MOVING WHEEL
· REFLECTIONS
· FUN AND GAMES
WHEEL STONES
YULE: Aventurine, green (for ever green) connects and heals the heart.
IMBOLC: Howlite, white helps one to reach one’s goals.
SPRING EQUINOX: Blue helps physical conditions
BELTANE: Rose Quartz, pink for love and sex.
SUMMER SOLSTICE: Red Agate for summer fire, dispels fear.
LAMMAS: Citrine Yellow (to honour the corn) for good work and money.
AUTUMN EQUINOX: Brown Aragonite helps during periods of stress and anger.
SAMHAIN: Fossil to honour the beloved dead.
SPELL WORK
The Wiccan philosophy is that our thoughts are just as powerful as our actions, and if we think about it, it makes sense: people who suffer from depression often report how dark the world seems and how things just feel better when the mood is happier. As above, as below: what we send out to the cosmos in our thoughts will affect us on the material plane. That is why we should be careful about what we think of others and try and keep our thoughts happy and kind.
When thinking about a spell we should consider the following important points
• Do you really want it?
• Do you really need it?
• Over the coming year are you willing to put the work into achieving it (if you can’t be bothered why should the gods try and help you?)
• Does it harm none?
If you can say yes to all the above, then with a clear consciousness, do your spell
HARMING NONE
How can spell work harm anyone? Quite easily, spells should never be used to gain power over any one, to try and get someone to do something they wouldn’t normally do. For instance, the infamous love spell: you can’t morally make some one love you. You can say you’d like to become more sexy to people or that you’d like to meet a new love interest, because with the latter you’re not naming a specific person.
Money spells are also the root of a lot of trouble or can be. Spells work by the easiest possible route, so if you ask for more money but don’t specify where from, you may find that your favourite great aunt will drop dead and leave you a will. You have to say exactly how much you want, where you will get it from, and if you’re willing to work for it. It should really be your job: again be very careful that no one gets the sack so you get promoted. Ask that other people will happily have new job opportunities.
You also can’t do any spells that could hurt you. Throw away any sense that you deserve to be treated badly or that you’re a bad person. It doesn’t belong in magic and could affect it.
Karma affects everyone all the time in every way, so do what you will but harm none. Sometimes it seems impossible to live and work by but in magic it’s crucial.
Thankyou for reading my blog. I will try and add and change things regularly to keep things interesting!
If you would like to comment on this blog, do come and visit my site by clicking on any of the pictures on this page. My name is also Samhain on there and I am always delighted to meet new people- Blessed Be
