All Hallows Eve – Halloween

God bless the master of this house, and the mistress also
And all the little children that ’round your table grow
The cattle in your stable, the dog by your front door
And all that dwell within your gates
We wish you ten times more
Soal, a soal, a soal cake, please good missus a soul cake
An apple, a pear, a plum, a cherry
Any good thing to make us all merry
One for Peter, two for Paul, three for him who made us all
Go down into the cellar and see what you can find
If the barrels are not empty we hope you will be kind
We hope you will be kind with your apple and strawberry
For we’ll come no more a ‘soalin’ till this time next year
Soal, a soal, a soal cake, please good missus a soul cake
An apple, a pear, a plum, a cherry
Any good thing to make us all merry
One for Peter, two for Paul, three for him who made us all
The streets are very dirty, my shoes are very thin
I have a little pocket to put a penny in
If you haven’t got a penny, a ha’ penny will do
If you haven’t got a ha’ penny then God bless you
Soal, a soal, a soal cake, please good missus a soul cake
An apple, a pear, a plum, a cherry
Any good thing to make us all merry

 

Samhain

Allhallowtide traditions originate from ancient Celtic harvest festivals, particularly the Gaelic festival Samhain. Samhain (pronounced /ˈsaʊ.ɪn/ SOW-in) was the first and most important of the four quarter days in the medieval Gaelic calendar and was celebrated October 31st – November 1st in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. Samhain marked the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter or the ‘darker half’ of the year.

Samhain was also a festival to honor the dead. Like Beltane, it was seen as a liminal time, when the boundary between this world and the Otherworld thinned. This meant the ‘spirits’ or ‘fairies’ could more easily come into our world and were particularly active. At Samhain, it was believed that the ‘spirits and fairies’ needed to be propitiated to ensure that the people and their livestock survived the winter. Offerings of food and drink, or portions of the crops, were left outside for them. Also, the souls of the dead were also said to revisit their homes seeking hospitality. Places were set at the dinner table and by the fire to welcome them. In 19th century Ireland, “candles would be lit and prayers formally offered for the souls of the dead. After this, the eating, drinking, and games would begin.”

The household festivities included rituals and games intended to foretell one’s future, especially regarding death and marriage. Apples and nuts were often used in these divination rituals. They included apple bobbing, nut roasting, scrying or mirror-gazing, pouring molten lead or egg whites into the water, dream interpretation, and others.

Samhain was considered a time when the veil between worlds was thinnest during which the air was rich with magick. Therefore, it was an ideal time to contact a deceased loved one. Below is a spell that one can perform on Samhain night to contact and speak with one’s ancestor are departed loved ones:

Samhain Night Spell
to contact and speak with ancestors or departed loved ones

• A large wall-mounted mirror
• Sprig of dried rosemary
• Dry bay leaf
• Dried patchouli herb
• Patchouli oil
• A photo or memento of the person you want to contact
• Mugwort tea
• 3 Black candles (as many as you like)

Use some string or thread to tie the rosemary and bay leaf to the top of the mirror, so they are hanging in front and can be seen in the reflection.

Dab patchouli oil on your thumb and draw a large circle on the glass. Then sprinkle a line of dried patchouli in front of the mirror. Now that your mirror is prepared, you can start your spell to communicate across the veil.

Setup your space with comfortable seating and a small table of pictures or mementos of the deceased and ancestors with whom you wish to communicate. Prepare a cup of Mugwort tea to help you relax and enhance your latent psychic abilities.

Light the 3 Black candles placed behind you, turn off all the lights and work only by the candlelight.

Sit down in your chair and take several deep breaths until you feel completely relaxed. Take a few sips of Mugwort tea from your cup, then hold the photo or other items in your hand and sit in front of your mirror, behind the line of dried patchouli. Turn the item so it’s reflected in the mirror and you can see it clearly. Focus your thoughts on that person, and send out thoughts that you want to contact them across the veil.

Then let your mind wander somewhat, and concentrate on the area of the mirror where you drew your circle again. A message will start to appear however it won’t be a literal image on the glass mirror, but more of an image in your own mind. The images emerging may be a somewhat confusing at first as this form of communication can be abstract or symbolic.

Samhain Divination

This is a pendulum divination spell is for the purpose of divining the future for the upcoming year, that is ideal for Halloween.

A Pendulum
Dried Mugwort

Let the pendulum hang from your fingers over the mugwort. Place your elbow on a flat, solid surface so that the pendulum is suspended from your hand without any vertical influence upon the swinging motion. Relax, and keep your elbow stationary. Wait until the pendulum is still before beginning.

Ask the pendulum for an answer to a question that you already know the answer to: for example, ask, “Am I male?” and watch to see which way the pendulum swings to answer yes or no. Motion can include swinging towards and away from you, from side to side, or a circular motion in either a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction, among other movements.

Ask several control questions of this sort to determine a consistent response for “yes”, “no”, and the always-necessary “I don’t know” answer. Once you have the answer motions for your pendulum set, ask your questions out loud or in your head, and observe which way the end of the pendulum swings.

Concentrate on the upcoming year and ask the pendulum a simple yes/no question that you already know the answer to. That will show you how the pendulum responds to you. It will spin or circle one way or the other to show you yes or no.

Once you figure out how your pendulum is talking to you, ask your yes or no questions about events coming up in the year out loud, and observe which way the end of the pendulum swings. Note that the pendulum may also be used like the Ouija board. A circle can be made of the alphabet with room for a pendulum to swing between the letters.

Special bonfires were lit and there were rituals involving them. Their flames, smoke, and ashes were deemed to have protective and cleansing powers and were also used for divination. In some places, torches lit from the bonfire were carried sunwise around homes and fields to protect them. It is suggested that the fires were a kind of imitative or sympathetic magic – they mimicked the Sun, helping the “powers of growth” and holding back the decay and darkness of winter. In Scotland, these bonfires and divination games became so popular, they were banned by the church elders in some parishes. In Wales, bonfires were lit to “prevent the souls of the dead from falling to earth.” Later, these bonfires served to keep “away from the devil.”

 

The First Halloween Ball

 

It was not until mass Irish and Scottish immigration in the late 19th century that Halloween became a celebrated holiday in America. The Gilded Age (1880 – 1913) of American Halloween crested in the early decades of the 20th century. The Vanderbilts and Rockefellers closed their summer homes in mid-October and headed back to the city, and Halloween parties were the signal society events of the winter season. Debutantes danced waltzes at Halloween balls at the Plaza Hotel in New York City to a backdrop of jack-o-lanterns and yellow chrysanthemums.

The Annual Houdini Séance

Harry Houdini, one of the world’s greatest stage magicians and sensational escape artist of the 20th century, died on October 31st, 1926 from peritonitis, secondary to a ruptured appendix, at age 52. On his deathbed, Houdini told his doctor that, even though he did not believe in spirit-communication, he would still try to send a prearranged message. Before his death, Houdini and his wife, Bess, had a prearranged secret coded message he could use to let her know his consciousness continued beyond the grave. Years prior Houdini and his wife created a secret code: “Rosabelle- answer- tell-pray, answer- look- tell- answer, answer- tell” which spelled out “BELIEVE” in their private stage language.

During a séance in January 1929, led by medium Arthur Ford and his spirit guide, Fletcher, a message purportedly from Houdini to Bess was decoded. It read simply “Rosabelle believe.” Bess declared it an authentic afterlife communication from her late husband. The name “Rosabelle” was Harry’s most private and personal pet name for Bess, for her wedding ring had the entire song inscribed on the inside of the band of the ring. Here are the words of the song: “Rosabelle, sweet Rosabelle, I love you more than I can tell. Over me, you cast a spell. I love you, my sweet Rosabelle.”

On Wednesday, January 9, 1929, 26 months after Harry Houdini’s death, his wife Bess signed a brief document, which appears to be on Houdini letterhead, that clearly states the message is accurate:

 

Bess continued to have public seances every year on October 31st, the anniversary of Harry’s death, which served as a genuine attempt at contact Harry as well as a powerful tool for continuing to promote the Houdini name after the magician’s death.

The ritual was attended throughout the years by celebrities and writers, but Houdini never again whispered in her ear as promised—then, nor during the hour a week she would sit along with his photo and wait. She held the séances for a decade; her last one was in 1936, on the 10th anniversary of his death, on the roof of The Knickerbocker hotel in Los Angeles. After years of silence, Bess decided gave up hope and wished Harry a good night. Later she proclaimed to the press, “Ten years is long enough to wait for any man.”

These are the final words of Harry Houdini as brought forth by psychic medium Arthur Ford and his spirit guide, Fletcher at the end of that successful mediumship session on  January 8, 1929:

“Tell the whole world that Harry Houdini still lives and he will prove it a thousand times and more. In my life, I was perfectly honest and sincere in trying to disprove the survival of consciousness, and I resorted to tricks to prove my point for the simple reason that I did not believe communication was possible. I am now sincere in my desire to undo this mistake. Tell all those who lost faith because of my mistake to lay hold again of hope, and to live with the knowledge that life is continuous. That is my message to the world, through my wife and through this psychic medium.”

Halloween in the 21st Century

 

For the early church bishops during the Medieval Era 800 – 1500, All Hallows was about the redemption of the soul. In the Renaissance era 1500 – 1600, it was about redistributing the wealth to the lower classes. In the first decades of the American 20th century, Halloween became a big secular community-wide celebration that was about assimilating the thousands of European immigrants into American town life. By the 1950s, it was about all the post-war babyboomer generation of kids: complete with horror movies, pumpkin-carving and trick-or-treating became synonymous with Halloween. On Halloween in 2001, six weeks after 9/11, the New York City Village Halloween parade (the parade is the second-largest Halloween parade in the country according to The Guinness Book of World Records) was lead by a giant phoenix puppet symbolizing death followed by rebirth.