Seven Days Until Halloween!

According to my ticker, its 7 days until Halloween.  I'm getting so excited I can hardly stand it.  Tonight is the 19th Annual Denver Witches' Ball and for the second year in a row, I will be participating in the opening ritual.

I remember last year, how scared I was to be in public, calling the quarters.  We had a great opening ritual and everything went fine.  This year I don't have the jitters as bad, except that I lead off the quarters by starting with Air, my personal element being the Gemini that I am.

I'm also excited because as fate would have it, I am able to stay until the midnight ritual.  I've never been able to participate in the midnight ritual due to my work schedule.  So the Ball indeed looks good from my perspective this year!

Following the Ball, the next weekend a dear friend of mine is holding a Day of the Dead party.  I am very honored that she felt so inspired after attending my party for the last few years, that she has decided to hold her own.  I'll be going over early to help her set up her altar and the energies for a fabulous night.

The next day, my Circle and I will have Samhain dinner and ritual at my home.  I'm very excited about this, as I've wanted to hold a formal Samhain dinner for years.  It will be so nice to actually sit down and enjoy dinner with my Circle and family.

I hope that you too are getting excited about the Season and having fun making plans, going to parties, or just hanging out with your loved ones.

Blessed Be,
Sister Najah

Remembering Those We Love - Samhain (Your Halloween)

A dear and beloved friend passed away yesterday.  He was like a brother to us, a friend to our son, a great person, wonderful father and he is deeply missed.  I write this piece in memory of Chad Blatt.

Halloween is coming.  I can feel it the air and most everywhere I go, homes are decorated with Witches, ghosts, spider webs and monsters.  Pumpkins are for sale as well as gobs of candy.  But my heart isn't there, it's grieving over the passing of our beloved Chad.

I'm grateful that as a practicing Witch, I know the real meaning of Halloween, which we call Samhain.  It's nice to remember our ancestors and those who have gone before us.  We hold a dumb supper and set a place for our loved ones who are now on the other side.  How grateful am I to know this night is coming.  And true, as we say the veil between the Seen and Unseen is thinnest at this time allowing us to commune with our Ancestors should we choose to.  We light candles and fires for them to find their way as they come to be with us, should they choose.  We ask them not to stay, and we call them not, we simply honor them and are grateful should they choose to visit us for a while on Samhain night.
I'm glad we have this night to honor our dead.  I find our American culture is sorely lacking in Ancestor veneration and rememberance.  We bury our dead, grieve and then move on.  We're not supposed to talk about death and certainly not embrace it by setting a place for our passed on, loved ones at are table.
For years I've held a party on Halloween night, not only for Witches but for anybody who would like to come.  No mistake we party, but we also take time to remember and honor everyone who has brought a memento of their loved one.  Each year I am surprised and humbled by how many non-Witches want to attend and how many people get so filled by taking a turn a sharing about their loved ones who have passed on.
Another benefit I've received from holding my party is getting to know the ancestors of my friends.  Each year my friendship deepens with my friends, by listening to them tell their stories of their loved ones on the other side.  And isn't that what we're about, our stories, the threads of our lives?
So this year my heart is sad as I decorate my home for the Holiday, but I am also gladdened to know I will set a place for our beloved Chad, and wish him love.

 Blessed Be.

Halloween Movie Time

The Halloween movies have begun!  I'm keeping a log of the movies I watch and rating them from 1-5 brooms, 5 being Witchtastic!

Today's movie "Hocus Pocus".  I give it 4 brooms!

*** I'm a Disney fan, so I enjoyed the movie from that perspective, but unfortunately and subtly it promotes long held stereotyphes.  I still think Bette Midler rocks, I want her dress!  And Sarah Jessica Parker is just wonderful, and Kathy Najemy has the best hair.