October 29th, 2017

Last night was SIPA's Samhain ritual, which was moved indoors to Gaia House due to the weather - it was freezing cold. There was a big turn-out, so the little building was very crowded.

There were a bunch of really fun pumpkins people brought. I made a Les Misérables carving with the Cosette silhouette, which turned out well, if I do say so myself.

As in other years, we set up an ancestor altar. Tara also established an Honor List, which included both names of those people wished to recognize, and places such as Las Vegas and Orlando, which have suffered devastating losses.

Afterwards, everyone had the opportunity to go through an Inner Circle to contact their personal gods, ancestors, etc.

At the end of the ritual, Tara gifted everyone with a Quartz crystal. I now have one from my first SIPA Samhain (top) and what will probably be my last with them (bottom).

Altar Update

With it now being October, I've updated my altar for Samhain. It was in need of a change, as I hadn't done much to it since the Eclipse.

I've made a sort of ancestor altar toward the front, with the rest of my ritual tools in the back. It's hard to see in this photo, but in front of the cauldron is a black skull candle I bought at Earthbound.

Also from Earthbound is this beautiful display shelf, which I am using to showcase some of my crystals. It has the moon phases at the bottom. I fell in love with it the moment I saw it!

October 15th, 2017

One of the organizations I belong to at school took a social trip today over to a local pumpkin patch. The weather, which had been kind of wet and gross this morning, turned out to be beautiful, and it was a lot of fun picking through the pumpkins with everyone. Pumpkin carving and baking pumpkin seeds are a few of my Samhain traditions, and I always have a great time doing it!

The pumpkins - they ranged in size from little bitty ones to big carving-size ones.

I didn't buy any, but I love ghost pumpkins. They look so neat!

Here's my purchases - a big pumpkin to carve, two gourds, and a mini pumpkin. The gourds I'll be trying to dry out and turn into shakers. I also picked up the "Witch Please" mug today, over at Walmart. They had a whole collection of oversized Halloween mugs, and it just seemed very me.

In addition to the pumpkins, I bought this wire-wrapped tree of life necklace. There was a local artist selling them there at the pumpkin patch, and I'd been wanting something like it for a long time, so I decided to go ahead and get one.

Things are getting spooky here! I've decorated our apartment, and my roommate and I have been getting costumes together. We've also engaged in a bit of spirit work, talking to some of the other inhabitants of the apartment. They seem to be friendly, and like to knock on the walls at night.

A Fun Photo

Andi took this picture of me at yesterday's rock painting event. I like it a lot!

October 2nd, 2017

Had some fun yesterday over at Gaia House with SIPA; they put together a little crafting event painting rocks with fun images, affirmations, etc. The idea is to take the rocks after the fact and hide them for other people to stumble across.

I gave the one with the dragon away, and I'll probably keep the Eye of Horus stone, but the other two I may hide in the courtyard near where I have class.

Virtually any common stone works for this craft - I used river rocks, but there was also some sandstone pieces that came out nicely - and regular acrylic craft paint will stick so long as you let it dry between coats. A final spray-on coat of clear sealant should set it permanently.