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).

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.

October 28th, 2016

As a relatively difficult month wraps up, a lot of really good things have been happening. For starters, I carved a pumpkin!

The owl felt appropriately Pagan while remaining subtle. I'll be taking it to SIPA's Samhain ritual tomorrow, and I bought a red candle to go in it today, plus some soda for the ritual potluck.

I also "roasted" the pumpkin seeds in the microwave with some oil, salt, and garlic. That's how we always make them at home, and boy are they tasty!

Then today, I was in a play, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in the style of Shakespeare. While I was walking over for the performance, I saw the geology club was having a rock sale - I got this beautiful Quartz cluster for only $1. It was sold as plain Clear Quartz, but the yellowish tone makes me wonder if it could be Tangerine Quartz or maybe even natural Citrine. I'll have to ask around.

I'm really looking forward to the ritual tomorrow evening; pictures to follow, as always.

SIPA Samhain 2015

Wow. I cannot even begin to describe tonight's Samhain ritual. It was just so cathartic on so many different levels.

The evening started off sharing an organic pomegranate with some new friends.

The site looks so different from how it did at Mabon, with all the leaves changing colors and falling.

We hung a pair of tarps across the front of the shelter to provide some privacy from passing traffic.

There was a potluck dinner, to which someone brought these adorable zombie cupcakes. The meat cleavers were candies.

Jack-o-Lanterns

A better picture of my Harry Potter pumpkin

Sacred fire

More pumpkins

Wolf pumpkin; we actually heard a pack of coyotes barking and howling during the ritual!

Group ancestor altar

(Blurry) image of my part of the ancestor altar.

I was also gifted with an absolutely gorgeous Quartz point, which I will cherish. 

I won't get into the details too much here, because it was an extremely personal ritual, but it was something special, that's for sure.

October 30th, 2015

I carved my other pumpkin last night!

The electric candle doesn't show it very well, but it's Harry Potter! I'm taking it to the Samhain ritual tomorrow, and will be able to light it with a real candle then. I also made up another batch of pumpkin seeds to take.

Today, the dining hall is all decked out.

The cider is locally made and delicious. I could drink the entire vat of it.

They also have a coffin cupcake display, which is fun. 

Tonight, I'm planning to go to a bonfire with some friends, and then tomorrow is Samhain! I can't believe how fast October has flown by, but it's been so much fun this year!

October 28th, 2015

I took my pumpkin over to a local historic site tonight for my Architecture History class. We got extra credit if we carved a famous structure and brought it there for an evening open to the public to enjoy. 

That's mine on the left.

They got a fire going, and there was candy and apples for those who wanted to snack. There was even a very fluffy orange cat darting around that let me pet it, right before it climbed inside one of the volunteers' cars.

St. Basil's

Big Ben

Rose window

The front of my pumpkin (the Itsukushima Shrine torii gate)

The side of my pumpkin, with the Itsukushima kanji

Fallingwater

Sydney Opera House

There were some really fun pumpkins, and we had a couple of families bring their kids out to see them. It was nice to get to share some of the season's cheer with the community. Three more days to Samhain...

October 27th, 2014

I carved my first pumpkin of the season tonight! Check out the Itsukushima torii gate!

I only had an LED candle, so it wasn't very bright, but I'll light it with a real one tomorrow night, and hopefully that works better. I had a little accident with the thin piece in the middle cracking on the right side, but I've got it sort of propped up, so hopefully it stays.

I also roasted my pumpkin seeds!

It's a really easy recipe. Rinse the seeds, and then for about every two cups, add a teaspoon of oil and a teaspoon of salt. You can also add other seasonings; garlic is a good one. Then pour them onto a microwaveable plate and microwave on high, stirring every two minutes until they're nice and crunchy. It will probably only take between five and eight minutes of cooking, total.

October 26th, 2015

I'm going to pack as much Samhain into this week as I possibly can!

This past weekend, of course, was the Halloween party. Here's some of other people's pictures, after they got added to the Facebook group:

New friends!

A Valkyrie and a dog with a fondness for fire.

A civil war soldier.

Myself, winning the "Most Creative Costume" prize.

I still don't understand how this happened.

Zombie chicken?

And then tonight, the resident housing department invited students to come paint mini pumpkins during one of their meetings, and goodness knows I love me some pumpkins, so I went.

Mine was inspired by Van Gogh's The Starry Night; the lighting kind of washed the color out, but I like it. 

My mom also sent me some goodies in the mail. I didn't take a picture, but suffice it to say, I won't need to go trick-or-treating to get my chocolate fix this year.

October 24th, 2015

I bought my pumpkins yesterday!

One is for an extra credit Architecture History project, and the other is to take to next weekend's group Samhain ritual.

I also want to save and dry the seeds into snacks, although I'll need to pick up some oil to be able to do that. I wish I would have thought of it at the store yesterday, but oh well.

Tonight I'm going to a Samhain party! I'm quite excited, albeit a little nervous, and I've got some packs of mini donuts to bring. Should be a good time!

October 2nd, 2015

I wanted to post this yesterday, but I ended up doing a bunch of homework instead, so here it is today. Happy October! I am excitedly getting ready for Samhain. I had to do a change of living quarters yesterday, but I'm all settled in my new space now, and I really like it. Here's some pictures of how my roommate and I have decorated it:

Some spooky cards for the door.

Tinsel, my calendar, my candelabra, and a few other things that got cropped out.

Trick or treat! 

Some little ghosts fleeing Sam and Dean Winchester.

A pumpkin and tea light to spookify my roommate's dresser.

More pumpkins.

My Samhain altar, which I'll talk more about some other time.

I love October!