Samhain

Inner Witch October Photo Challenge:

Day 31: Samhain

Altar:

Items left to right:
Red seven-day candle (Sekhmet’s candle, but used for ceremony tonight).
Athame sheath in front of it red candle.
Galaxy coyote skull.
10 inch elk hide drum and drum beater (that I made myself last year).
Black Samhain seven-day candle (from Sage Goddess).
Massive shed white tailed deer antler (a gift from a previous student years ago).
Apple (called “Envy” – HAD to get it once I saw the name – thought it was hilarious) food for the Dead.
Incense burner with Dragon’s Blood Incense (from HarvestMoonHaven – seriously, this is hands down THE BEST Dragon’s Blood Incense I have EVER smelled!)
Pomegranate juice in the glass.
My beloved Athame (black handled ritual knife).
Orange seven-day candle (also Sekhmet’s candle, but used for ceremony tonight).

I opened up my Circle to include my entire room this time, as I would be saying each Ancestor’s name aloud. And I kept the lights on as well, to facilitate being able to read the names. After each name I was read out loud, I beat my little drum three times. I got a nice little rhythm going as I read through the names. It definitely took more than a minute to do.

While it certainly didn’t feel like my most powerful ritual…but damn did it raise the temperature in my room. It certainly got hot in there quickly, which tells me that I did raise quite a bit of energy, even if I did not feel it myself. ::smiles::

Me post-ritual:

The apple, plus a dog treat for Holly were buried in the back yard to feed the dead. Plus half the pomegranate juice was poured out as libation to the Beloved Dead.

Blessed Samhain!