A Witch’s Halloween

Last updated on: October 28, 2017 at 1:50 pm by Coby Michael Ward

A Witch’s Halloween 2017-10-28T13:50:58-04:00 Coby Michael Ward

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This is OUR time, the Season of the Witch

Now is the time to let you witch flag fly! Even if you are still in the broom closet, this time of year affords us the ability to experience what it would be like to embrace the magic in one’s everyday life. I’m not saying that you have to out yourself to everyone you know to be able to practice magic. Quite the opposite actually, secrecy and silence have always been potent practices that add to the might of our magic. However, this time of year people are able to embrace those hidden aspects of themselves. Things that may be considered taboo or unconventional to mainstream society become the status quo during Halloween time! I specifically refer to Halloween in this case to differentiate from the Pagan celebration of Samhain which has religious connotations. The practices of Halloween focus specifically on magic and witchcraft in my opinion and may be observed outside one’s religious or spiritual paradigm. The magic of glamour and shapeshifting is paramount during this time, donning masks and evoking powerful beings to ride us for the night while reveling in the spirit of the season.

Observing local and familial traditions are auspicious ways of connecting to the archetype or eldritch spirit of this time. Pumpkin carving, honoring one’s ancestors, and putting out Halloween décor are all folkloric practices based on the heathen beliefs of northern and central Europe and America. Halloween itself has developed its own folk culture, and idealized images that represent the quintessential spirit of Hallowstide. All Hallows and the many other names it goes by is a universal cultural observance, in which comparable practices can be found in nearly all of the world’s populations. The names and images may vary from place to place, with their individual cultural overlay from the local population, but at the root they are one and the same.

There are so many things going on this time of year, the bustling buildup of energy before the first signs of frost can be felt in the strange energy of this time. Food, fuel and spirit force are channeled into the earth, into the wood, and into the root cellars holding the winter’s sustenance. There is an intricate web of weird energies mingling about during this season, crisscrossing and zigzagging creating a palpable veil of energy that can be tapped into. Perhaps the closeness of this gossamer web of spirit connections and contracts is what humans refer to as the Veil. Even those who are less sensitive can feel its blanketing presence.

Hocus Pocus, Sunscreen Film Festival Downtown St. Petersburg. Photo courtesy of the author.

Celebrate with the Community

Halloween is a time of gathering, of mischief, and laughter; it is a time of celebration and revelry for the temporary pleasures of life. I love to celebrate for the entire month of October. Going to haunted attractions, ghost tours, and morbid themed fashion shows are all ways to incorporate the spiritual strangeness into one’s social life. Many of the seasons festivities have special symbolic meaning to those of us who practice magic and study witchcraft during the rest of the year as well. There are so many diverse activities that also serve as simple devotional rituals to observe the peculiarities of this time.

Halloween represents everything that we found magical as children and which most of us still do, passing this enchantment on to the next generation. This is a time when the mundane may give themselves permission to believe in something unseen, something outside of themselves. For many of us it felt like it was Halloween all year long, or we desperately wished it was. Witches and other magical practitioners are able to shine during this time of year, showcasing themselves to a public who closed minds are temporarily a little more open. Teaching workshops on spell craft and offering Tarot readings on the spot are all things that people are more willing to participate in during this time of year. Their own reservations and skepticism are put on hold so that they may experience a little magic.

Because deep down inside of us there is that wise child that still wants to believe in the strange and unseen. All it takes is a single illuminating spark to ignite the spirit of Witch fire within us. So to my family around the world, in this world in the next; “May we stand together, and stand strong, carrying the Eternal Flame with us as we move through the Wheel of the Year. ” One thousand candles can be lit from a single flame.

Bubby and Sissy at Hocus Pocus Sunscreen Film Festival. Courtesy of the author.

I am becoming more open with my practices in all aspects of my life so that I may reach as many people as possible, and show others that we are here and were not going anywhere. Hallowstide gives me an opportunity to share many of my joys and passions with my loved one’s giving them a better understanding of Pagan Religion and the practice of magic.

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The Eternal Denizens of All Hallow's Eve

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