Thursday, October 28, 2010

Honoring the Ancestors at Samhain

Here are some Halloweeny photos from the Philippine Wiccan Society's celebration of the Great Sabbat. This Samhain, we shared our sacred circle with the spirits of our beloved ancestors: we laughed, cried, communed and partook of the feast with those upon whose shoulders we stand.

The light rains during the day made us worry at first, but thankfully the sky made way for the ritual to go through. And like a dramatic ending for the beautiful pagan ceremony, the rain clouds parted to reveal the enchanting full moon wandering in the sign of Aries - the sign of new beginnings. Having had stormy skies throughout the week, I couldn't help but swoon in her glory. Sometimes it's simple occurrences like this that remind me why I have come to believe in magic.


Below the altar were placed photos and names of the deceased, as well as offerings for them.




Thick smoke of frankincense envelops the ancestral shrine beneath the Samhain altar.




Orange, the color of the setting sun, and black, the color of mourning, were the chosen colors for the God and Goddess candles. 



My palo de muerto (opa iku). An African ritual was performed at the beginning of the ceremony to call upon the presence of the spirits of the ancestors.






Only the eastern half of the circle were occupied, the west - the place of the sunset - were for the ancestors.



The fires of the cauldron burn away our attachments to those which hinder our evolution.





The hour after the ritual was spent for photo ops with the altar and the Jack-o'-Lantern - for timely Facebook profile photos.



Have a blessed Samhain! Basbasan Nawa!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Wiccan rites always sound better when they're told by you.

Murmur said...

Hihi. Blogspot just brings out the romanticist in me. :P

thepsycheofme said...

looking forward to be a practicing one soon.. :)

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