Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard

At Annwfn

The full Moon closest to the Autumn Equinox is

the time of the Eleusinian Mysteries, and since 1990

folks in my tradition have been enacting an annual

recreation of this ancient Greek festival, in which

Persephone, the Flower Maid, is abducted by Hades,

Lord of the Underworld, to reign as His Queen for the

next six months, until She returns at the Vernal Equi-

nox. Those who are chosen to take the roles of Hades

and Persephone for this rite become our Underworld

Royalty for the Winter half of the year, holding court

at Samhain, and offering counsel in matters dealing

with personal Underworld issues.

At Your House

Mabon is a good time to cut new wands and

staves of willow. Make a little corn dolly for your gar-

den altar from an ear of corn by twisting and binding

the shucks into a body, legs, and arms (you can make

the head by breaking off part of the cob, leaving a

short piece attached to the rest). Decorate your altars

with colorful Autumn leaves and small gourds, nuts,

dried corn, seeds, acorns, and pine cones; use an or-

ange and brown altar cloth and candles.

Throw a “going away party” for the Green Man,

and charge seeds for next year’s crop. Prepare a meal

for your loved ones—or at least make some special

food to share. Give thanks for all that you have har-

vested in this time. Remember, “An attitude of grati-

tude is the guidance of the Gaia-dance!” Write down

on a piece of paper the things you have

planted in your life this year,

which you are now harvest-

ing. Read your list aloud, say-

ing, “For all these things, I give

thanks.” Then, burn the paper.

Lesson 7. Samhain

The Blessed Dead are hallowed

The darkness holds no fear

When fields at last lie fallow

At twilight of the year.

The Yew and Hazel showing

Rebirth and vision true.

The lights of need-fires glowing

Shall mark the passage through.

—Leigh Ann Hussey

Samhain (SOW-ahn, meaning “Summer’s End”)

is the Celtic Feast of the Dead, when the veil

between the worlds is thinnest and departed spir-

its may return to commune with the living. Bonfires

were lit and blazing straw from the fire was carried

through the villages and over the fields. Traditionally

celebrated on Oct. 31, Samhain falls astrologically sev-

eral days later, at 15° Scorpio. It is the opposite hinge

of the year from Beltaine, and is the Celtic New Year,

marking the beginning of the Winter half of the year.

Also called Third Harvest or Winter’s Beginning, this

festival has been thinly Christianized as All Saints

Day, with the night before being called All-Hallows,

Hallowmas, or Hallowe’en; long a favorite holiday

for magickal folks of all ages and an occasion for mas-

querades, pumpkin-carving, and trick-or-treating. In

Mexico it is called Dia de los Muertos, the “Day of the

Dead.”

In many lands, candles are lit in every room and

food and drink put out for the souls. This is a time to

honor our ancestors, remember our dead, and hail our

descendants, and the most important element of

Samhain Eve is the Rite of the Dumb Supper, a meal of

Underworld foods (mushrooms, nuts, black olives,

pork, beans, chocolate, etc.) shared in total silence,

wherein the spirits of the beloved dead are invited to

join the feast and be remembered in honor and love.

At Annwfn & Raven Haven

At Annwfn, the King and Queen of the Under-

world hold court, presiding over the Dumb Supper

and the laying down of the May King’s crown (an

alternative to his ritual sacrifice!). One of our ritual

dramas has the Red Maid seeking Her lost love, the

Green Man, who descended into the Underworld at

Mabon, and now reigns there as King. Scrying may

be done at this time with a crystal ball or concave,

black magick mirror. The Sam-hain Circle is considered

to be held in the Underworld,

and the energies

move widder-

shins.

At Raven Ha-

ven, we go all out

in this season to

completely redeco-

rate our entire Victo-

rian house with spider

webs, plastic skeletons,

masks, black draperies,

purple string lights, and

black lights. In the garden,

the cornstalks are bundled

to gether, and we carve some

really strange pumpkins. In

our back yard we have created

a special “family graveyard” to

honor our beloved dead. I’ve

made a number of styrofoam tomb-

stones with names, dates, and epi-

taphs for people we’ve known who

have died. In mid-October we throw

an annual “Addams Family Reunion”

party, inviting all our friends to dress up

in their best Goth gear and Victorian ensembles.

Course Four: Rites 193

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