October 31, Shadowfest (Festa Dell Ombra, my Italian Path) by helela

[Dept of PMM Artists & things]

October 31, Shadowfest (Festa Dell Ombra, my Italian Path)

Shadowfest marks the beginning and ending of our year. On October 31, this is the

time when the Great Goddess descends into the Underworld, the Land of
Shadows. She seeks to understand the Great Mystery, the Mystery of
Death. There, She meets Dis, the Lord of the Underworld and Shadows. She
is angry with Him because He has taken away all whom She has loved. God
Dis tells Goddess that it is not He who takes away whom She loves, but
that it is age, and fate are of which robs Her of these things. Dis
loves Goddess with all of His heart. Finally, Dis wins the heart of of
the great Goddess, and they come together in Holy Union. For the rest of
Goddess time with Dis, our Lord of Shadows, they share the mysteries
with each other passing the time until they are reborn and begin Their
ascent back here upon the earth.

Samhain is a pro-creation myth, when the God and Goddess consumate their marriage in the Underworld, The Realm of Shadows.

In the old pagan myths, the year was divided into two parts, the light half of the year, and the dark half. Samhain, or Halloween, is the
beginning of the dark half of the year. Samhain is the last harvest
festival, and on November first, this was considered also to be the New
Year.

On Samhain and this time of the year, the veil between the living and
the dead are considered to be the thinnest, and the spirits of the dead
move freely from the spirit world and the living. And since the veil
between the living and the dead is so thin this time of year, other
beings such as fairies and other Otherworldly beings roamed freely. On
Samhain the people gave offerings to them in the hopes that these beings
would not harm the living.

The name Samhain is pronounced Sauwin, and the word Samhain means
"Summer's End". The pagan community celebrated their last harvest of the
year, and the New year would begin November first.

Samhain is also another name for "Hallowmas" or "All Hallows Eve". Some
refer to this festival day as "The Day of the Dead" and also "All
Saints Day". Samhain is celebrated by many customs, being celebrated in
the old world by pagans and Christians alike.

The fava bean is an old custom that is shared by the pagan and the
Christian community. Wikipedia says, "In Italy, broad beans are
traditionally sown on November 2, All Souls Day. Small cakes made in the
shape of broad beans (though not out of them) are known as fave dei
morti or "beans of the dead". According to tradition, Sicily once
experienced a failure of all crops other than the beans; the beans kept
the population from starvation, and thanks were given to Saint Joseph.
Broad beans subsequently became traditional on Saint Joseph's Day altars
in many Italian communities. Some people carry a broad bean for good
luck; some believe that if one carries a broad bean, one will never be
without the essentials of life." The people of the communites would also
throw fava beans over their shoulders to "ward off" evil and malicious
spirits. The munks of the communities on Halloween would make a soup of
the fava bean and distribute it on the corners of the streets for the
dead. Also, it was believed that the spirits would take these fava
beans, and leave the living in peace.



In Mexico the people would celebrate Halloween, "The Feast of the
Dead", by making sugar skulls, skulls being a symbol of the dead, and
also considered a symbol of their ancestors, the skull being a symbol of
higher spiritual attainment. All over the world the skull was
considered sacred and people would pray with a skull in their laps or
near them as a form of receiving higher spiritual attainment. Even
crucifixes were adorned with skulls. Jesus was hung at the cross at the
place of Golgatha, Golgatha meaning, "place of the skulls".

On Samhain pumpkins were carved to look like scary faces, then a candle was placed in the center of the pumpkin and then they were placed at
the doorsteps of the home to ward off evil spirits and prevent them from
entering.

Other traditions are also kept on this festival day such as in Italy,
breads were made in the shape of humans, and then laid to rest. Also
figures made from sugar were also fashioned to form their heroes of
their time and of the dead.

Bonfires were lit for the dead on Halloween so that the spirits of the
communities ancestors could come and warm themselves at the fire.

Apples were also included in the festival day of Samhain. Apples are a
symbol of the Underworld, the dead and reincarnation. For the dead
apples were buried so that the dead would have sustanance to give them
strength to cross over to the Otherworld.

Bobbing for apples was another festival day activity. The game is
really of symbolic importance here. As water is associated with death,
and the apples are a symbol of the otherworld, and of reincarnation, we
see that when we take the dive for the apple, we are symbolically dying,
and then picking the apple up with our teeth and rising from the water
with the apple we are reborn.

On Samhain, Wikipedia says, "Divination is a common folkloric practice that has also survived in rural areas. The most common uses were to
determine the identity of one's future spouse, the location of one's
future home, and how many children a person might have. Seasonal foods
such as apples and nuts were often employed in these rituals. Apples
were peeled, the peel tossed over the shoulder, and its shape examined
to see if it formed the first letter of the future spouse's name. Nuts
were roasted on the hearth and their movements interpreted - if the nuts
stayed together, so would the couple. Egg whites were dropped in a
glass of water, and the shapes foretold the number of future children.
Children would also chase crows and divine some of these things from how
many birds appeared or the direction the birds flew".

It is also said that if a girl on Halloween, at midnight, stand in
front of a mirror, and combing her hair and eat an apple, she will see
her future husband's reflection over the left of her shoulder in the
reflection in the mirror.

Also, groups of unmarried boys would hang apples from strings over a
fire on the festival day. They swirled the apples over the fire, and in
the order of which the apples fell into the fire was the order of which
the boys would marry.

Also, with the custom of rice that was thrown at weddings was
originally apples. Apples were so sacred to the pagan community that
whoever chopped down an apple tree had to pay a fine of a cow.

The custom of dressing up on Halloween comes from the pagans believing
if they would dress up as ghouls and ghost and other scary beings, the
dead and evil and malicious spirits wouldn't be able to tell them apart
from themselves.

It is said that children that are born on Halloween have lifelong
protection from evil spirits and are also said to have the gift of
second sight.


Also
on this day A candle was also lit and put in the people of the
communitie's windowseals as a light to guide the dead over that did not
depart from this world to the next yet. It was also the custom to place a
skeleton in their window sills to represent the dead.

From Wikipedia: "Foods for celebrating this festival day included
candied carameled apples, barmbrack, an Irish baked bread, the
fruitcake, into which a plain ring, a coin and other charms are placed
before baking. It is said that those who get a ring will find their true
love in the ensuing year. This is similar to the tradition of king cake
at the festival of Epiphany."



Correspondences for the festival day of Samhain are:

Element: Water.

Gender: Male.

Time: Midnight.

Colors: Black, Orange and Red.

Food: Apples, pumpkins, gourds, nuts, Indian corn and corn
stalks and pomegranites, popcorn, candied apples, pumpkin and apple ice
cream, chocolates, pumpkin and apple pies, candies shaped like skulls,
pumpkins, bats, ect. Pumpkin seeds, corn, cider, fruitcake and meats.

Plants and Herbs: Indian corn and corn stalks, fall leaves and
flowers, acorns, garlic, cinnamon, cloves, almond, apple leaf, bay leaf,
calendula, marigold, mums, ginger, hazelnut, hemlock cones, mandrake
root, nettle, passionflower, pumpkin seeds, pine needles, mugwort,
rosemary to remember our ancenstors, sage, rue.

Dieity: Death and dying Gods and Goddesses.

Animals: Black cats, Stag, cat, bat, owl, jackal, elephant, ram, scorpion, heron, crow, robin.

Ritual: honoring of the dead, divination, scrying, thanksgiving
for the last harvest, banishing rituals, death and transformation
rituals, ending old projects and beginning new ones. Past lives,
contacting the dead, banishing of bad habits and hexes, clearing
obstacles in your life, and transformation rituals.

Tools: Cauldron, besom, pendulum, mirror magick, tarot, Ouija board and the obsideian ball.

Stones and Gemstones: Carnelian, smoky quartz, jet, bloodstone, obsidian, obsidian and black onyx.