RavenWolf - Halloween: customs, recipes, spells

About the Author

The best way for a magickal person to be accepted is to let people get to know you, explains Silver. Once they understand your personal values and principles, their attitudes about your alternative religion interests tend to be more positive. Let them know you for the work that you do. Silver RavenWolf is a true Virgo who adores making lists and arranging things in order. The mother of four children, she celebrated her nineteenth wedding anniversary in 1999. Silver extensively tours the United States, giving seminars and lectures about magickal religions and practices. It is estimated that Silver has met over 11,000 magickal individuals in the last three years.

Copyright Information

Halloween: Customs, Recipes & Spells 1999 by Silver RavenWolf.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any matter whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from Llewellyn Publications, except in the form of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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First e-book edition 2013

E-book ISBN: 9780738726106

First Edition

Thirteenth Printing, 2011

Book design and editing by Rebecca Zins

Cover and interior art by Kathleen Edwards

Cover design and corn dolly illustrations by Anne Marie Garrison

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Llewellyn Publications

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Manufactured in the United States of America

Contents

The Search For Halloween

Halloween Customs and Traditions

Halloween Symbols and Superstitions

Halloween Divinations

Halloween in the Kitchen

Halloween Magick

Halloween: A Time to Honor the Dead

The Witches Rune

D arksome night and shining moon

Hearken to the Witches Rune.

East and South, West and North

Hear me now, I call thee forth.

By all the powers of land and sea

Be obedient unto me.

Wand and pentacle, cup and sword

Hearken ye unto my word.

Cord and censor, totem and knife

Waken ye all into life.

By all the powers of the Witches blade

Come ye now as the charge is made.

Queen of Heaven, Queen of Hell

Send your aid unto my spell.

Horned Hunter of the Night

Work my will by magick rite.

By all the powers of Land and Sea

As I will, so mote it be.

By all the might of moon and sun

As I say, it shall be done.

Doreen Valiente

G rab your flowing capes and come with me as we journey through the history and magickal practices of Americas favorite scary holidayHalloween! From Old World roots to New World charm, youll learn about the hodgepodge of legends and customs that created our modern American Halloween holiday. From serious facts to fun, gossipy tidbits, we broom through time and space to bring you accurate, researched information, as well as practical, how-to goodies.

This comprehensive book contains historical information, modern magickal applications, yummy treats for your next Halloween party, tips on how to speak to the dead, and plenty of information about Americas creepiest holiday.

So ghosts and goblins beware as we unveil...

. English Craft author of many fine books on the subject, including The Rebirth of Witchcraft; Witchcraft for Tomorrow; and An ABC of Witchcraft (all published through Phoenix Publications, Custer, Washington). Although this poem appears all over the Internet with author unknown, you will find the original version in The Witches Bible by Janet and Stewart Farrar (published through Magickal Childe). Doreens books are required reading for my students of Craft history and practice.

Introduction

I n early 1997, the owner of Llewellyn Worldwide decided to produce a book entitled The Truth About Halloween to assuage the many historical misconceptions held by the general public about this delightful holiday. He decided that the book should come from the pen of a magickal person, and asked me if I would like the project. My answer was a resounding Yes!

Every year when Halloween rolls around, the magickal community is inundated with requests for interviews that range from the truly serious and informative to the bizarre grocery-store-type hype. I receive many of these requests and was eager to delve further into a topic that often led the media to my door. Witches are not the only individuals called on during the month of October for that newshound hunting frenzy. Youll see interviews of pseudo-vampires, ghost hunters, psychics, and fiction writers that deal with occult subjects, as well as a nonstop plethora of horror films, both new and old, to enhance your viewing pleasure. Almost every newspaper in the nation uses Halloween and harvest themes for ads and entertainment purposes. I could go on, but you get my drift.

More so than the other holidays the public currently enjoys, the American Halloween is often used as a political and religious kickball as real Witches (along with the rest of the folks mentioned) step into the limelight and grant newspaper interviews, visit radio talk shows, and greet television audiences across the country. It isnt that Witches push Halloween, it is that this is basically the only time the media is interested in the Witches, ghosts, goblins, and things that go bump in the night. In all honesty, it is rare for the media to look at the religion of Wicca at other times of the year, unless a discrimination case is so blatant (i.e., Congressman Barr against Wiccans in the military at Fort Hood in the spring and summer of 1999) that the community must step forward in a concerted effort to correct misinformation that is hundreds of years in error.

When I took on this project I thought it would be a snap. Do a little research, plug in some fun stuff, and presto-change-o (or should I say, hocus-pocus?) weve got a nifty little book on the history of Halloween combined with cool things to do during the month of October, and a great little tome for magickal people to wave and say, here, this is the real history that may help you with your story. On to the next project. Done deal. Wrong. At the onset I discovered a horrible factalthough there are hundreds of books on the market today that carry a Halloween theme, less than a handful deal with accurately researched history of the holiday, from its Pagan roots to the present-day American institution of Halloween. When you limit an authors pool of research material, said author panics.