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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>If anyone knows of a store selling 'sacrificial
virgins' with a special offer of 'two for the price of one', let everyone
else know, don't be greedy.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#008000
size=2>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#008000><FONT face=Arial
color=#800000><STRONG>Dedicated to the Ancestors; ancestors of the land, of
blood, and of spirit.</STRONG></FONT><FONT color=#ffff00> </FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#008000 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><I><FONT color=#008000 size=3><STRONG>A Witch's
Words To Her Familiar On Samhain</STRONG></FONT></I> </DIV>
<DIV>
<P><FONT color=#000080>Still your mind, <BR>and still your soul,<BR>heed the
words that make you grow,<BR>listen to the winds of the sages,<BR>learn the
wisdom of the mages,<BR>handed down to us from the ages. </FONT>
<P><FONT color=#000080>Time is ours,<BR>but only fleeting,<BR>hear the wings of
eternity beating,<BR>soon enough we'll all be meeting,<BR>and each of us merrily
greeting. </FONT>
<P><FONT color=#000080>The moon will be full,<BR>and round,<BR>and bright.
<BR>And we'll be wisked away,<BR>in the dead of night.<BR>To the place we are
meant to be,<BR>to learn and grow,<BR>and maybe see,<BR>a spectre of what we
should be. </FONT>
<P><FONT color=#000080>Time is ours, <BR>frozen, but brief,<BR>allowing us to
release our grief,<BR>to open our hearts and minds once more,<BR>and step
through the sacred door,<BR>of time and space, and futures past,<BR>to teach us
the spells to cast.<BR>So we may once again be free,<BR>to live and love and
blessed be. </FONT>
<P><FONT color=#000080>So still your mind,<BR>and still your soul,<BR>and open
your heart,<BR>and set yourself free,<BR>on this Samhain, I challenge
thee.<BR>Learn the truth from mages old,<BR>the truth which was foretold.<BR>The
time is right, the night is new,<BR>we can learn what not to do. </FONT>
<P><FONT color=#000080>Warnings from the great beyond,<BR>we'll heed them or all
cry,<BR>for lies can no longer be told,<BR>when you look me in the eye. <BR>I've
learned a lesson, bold and true,<BR>and now there are but a few,<BR>who
understand the depth of change,<BR>and how we all must rearrange,<BR>our
thinking and goals,<BR>for times anew,<BR>if the world is to survive,<BR>for me
and you. </FONT>
<P><FONT color=#000080>We've got our work cut out for us,<BR>my friend.<BR>And
we must not fail,<BR>before the end,<BR>or all will be lost,<BR>and fate will be
no more,<BR>and finally the great beyond,<BR>will close the door. </FONT>
<P><FONT color=#000080>Time and space will exist no more,<BR>my friend, <BR>my
familiar,<BR>we must work to prevent war.<BR>Peace must prevail for ten thousand
years,<BR>and we must make sure it does.<BR>Our souls eternal bond will
hold,<BR>as our bodies grow old.<BR>Fear not the great beyond,<BR>my
friend,<BR>for it is a beginning,<BR>not an end. </FONT>
<P><FONT color=#000080>Our work will continue for eternity,<BR>until everlasting
peace shall set us free.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT
color=#008000>-------------------------------------------------------</FONT></P>
<P> <I><FONT color=#008000 size=3><STRONG>Dear Ancestor</STRONG></FONT>
</I></P></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#800000>Your tombstone stands among the rest; <BR>neglected and
alone <BR>The name and date are chiseled out <BR>on polished, marbled stone
<BR>It reaches out to all who care <BR>It is too late to mourn <BR>You did not
know that I’d exist <BR>You died and I was born. </FONT></DIV><FONT
color=#800000></FONT>
<DIV><BR><FONT color=#800000>Yet each of us are cells of you <BR>in flesh, in
blood, in bone. <BR>Our blood contracts and beats a pulse <BR>entirely not our
own. <BR>Dear Ancestor, the place you filled <BR>one hundred years ago
<BR>Spreads out among the ones you left <BR>who would have loved you so.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#800000><BR>I wonder if you lived and loved, <BR>I wonder if
you knew <BR>That someday I would find this spot, <BR>and come to visit
you.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<P><FONT
color=#008000>----------------------------------------------------</FONT></P>
<DIV><O:P><FONT face=Arial size=2>
<P><I><FONT color=#008000 size=3><STRONG>THE DRUMS OF
SAMHAIN</STRONG></FONT></I>
<P><FONT color=#000080>The drums of Samhain keeping time.<BR>The gates of magic
open wide. </FONT>
<P><FONT color=#000080>A cauldron's blessings overflow. </FONT>
<P><FONT color=#000080>The candle flames are dying low. </FONT>
<P><FONT color=#000080>The witches dance the circle 'round<BR>to chant and bring
the power down. </FONT>
<P><FONT color=#000080>Hecate will hear our call<BR>to turn the summer into
fall. </FONT>
<P><FONT color=#000080>The magic veil is growing thin. </FONT>
<P><FONT color=#000080>The Netherworld is near our own. </FONT>
<P><FONT color=#000080>We'll see the sacred fire fed<BR>while witches commune
with the dead. </FONT>
<P><FONT color=#000080>The winds of Autumn call our names. </FONT>
<P><FONT color=#000080>The driving rhythm slowly calms. </FONT>
<P><FONT color=#000080>The glowing embers we will tend<BR>until the drums of
Samhain end.</FONT></P></FONT></O:P></DIV>
<P><FONT
color=#008000>---------------------------------------------------------</FONT></P><FONT
color=#008000>
<DIV><O:P><FONT color=#800000>If the drums had continued beating<BR>And warriors
dwelled upon the land<BR>We would dance to a different drummer<BR>As the Great
Creator had planned</FONT></O:P></DIV><O:P>
<DIV><BR><FONT color=#800000>Smoking campfires would dot the landscape<BR>Music
would fill the air<BR>Families would eagerly embrace a lifetime<BR>In freedom
and in the willingness to share</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR><FONT color=#800000>The animals would wander freely<BR>Amongst grass
and trees and flowers<BR>And all the beauty of the wilderness<BR>Would to this
day, still be ours</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR><FONT color=#800000>There would be no paths of concrete<BR>Just dirt
beneath our feet<BR>The stars, the moon and sunlight<BR>Would make this dream
complete</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR><FONT color=#800000>Our pillow would contain moonlight<BR>Our blanket
would consist of stars<BR>The dawn would bring sweet music<BR>Imagine, all this
once was ours</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR><FONT color=#800000>Pride was taken in the glory of nature<BR>Courage
from facing the elements<BR>If we hadn't tried to change the past<BR>We'd never
wonder where the beauty went</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR><FONT color=#800000>If the drums had continued beating<BR>And warriors
still possessed the land<BR>There would be a forever brotherhood<BR>Where we
would evermore walk, hand in hand</FONT></O:P></DIV>
<DIV><O:P>----------------------------------------------------------------------</O:P></DIV></FONT>
<P><FONT color=#008000></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT color=#400000><FONT face=Verdana><SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"><STRONG><FONT size=3>SANHEIN</FONT></STRONG>
marks one of the two great doorways of the Celtic year, for the Celts
divided the year into two seasons: the light and the dark, at Beltane on May 1st
and Samhain on November 1st. </SPAN>Some believe that Samhain was the more
important festival, marking the beginning of a whole new cycle, just as the
Celtic day began at night. For it was understood that in dark silence comes
whisperings of new beginnings, the stirring of the seed below the ground.
Whereas Beltane welcomes in the summer with joyous celebrations at dawn, the
most magically potent time of this festival is November Eve, the night of
October 31st, known today of course, as
Halloween. <O:P></O:P></FONT></FONT></P><FONT color=#008000>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Verdana><FONT
color=#bb0000><STRONG>Samhain</STRONG></FONT><SMALL><FONT color=#400000><FONT
size=2><SPAN style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic"> (Scots Gaelic:</SPAN><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"> Samhuinn</I><SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic">) </SPAN>literally means<SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic"> “</SPAN>summer's end.” In Scotland and
Ireland, Halloween is known as <I>Oíche Shamhna</I>, while in Wales it is Nos
Calan Gaeaf, the eve of the winter's calend, or first. With the rise of
Christianity, Samhain was changed to Hallowmas, or All Saints' Day, to
commemorate the souls of the blessed dead who had been canonized that year, so
the night before became popularly known as Halloween, All Hallows Eve, or
Hollantide. November 2<SUP>nd</SUP> became All Souls Day, when prayers were to
be offered to the souls of all who the departed and those who were waiting in
Purgatory for entry into Heaven. Throughout the centuries, pagan and Christian
beliefs intertwine in a gallimaufry of celebrations from Oct 31st through
November 5<SUP>th</SUP>, all of which appear both to challenge the ascendancy of
the dark and to revel in its mystery.</FONT></FONT></SMALL></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT color=#bb0000><BIG><BIG><O:P></O:P></BIG></BIG><FONT
face=Verdana>In</FONT></FONT><FONT face=Verdana><SMALL><FONT color=#400000><FONT
size=2> the country year, Samhain marked the f<SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">irst day of winter, when the herders led the
cattle and sheep </SPAN>down from their summer hillside pastures to the shelter
of stable and byre. The hay that would feed them during the winter must be
stored in sturdy thatched ricks, tied down securely against storms. Those
destined for the table were slaughtered, after being ritually devoted to the
gods in pagan times. All the harvest must be gathered in -- barley, oats, wheat,
turnips, and apples -- for come November, the faeries would blast every growing
plant with their breath, blighting any nuts and berries remaining on the
hedgerows. Peat and wood for winter fires were stacked high by the hearth. It
was a joyous time of family reunion, when all members of the household worked
together baking, salting meat, and making preserves for the winter feasts to
come. The endless horizons of summer gave way to a warm, dim and often smoky
room; the symphony of summer sounds was replaced by a counterpoint of voices,
young and old, human and
animal. <O:P></O:P></FONT></FONT></SMALL></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Verdana><FONT color=#bb0000>In</FONT><SMALL><FONT
color=#400000><FONT size=2> early Ireland, people gathered at the ritual centers
of the tribes, for Samhain was the principal calendar feast of the year.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The greatest assembly was the 'Feast of
Tara,' focusing on the royal seat of the High King as the heart of the sacred
land, the point of conception for the new year. In every household throughout
the country, hearth-fires were extinguished. All waited for the Druids to light
the new fire of the year -- not at Tara, but at Tlachtga, a hill twelve miles to
the north-west. It marked the burial-place of Tlachtga, daughter of the great
druid Mogh Ruith, who may once have been a goddess in her own right in a former
age. <O:P></O:P></FONT></FONT></SMALL></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Verdana><FONT color=#bb0000>At</FONT><SMALL><FONT
color=#400000><FONT size=2> at all the turning points of the Celtic year, the
gods drew near to Earth at Samhain, so many sacrifices and gifts were offered up
in thanksgiving for the harvest. Personal prayers in the form of objects
symbolizing the wishes of supplicants or ailments to be healed were cast into
the fire,<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>and at the end of the
ceremonies, brands were lit from the great fire of Tara to re-kindle all the
home fires of the tribe, as at Beltane. As they received the flame that marked
this time of beginnings, people surely felt a sense of the kindling of new
dreams, projects and hopes for the year to
come. <O:P></O:P></FONT></FONT></SMALL></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText><FONT face=Verdana><FONT
color=#bb0000>The</FONT><SMALL><FONT color=#400000 size=2> Samhain fires
continued to blaze down the centuries.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>In the 1860s the Halloween bonfires were still so popular in Scotland
that one traveler reported seeing thirty fires lighting up the hillsides all on
one night, each surrounded by rings of dancing figures, a practice which
continued up to the first World War. Young people and servants lit brands from
the fire and ran around the fields and hedges of house and farm, while community
leaders surrounded parish boundaries with a magic circle of light. Afterwards,
ashes from the fires were sprinkled over the fields to protect them during the
winter months -- and of course, they also improved the soil. The bonfire
provided an island of light within the oncoming tide of winter darkness, keeping
away cold, discomfort, and evil spirits long before electricity illumined our
nights. When the last flame sank down, it was time to run as fast as you could
for home, raising the cry, “The black sow without a tail take the
hindmost!”</FONT></SMALL></FONT></P><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt; COLOR: #bb0000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Book Antiqua'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">
<P></SPAN><FONT face=Verdana color=#bb0000><BIG><FONT size=4>E</FONT></BIG><FONT
size=3>ven</FONT></FONT><FONT face=Arial><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt; COLOR: #bb0000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Verdana'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><SMALL>
</SMALL></SPAN></FONT><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #400000; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt">today,
bonfires light up the skies in many parts of the British Isles and Ireland at
this season, although in many areas of Britain their significance has been
co-opted by Guy Fawkes Day, which falls on November 5th, and commemorates an
unsuccessful attempt to blow up the English Houses of Parliament in the 17th
century. In one Devonshire village, the extraordinary sight of both men and
women running through the streets with blazing tar barrels on their backs can
still be seen! Whatever the reason, there will probably always be a human need
to make fires against the winter’s dark.</SPAN><SMALL><FONT face=Arial><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #400000; FONT-FAMILY: 'Verdana'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><STRONG><BR></STRONG></SPAN></FONT></SMALL></P></FONT>
<P><FONT color=#008000><FONT face=Verdana><STRONG><FONT
color=#bb0000>Samhain</FONT></STRONG><SMALL><FONT color=#400000 size=2> was a
significant time for divination, perhaps even more so than May or Midsummer’s
Eve, because this was the chief of the three Spirit Nights. Divination customs
and games frequently featured apples and nuts from the recent harvest, and
candles played an important part in adding atmosphere to the mysteries. In
Scotland, a child born at Samhain was said to <SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">be </SPAN>gifted with <I>an dà shealladh,
</I>“The Two Sights” commonly known as “second sight,” or
clairvoyance</FONT></SMALL></FONT></FONT></P>
<P> </P>
<P> </P>
<P> </P>
<P> </P>
<P> </P>
<P> </P>
<P> </P>
<P> </P>
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<P> </P>
<P> </P></FONT></DIV>
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