Happy Samhain!
It's the night when the walls between the worlds grow thin and spirits of the underworld walk the earth. A night of masques and bale fires, when anything is possible ...and nothing is quite as it seems.
I actually woke up from my nap early enough to have a lovely Circle with the kids. We talked about the comings and goings in our lives this past year and had a picture of my grandmother, who died this past spring as well as talking about places we've moved on from and met (new schools, new teachers, new friends, all the folks at Baha'i school, our two Elizabeths) and what changes had happened in the past year. I drank mint tea, which was LOVELY (Bigelow Mint Medley).
Then we made Wheels of the Year (see icon for sample) out of paper plates divide into eights. I read from bits of books that had mostly child-friendly descriptions of the holidays as we colored each pie piece and turned it to talk about how the wheel turns and turns and turns again. toujourspret made a gorgeous one and Elf got REALLY into it and we talked about the symbols she was choosing (based on samples I printed from the internet and what I was reading) to represent each one. I'm really pleased with mine. I'm THRILLED that Elf was really into it AND that she made her own choices about what symbols she drew and what she wanted to call the holidays (I wrote "Lammas" while she insisted on writing "Lughnasadh", and I wrote "Solstice" but she wrote "Litha", for example)--I loved that. Ben wasn't interested in drawing the wheel--he made a couple of pictures and wandered off--but he lit the center candle and called West and talked about his new friends from this year.
Both the kids had a blast handing out Hallowe'en candy. The kids ate carmel apples as we finished Circle and we talked about our hopes for the coming year, bid the quarters hail and farewell, and closed Circle.
After Circle, we carved the two pumpkins we got from our garden (and which were in Circle). The kids were really aware for the first time and giggled over how slimy and icky it was. We saved and roasted the seeds with garlic salt (YUMMY!). I carved the pumpkins and then we made photos. The tea lights unfortunately blew IMMEDIATELY out when we put the pumpkins on the porch. Ah, well. But they are CUTE and it was a lovely evening with my kids, even if I am knackered and out of breath now.
Blessed Samhain and Happy Hallowe'en.
I actually woke up from my nap early enough to have a lovely Circle with the kids. We talked about the comings and goings in our lives this past year and had a picture of my grandmother, who died this past spring as well as talking about places we've moved on from and met (new schools, new teachers, new friends, all the folks at Baha'i school, our two Elizabeths) and what changes had happened in the past year. I drank mint tea, which was LOVELY (Bigelow Mint Medley).
Then we made Wheels of the Year (see icon for sample) out of paper plates divide into eights. I read from bits of books that had mostly child-friendly descriptions of the holidays as we colored each pie piece and turned it to talk about how the wheel turns and turns and turns again. toujourspret made a gorgeous one and Elf got REALLY into it and we talked about the symbols she was choosing (based on samples I printed from the internet and what I was reading) to represent each one. I'm really pleased with mine. I'm THRILLED that Elf was really into it AND that she made her own choices about what symbols she drew and what she wanted to call the holidays (I wrote "Lammas" while she insisted on writing "Lughnasadh", and I wrote "Solstice" but she wrote "Litha", for example)--I loved that. Ben wasn't interested in drawing the wheel--he made a couple of pictures and wandered off--but he lit the center candle and called West and talked about his new friends from this year.
Both the kids had a blast handing out Hallowe'en candy. The kids ate carmel apples as we finished Circle and we talked about our hopes for the coming year, bid the quarters hail and farewell, and closed Circle.
After Circle, we carved the two pumpkins we got from our garden (and which were in Circle). The kids were really aware for the first time and giggled over how slimy and icky it was. We saved and roasted the seeds with garlic salt (YUMMY!). I carved the pumpkins and then we made photos. The tea lights unfortunately blew IMMEDIATELY out when we put the pumpkins on the porch. Ah, well. But they are CUTE and it was a lovely evening with my kids, even if I am knackered and out of breath now.
Blessed Samhain and Happy Hallowe'en.