gina 🍂✨🌳

Whether you’re still in the broom closet or known to your craft, I thought I’d list some small and big activities that I plan on partaking in to celebrate Samhain! Hope you all enjoy 🖤

To honor loved ones/those who have passed:

🍂Leave photos of your ancestors at your altar! I think this is a beautiful way to honor them throughout the holiday.

🍂Visit the cemetery you’re loved ones reside at. Do it not only to see your own family/friends, but to pay respect to all the others who don’t have anyone to remember them.

🍂Leave single candles on your windowsills to let your ancestors know they’re welcome to visit you!

🍂Prepare a feast and set a place at your table for loved ones that are no longer with us! Share stories of them, listen to their favorites songs, honor them in any way you see fit.

🍂The veil is at its thinnest on Samhain. Just like old traditions, carve a jack-o-lantern and leave it at your door step to ward of negative spirits. Carve a sigil in the back for added protection!

🍂Leave food/offerings outside for those who have passed and will be walking around tonight. Burying apples is another way to give!

Other ways to celebrate:

🍂Take nature walk! Its the time where winter will soon set in, take this opportunity to enjoy what little bit of the harvest season is left.

🍂Like listed above, carve a sigil into a jack-o-lantern. Not only to protect your home, but the possible trick or treaters that may be wandering this night! Everyone can use a bit more protection.

🍂Decorate your home! Simple things like autumnal colors, gourds, skulls, candles etc are not only traditional to Halloween and won’t be questioned, but are also great ways to welcome Samhain.

🍂SELF!! LOVE!! SHIT!! As the wheel of the year comes to an end, its time for new beginnings. Make Samhain a day of reflecting on your past year and focus on how you plan to grow, renew and progress.

🍂Going with that, create face masks, teas/potions, sigils, spells, etc that are tailored to YOU and what you need a bit more of this year! For example, I’m lookin to go on a journey for a bit more self love and plan on working with some rose quartz, lavender and rose petals. There are countless posts with items and their correspondents, look around and find something that speaks to you!

🍂D I V I N A T I O N. This is the absolute best time of the year to work with any form of divination, tarot cards, a pendulum, tasseography, palmistry. I’ve heard scrying its particularly fabulous this time of year as well.

🌾 wrap up any unfinished projects, goals, left over to-do lists, etc! mabon is a celebration of balance, so now is an incredibly perfect time to finish up any small or big tasks you have yet to get to!

🌾 going along with that, set some newer goals for the upcoming months! as mabon means the days are now becoming balanced between the light and dark, we should all take the opporintuity to balance out old projects and create new goals for ourselves! remember, these are GOALS!! don’t beat yourself up if youre unable to complete them.

🌾 decorate your altar! this is my absolute most favorite sabbat to decorate for. incoporate colors such as reds, oranges, yellows and even greens to represent the changing of the leaves + the past summer. gourds, grains/nuts/seeds, candles, acorns, leaves, the options are truly endless!

🌾 now, decorate your home/space! there are so many incredible diy projects and affordable decor ideas for this time of year. simple digging through the dollar section at target or replacing a handful of decor with some gourds can really introduce a feeling of autumn throughout your home.

🌾 like i suggest for every sabbat, do a deep cleaning of your space and your altar if need be! these are the 8 times of the year i really go all in and declutter, get rid of any items i no longer need, clean and scrub all the usually neglected areas in my room. i almost always finish it off with a nice incense burning throughout, or a spell to enchant +protect my space!

🌾 FOOOOOOD. the best heckin part of these sabbats i tell you. and once again, this is my absolute favorite holiday to feast. i, and i know a handful of witches, see mabon as a witches thanksgiving more or less! foods like pumpkin, apples, various spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, seeds/grains/nuts, warm drinks, bread, root vegetables, etc are all fabulous to incorporate into this day. there are so many incredible dishes and desserts that can be made and blessed to share with your family and friends!

🌾 create a gratitude list! things like this sincerely help me ground myself and recognize how grateful i am for the things + people im lucky enough to have around me. i personally write them down on pieces of paper and set them on my altar.

🌾 visit a local farm! i adore going apple and pumpkin picking on mabon to then use in my dishes that night for dinner + desert! i also just love the atmosphere and energy that comes along with traveling to a farm with all locally grown produce and fresh baked autumnal sweets. not to mention, contributing money to local businesses is a lovely way to give back. (if you have the means to do so!)

🌾 take some time and go outside, if the weather permits! this is arguably the most stunning time of year as far as nature goes, with the trees turning lovely shades of every color imaginable. a nature walk on a beautiful fall day while harvesting flowers, leaves, acorns etc in your neighborhood is singlehandedly the simplest but most incredible experience. (please be kind and give something back if you plan on taking anything!)

🌾 place offerings outdoors for the local wildlife + nature! some will still be around before hibernation and absolutely will appreciate a little snack. although, please do your research before placing anything outside! everywhere has different local animals hanging around and some foods may be harmful!

🌾 celebrate with colors! this is the easiest way to show a little but of love to this sabbat while not outing yourself from the broomcloset! whether it be through clothing, your nails, makeup etc, incorporate earthy tones in honor of mabon. colors like reds, browns, oranges, yellows, darker greens.

🌾 let negative things in your past go. go outdoors and collect some fallen leaves and write down the things that you desperately need to berid of. once youre done SAFELY burn them with a candle/fire! (please do not let them go into the wind as the ink can be harmful to your local wildlife if consumed.) envision the removal of them from your life as you do so!

🌾 take some time to care and tend to your plants! although the darker and colder days are coming, this day is a lovely opportunity to show a little extra care to your plant friends. its time to celebrate the harvest and the enjoy all that has come from it, so show them a bit of thanks for all they’ve provided to you this past summer!

🌾 relaxxx! have a day of rest. mabon represents the final harvest of the year, a time to celebrate what summer has brought us and the hard work we’ve been putting in. today should be a day of self care, in whatever ways that may be! watching your favorite movie, consuming a favorite snack, running a bath. treat yo self this autumn equinox!

🌾 if you identify as a hellenic or would love to give to a deity, perform a ritual or give an offering to Persephone as she returns to the underworld until spring! pomegranates, nuts and seeds, poetry you’ve written about her, dried herbs/flowers are just some of the many items you could offer to her for her time of descent!

Aphrodite resides in the butterflies fluttering in your tummy, the result of a first kiss, a first love.

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she is the glittering spark felt by those who fall for one another. who find their ‘one’ in this world. who find their ‘two’ or ‘three’ for she is found in relationships of any size and shape, color and number.

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she weaves through the lines of hand written love letters and through the petals of freshly picked roses, celebrating anniversary’s and graduations.

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she stands tall and strong, kind and unnerved at pride festivals. her energy shared between hand holds and embraces. her love sewn and embroidered into flags of countless colors. for she will always make her presence known in love, no matter whom it may or may not be between.

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but she also resides in the downhearted parts of love.

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she comforts those who have been hurt, who have been abused and made to feel small. she provides warmth, shows those who’ve felt such pain that there is always someone who will love and cherish them.

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she sits with and wipes the tears of those who’s heart feels as though it may burst. with those who have lost someone they adored, and for those who must suffer through the good, the bad and the ugly sides of love.

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she stands behind those who struggle to see their reflection, broken about what stares back at them. she looks at you as if you’re the most beautiful and absolutely enchanting being on this earth. because she knows that’s what you deserve to not only hear, but see in yourself as well. she knows that’s the truth.

~

Adolph Hirémy-Hirschl, 1860-1933  

The birth of Venus, n/d, oil on canvas, 109x227 cm

hi lovelies!! i tried to get this post out much earlier than usual so you can all have some time to plan if you’d like to take some inspiration haha. i hope ya enjoy 💘

🌞 we’re now at the peak of spring SO, now is the perfect time to spend some time outside!!

- collect some flowers + wild herbs! (please be careful + become educated beforehand)

- take a nature walk! appreciate the signs of spring all around you.

- take some extra time to tend to your plants/gardens! give them some extra love OR start planting now! especially where i live, it’s tough to garden at the beginning of spring as it’s still a lil chilly outside so now is perfect!

- have a bonfire! bake some yummy goods, invite some friends over and have a grand ol time. this is a lovely opportunity to burn sigils, preform some fire spellwork, and rituals to honor the warmth taking over the cold.

🌞 decorate your altar!! beltane is heavily associated with fertility and abundance, so nows the time to represent that! use plenty of green candles for the green earth we’re blessed with this time of year, and red + pink candles for the fertility, passion and love that comes with this holiday! real and fake flowers, decor that represents the sun and crystals like rose quartz, pink tourmaline, pink angel aura quartz and sunstone are lovely choices as well.

🌞 make sure the light can reach you!! open some windows, go on a walk, lay outside. or, if the weather won’t permit that, light some candles or a fire (SAFELY!) indoors!

🌞 SPRING. CLEANING. sabbats are the times i take to do a FULL cleaning + cleansing of my space. so not only will i fully clean my room, but i’ll cleanse with some sage or incense! this is also a great time to preform protection spellwork to bless your space.

🌞 burn the heck outta anything you need to release/berid of!! as i said before, we are at the peak of spring. we’ve had some time to recover from winter. so, now is a wonderful time to create a sigil or write down negative things you’d like to have see their way out of your life onto some bay leaves and (SAFELY!) burn them.

🌞 get crafty!! use real or fake flowers to create flower crowns, jewelry, decorative masks, etc. i LOVE to press flowers and put them into frames + resin personally.

🌞 celebrate with color!! especially if you’re in the broom closet, this is a fabulous way to sneakily celebrate. wear clothing in these colors, paint your nails, etc. greens, pinks/reds and any bold bright colors are especially lovely this time of year.

🌞 do some kitchen witchcraft!! things like dairy, oats, bread, various spicy foods and vanilla are very popular this time of year.

🌞 braid some shiz!! especially some cute bracelets so you could share some love with the people around you! keep the colors of beltane in mind when doing so as well. here’s a color correspondent list AND a tutorial for a simple friendship bracelet!

🌞 DANCE, WITCHES!! allow the energy of music to fill you up and take over. i adore brining music into my craft as it’s so important to me, and the pure power i feel when doing this is indescribable.

🌞 have a.. sensual holiday. wink wink, nudge nudge. whether you practice SAFE and CONSENSUAL sex with a partner or give yourself some pleasure on your own if you catch my drift, this is a wonderful time of year to do so!

🌞 like i said above, this is a SENSUAL holiday.. and that doesn’t just mean sex! pleasure your SENSES. go outside and legitimately smell the roses + various flowers, eat the yummy and delicious food(s) you’ve been craving, lay outside on the beach and feel the sunshine on your skin + the sand on your feet.

🌞 take a ritual bath!! incorporate things like oranges + orange peels or lemons + lemon peels, various flowers/flower petals, frankincense, rosemary, thyme. even just a colored bath bomb! treat ya self.

🌞 plan a picnic with loved ones!! this incorporates so many things associated with beltane, such as dedicating time to the outdoors, eating delicious spring-y foods, and treating yourself with a beautiful day! do it at the beach, a downtown green, or even in your backyard if you don’t feel like travelin. pick up green/pink/red plates, utensils, etc and decorate your space with flowers if you’re feelin like being extra! (the dollar store is the perfect place to go for this kinda stuff, im tellin ya)

🌞 make some offerings for nature + the various spirits!! or even the fae if you work with them. this can be anything from a small bouquet of flowers, a bowl of fruits + nuts, (please research things that are SAFE for the wildlife in your area) to saying a simple prayer or just offering your time to the outdoors.