Preparing for Samhain

This Samhain season I have decided to participate in some blog parties. I have never done this so I am making an effort this year with two. I think it will be a good way for me to get into them and see what I can come up with. I also do not want to over extend myself since school is really intense this semester.
But I am making my first post for the blog party hosted by Whimsical Cottage! Head on over to find out the other bloggers participating in the blog party.
The idea is to post as often as you do and include things about the season.
Since it was about the Samhain season I decided that I needed to make my altar appropriate for the season.
This is a good thing because I have been meanign to cleanse my altar and get it going. As you know if you read my blog my life has been pretty crazy recently and it has been hard for me to get things going. So I took this blog party as an excuse to motivate me enough to clean off my altar and make it into a Samhain altar.
Before my altar was cluttered and had a lot of items on it realating more to summer and spring and now I have stripped it to the bones.
I am getting back to basics if you will. Last year I participated in my first Samhain ritual and it was quite an experience. On our journey that night we encountered three goddesses Baba Yaga, the Shadow, and the Crone. These goddesses had a story to tell at each station and a lesson to leave us with. Baba Yaga is a goddess who strips you to your bones in her cabin in the conutry side. That message really stuck with me. At that station we drew a rune and when I drew mine it was the spiritual warrior rune. This was a very important sign for me and because of that it is layed on my altar during Samhain.


The desgin of my altar is pretty basic. I have the deities in the back. And of course in the middle is the wonderful Tree of Life god I purchased from Nydia from her wonderful etsy shop! I highly recommend you head on over there and see what is happening.



In the center of the altar I have a stone wrapped in rope that is from my mentor Madrone. She received this is the giveaway she attended at her summer retreat called Long Dance. Ever since she told me about Long Dance I have wanted ti attend, but it is unfortunately only for womyn. I felt very special to receive something from Long Dance because I know it is a place of change and happiness for Madrone and others. I can tell by the stories that many people experience huge amounts of growth on the retreat. I decided to place this item on my altar because for me the time of Samhain and what is to come next is a time of growth.It is a time mostly for personal growthas it is a time for intospection. It is the dark time of the year. This is the time when during the darkest nights witches can scry for their deepest desires. The stone sits right above my scrying mirror. This is a mirror I received from attending last years Samhain's ritual. So of course for this season I had to bring it out. On top of the mirror is a star garnet. I find them to be extra helpful in protection spells and charms.
I am pleased with my new altar and how it looks. I think it reflects the time I am going through in my life right now and also is appropriate for the season.
This is the first of hopefully more frequent posts during the Samhain season.