[DISCUSSION]How are you celebrating Samhain?

[A Scarecrow]

I recently bought my first cauldron, albiet it's made of thin plastic and I got it at iParty.
I plan on celebrating solitarily, this will be my first samhain ritual.
I don't have an altar, I don't have an athame, wand, etc.
I have 2 plates (or napkins, I don't know yet), some store-brand brownie snacks, organic apple juice, and I'm still trying to get my hands on a black or white candle. Preferably white.

Despite the material setbacks, I feel like I've done pretty well for myself (considering my age, the lack of a job, and my general laziness).

So how will you be celebrating? What was your first Samhain like?  

[Autodidactic]

I am so excited for you, this being your first samhain. My first Samhain I was still living with my family and I had to hide my beliefs, so I waited until everyone else went to sleep and then just lit a candle and meditated on lost loved ones and my ancestors. It was a wonderful ritual, despite being so simple, so don't think for a moment that your lack of tools makes a difference. As long as you are present and honoring The Lord and Lady, they will hear you and pay as much attention to you as they do to the people with $200 Athames and specialty incense.

As for me, I will be focusing most of my spirit connections to my brother in law, who died this summer in a car accident, then a basic "Hey gods, what up, i love you" ritual (Yes, I really do call it that...)

Then stay up till midnight and start writing my Nanowrimo novel!  

[Sanguina Cruenta]

I really need to stop squeeing every time I see a NaNo banner xd

I'm celebrating Beltaine. I'm still not sure what I'm doing.... I'll meditate on Walpurgisnacht and light a candle for Hel. It's like the last rememberance of the dead and the heroes, and a reminder that death continues even in the midst of life and growth.

My guess is that we do this so that we can get it "over with" and concentrate purely on sex and joy and life on May Day itself.

May Day... I dunno... The Heathen half of me says "Heathens honour Freyr and Freyja and you should too" and y'know, I think I will. I'm not drawn to them in the same sort of way that I am to Thor or Odinn or even Frigga, but I do like, respect and honour them. So I may well do something that involves them in some way. At any rate there will be a blot of some kind.

And then, WRITING!

On Astronomical Beltaine, which is... on about the 7th, I think, I'll do my, um, Neo-Wiccan-inspired trad-witchy ritual thing. For the Lord and Lady. wink  

[Autodidactic]

NaNoists unite!!!  

[Clair Fay]

This will actually be my second Samhain, and so what I'm doing is getting together with a coven member of mine and her mother, a voluntary solitary, I call her (the rest of the coven members... well let's just say they're on the fritz). We'll probably just have a good time, talk about "our witchy thing" as it tends to be called with us, and then do a quick candle ritual of sorts and just honour the God and Goddess.

My first Samhain, though, was actually when I finally gave into my draw and got myself a few books on paganism and did a brief sort of, "Hey, I'm finally here, don't plan on leaving anytime soon" sort of thing, then stayed up until midnight or something reading the books and highlighting them like crazy.  

[A Scarecrow]

TheMoonTune

My first Samhain I was still living with my family and I had to hide my beliefs, so I waited until everyone else went to sleep and then just lit a candle and meditated on lost loved ones and my ancestors.

I'm still living with my family...I'm still trying to brainstorm ways to get outside. sweatdrop  

[doistu]

Socially Inept Butterfly

TheMoonTune

My first Samhain I was still living with my family and I had to hide my beliefs, so I waited until everyone else went to sleep and then just lit a candle and meditated on lost loved ones and my ancestors.

I'm still living with my family...I'm still trying to brainstorm ways to get outside. sweatdrop

With the winter setting in, illness advancing on me and my attempts to hide my faith I turn to simply opening a window lol  

[The Amazing Jabels]

How is Samhain supposed to be celebrated, anyway? And what is it?  

[A Scarecrow]

The Amazing Jabels

How is Samhain supposed to be celebrated, anyway? And what is it?

Straight from Wikipedia:
Samhain (in English pronounced /ˈsaʊn/, /ˈsaʊɪn/ or /ˈsawɪn/,[1] from Irish samhain /ˈsˠaunʲ/, Scottish samhuinn /ˈsavɯɲ/, Old Irish samain /savanʲ/) is a festival on the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture, with aspects of a Festival of the Dead. It is popularly regarded as 'The Celtic New Year'.

The term derives from the name of a month in the ancient Celtic calendar, in particular the first three nights of this month, with the festival marking the end of the summer season and the end of the harvest. The Gaelic festival became associated with the Catholic All Souls' Day, and appears to have influenced the secular customs now connected with Halloween. Samhain is also the name of a festival in various currents of Neopaganism inspired by Gaelic tradition.  

[WitchyBoy]

lol i remember my first one, i did my ritual at homme all solitary and the like very formal of course, hen went out to a halloween party and got right smashed!  

[Clair Fay]

Lol Very nice. And here I ate candy and drank milk. *loves milk*  

[The Amazing Jabels]

Socially Inept Butterfly

The Amazing Jabels

How is Samhain supposed to be celebrated, anyway? And what is it?

Straight from Wikipedia:
Samhain (in English pronounced /ˈsaʊn/, /ˈsaʊɪn/ or /ˈsawɪn/,[1] from Irish samhain /ˈsˠaunʲ/, Scottish samhuinn /ˈsavɯɲ/, Old Irish samain /savanʲ/) is a festival on the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture, with aspects of a Festival of the Dead. It is popularly regarded as 'The Celtic New Year'.

The term derives from the name of a month in the ancient Celtic calendar, in particular the first three nights of this month, with the festival marking the end of the summer season and the end of the harvest. The Gaelic festival became associated with the Catholic All Souls' Day, and appears to have influenced the secular customs now connected with Halloween. Samhain is also the name of a festival in various currents of Neopaganism inspired by Gaelic tradition.

Ah, thanks.  

[WitchyBoy]

i think if your going to celebrate a sabbat actually celebrate i always go out on the sabbats but for different reasons according to the sabbat like for samhain its to celebrate the lives of the those who passed and that they can now pass over.  

[Radioactive Freezer]

This year, I'm going to light a white and yellow candle and pray while I ring a bell. I'll be doing this in my back yard since my dad has this fear of lighting the house on fire. I might also celebrate with a friend if she isn't too busy.  

[Alice Nakagawa]

Samhain is one of the biggest sabbats for our group. We had a large ritual (about 45 people attended), a remembrance altar, and divination. The remembrance altar had mementos and pictures of peoples ancestors, and a candle for each. We wrote notes to our ancestors and left them in a skull. The funnest part of divination was the rune apples. whee We carved runes into apples and went bobbing for them, and read the rune that each person drew. Samhain was great and I can't wait for next year.