Salt Lake Pagan Society

The wheel has turned and Samhain has come and gone. Thanks to all whom attended the combined UUPS and Sunstave Samhain ritual and feast on Saturday, October 27, 2012 6pm.

The temple area was decorated with the altars and tables with their elemental associations. Flowers and gourds were placed on the main altar and a special ancestral table was placed in the west for people to set items of loved ones onto. Arianrhod watched over the table while the event took place.

Everyone entered the circle space after the circle was cast and were cleansed with sage and holy water. President Daniel Cureton opened the circle in the druid fashion and had the quarters called afterwards.

What first took place was a calming chant We Are the Old Ones, followed by the death of Cernunnos, who left us to go to the land of spirits to await rebirth at Yule. Hades then was channeled by president Cureton and spoke to the circle before interacting with gate keeper of the west. The Gate Keeper, played by Iyata Bond, offered her soul in payment for a few minutes with the spirits of the dead. Hades, being so honored by her sincerity, open the gate without taking her soul. The spirits of the dead came rushing in to meet and talk with their loved ones. Some reported seeing lovers, parents and even pets that had gone on. In the middle of all this, three hounds were heard in the distance barking madly in the silence.

To the tune of the song Queen Medusa by Whispering Woods, Medusa was seen and heard from next. She joined the circle and took everyone’s problems that they had been dealing with throughout the year and burned them in the new year’s fire. She transformed and supported and will continue to support those whom accepted her offering of help.

The circle and grove were closed and the feasting began. The feast included deviled eggs, funeral potatoes, chicken and butternut squash soup. After the feast brought the Samhain part at the Church of the Sacred Circle temple where all sat by the fire and welcomed the new year while drinking Drunken Oak mead. Check out the photos below!