Samhain Goals and Other Goals

It's October 18 already. Holy crap! My household has been here with me for a week, and guess what? That's right - we're still unpacking! Including the kitchen. Oh, boy.

One problem I have (out of 2847987259873972 or so) is getting too far ahead of myself. Putting too many irons in the fire. It is difficult for me to focus on one task at a time, but I am doing my best.

October Goals:
- Unpack and organize kitchen stuff
- Plan my Samhain menu for the living and the dead
- Tweak my post-Samhain vegetarian menu plans

Short-Term Future Goals:
- Put together plans for menus using Yule foods
- Continue recipe development for the larger cookery book project

This Samhain, I still need to decide what I want to purge. I'm slowly getting rid of physical items that I no longer use, but for Samhain, I need to get rid of some hangups, some baggage.

I need to believe that I can be successful. There's a first time for everything, right? I need to work on letting go of some of this horrible self doubt. I need to believe that someone somewhere is interested in what I am trying to accomplish. There's a serious lack of support in my life, unfortunately. Yes, some people are busy with their own things, but for the most part, people simply do not care because it's not about them.

That leads me to believe I need to purge some of these unsupportive buttholes from my life, as well. Time to make a list.

What are your Samhain plans? I am still trying to figure out what I will be able to do. A lot of it depends on the unpacking process. Soooooo, I think I will go downstairs and see what can be unboxed and put away.

Autumn is a-cumen in!

September is a little more than a day away here.  Are you as excited as I am?  Temperatures are still pretty warm, but thunderstorms are coming to cool us down a bit.  Mabon will soon be here, and then...Samhain!  The countdown to Samhain began ages ago for me, but I'm not about to forget the autumn equinox, oh, no!

Our second harvest festival in the northern hemisphere, the autumn equinox/Mabon is a time to start turning inward a bit more.  It's a time to start focusing on things we want to get rid of at the end of the year, a time to meditate on future goals, and a time to really start connecting more with our inner selves.  It's a time to get in touch with our spirituality and prepare for the long, dark winter.

At my parents' house, it's a time for canning and freezing everything from the garden.  Tomatoes, peppers, and green beans are being preserved in jars. Pickles have been made.  Corn is going into the freezer.  My parents are enjoying delicious turnips, raw with salt and pepper.  Here, since I have no garden, I am getting ready to de-clutter the house.  I have bundles of clothes to give away, books to organize, and other assorted bits of junk to get rid of.

Celebrating the second harvest and enjoying the beginning of autumn are joyful activities. The air will soon grow cool and crisp. The days are already noticeably shorter.  Pumpkins already decorate the front of the grocery store.  Today, I baked a pumpkin spice latte cheesecake. The time is nigh!

Below is a list of activities and foods for the autumn equinox. If you're having trouble thinking of ideas for decorations, activities, or dishes, perhaps it will help you.

Mabon  Ideas for Heart and Home

·         Simmer water with cinnamon sticks and whole cloves on the stove.

·         Smudge with rosemary, sage, and thyme.  Simmer some of the herbs in water and add it to your mop water.  Clean the floors, counters, and cabinet doors.  Add some sea salt for extra protection and cleansing.

·         Decorate with autumn leaf gardens that you can purchase from a craft store.

·         Place leaves on a canvas or piece of foam board. Dip an old toothbrush into some orange, red, brown, and yellow paint.  Splatter. Remove the leaves.

·         Can the rest of the fresh green beans and tomatoes.  Make pesto with the last of the summer basil and freeze it.  Freeze the corn.  Hang bundles of herbs to dry.

·         Fall cleaning.  Get rid of clutter and give away anything you don’t use or wear.

·         Make a besom. Scent with cinnamon oil.

·         Meditate on Persephone’s descent into the Underworld.  Eat pomegranate seeds while doing this.

·         Harvest seeds.  

·         Think of your goals for the coming year.

·         Think of what you want to get rid of at Samhain. What is cluttering your mind and your life?

·         Make corn dollies.

·         Make dried apples for snacks and decoration.

·         Decorate the altar with bundles of corn.  Hollow out apples to use as candle holders. 

Foods:

·         Squash soup

·         Corn bread

·         Apple pie, crumble, or cake

·         Pinto beans cooked with smoked ham

·         Sauteed  greens

·         Stuffed onions

·         Sweet potatoes – mashed, baked, in pie form

Let the Countdown Officially Begin!

Yesterday we observed the summer solstice, the longest day of the year.  From here on out, days get shorter.  The temperatures may soar for a few more months, but there will be cooler weather soon.  Even though we are in the middle of summer, my eyes and my heart look to autumn, my favorite season.

Autumn is truly the season of the witch, and although I love cooking dishes using summer's bounty, I look forward to the harvest holidays the most.  Autumn is the time I enjoy most of all, before the biting, bitter cold of winter.  It may seem like the season of dying for some, and I suppose it is, but it is when I come to life.  It is when I feel the strongest connection to the earth, when life turns inward for a season of introspection and inner growth.

Then there is Samhain...Ah, Samhain. Beautiful, wonderful Halloween/Samhain, followed closely by the Day of the Dead.  It's a time of remembrance and feeling a stronger connection with those who have come before.  It is a time to revel in the mysteries of the wise and aged, a time to take their wisdom to heart and put it into practice.  Plus the cobwebs and dust in my house look like decorations!  Ha!

What season do you like best?