Samhain 2015

It is out of frustration and disappointment that I post this particular blog. The Coven of Auranox has attended both Beltane and Samhain of 2015 with two different Pagan groups. We celebrated Beltane with a group that identified as an Avalon based tradition, and we celebrated Samhain with a group that identified themselves only as eclectic (which wasn't very descriptive or helpful). Clearly I can't really elaborate on the eclectic group, because they were too vague about their tradition. The following is a recount of the Samhain Celebration.

We visited the Church of Asphodel to join their Samhain celebrations. The location of the Samhain ritual was hosted in Hubbardston. We arrived at about 6:45 pm, and the ritual was supposed to begin at 7pm sharp. My coven sister stopped the car in front of the previously specified address. We pulled up to a small house, which was adjacent to a beat up looking shed. There was also old wood and other used items laying around the surrounding lawn area. An unkempt man stepped out and we asked him about the parking situation. He couldn't tell us and had to go retrieve someone who did know. Now, that begged the first question of why wasn't someone more informed outside waiting to greet visitors? The second male individual casually showed us where to park, and as he was walking away he trailed off by telling us not to park off the gravel or we would be parked on the septic tank area. The least they could have done would have been to mark out that sort of thing in small orange flags or what not, right?

We were lead onto the property which is owned by the hosting group. I'm not going to lie or even sugar-coat this. The area around the house was a mess. There were tools, broken wood, and other items laying around the surrounding lawn. Things are not always what they seem, so we all agreed to look deeper and give them a chance. Now I figured we would have to walk a little bit to the ritual location, but it was more than a short walk. Actually it was about half a mile down a long dark path through the woods of the property. It was the sort of path that unless you had traveled along it before, you were likely to trip and fall over jutting rocks, twigs, uneven ground, tree roots etc. Then there was this odd jutting land bridge we had to cross over. As newcomers we were pretty much left to fend for ourselves, and if it weren't for our cell phones as lights, the on-foot travel situation along this path would have been extremely dangerous for us. Not just for us, but for others who don't know the path. A large fire and the rest of the hosting group signaled that we had arrived at the specific ritual location. There was no explanation of what was going on. The Priest and his group dove right into the ritual leaving the rest of us lost. There was also this one group member of theirs that kept shushing everyone, even if we were talking about ritual-relevant topics. Now, if I wanted to sit and worship in silence I would worship in a Catholic congregation! I was pissed at the disrespect we were shown.

I was not fond of the way the ritual was conducted. The ritual was conducted in three parts. No Circle of protection was drawn. Logically, when dealing with Darker spirits and deities on Samhain a Circle of protection is absolutely necessary. So, I took it upon myself to do so for my coven and myself. We hailed to the guardians and deities that guide and keep the dead. For those of us that did not know of/about the mentioned guardians and deities, a brief history/description of mythology was given. That was something at least, but the hosting group's way of ritual was all over the place. Their choir sang a couple of songs, and then we were guided through a 'Scar Eating' ritual. In short, one of the hosting group's members 'ingested' one of our Life Scars for healing. The 'Scar Eating' ritual was taken from Native American tradition. The mythology in short: When you die one of the first beings you encounter is the Scar Eater. It takes your scars, and likes the deeper scars of your life best. The Scar Eater intakes your scars, heals you and sends your spirit on to the After Life. As a professional High Priestess, I don't believe a mortal person of this living realm is at all qualified to be taking the place as the Scar Eater even as a representation. Unless an individual has the ability to turn that negative energy of Life Scars into something positive, or to ground the energy elsewhere, then they have no business even representing such a powerful being.

The last part of the ritual was the presentation of the Ancestor's Banquet Table. This was literally an offering table set with dinner plates and food offerings to our Ancestors. I appreciate the idea of invoking and thanking our ancestors for the blood and life they have given us, but this portion went on for too long. People were taking too many turns, talking over one another and then the whole situation just disintegrated into ridiculous unnecessary mentions. We turned back to the fire pit to say our merry part to the summoned deities and guardians of Death, and everyone split up to go back up the dangerous path. There was little light before, but there was even less now as people split up into their own groups. The hosting group did not even bother to guide visitors back up the path.

Once everyone made it back to the house's driveway there was the business of finding out that the potluck portion of the celebration was at another location, up the road half a mile away. A comment was made by one of the members of the hosting group. They made the comment about not having space for everyone to go to the potluck. My coven-sister (the same one who drove) stepped up and raised her voice over the rest of the group, saying that we brought food too and that we were definitely staying to mingle. There was just an energy of feeling unwanted, like they wanted us gone. My coven-sister also offered to drive others up the street so that they did not have to walk in the dark and cold. My niece, her friend, and myself were dropped off first to unload the dishes we brought and to help set up. Again we were at someone's personal home, and later found out that the owners of the house weren't even there for the celebration. It felt seriously awkward. Once everything was settled we found somewhere to sit and wait for everyone to get there. It would have been rude to start dinner without everyone there. The whole atmosphere was entirely uncomfortable. The hosting group was quite rude to a visiting Transgender pagan, and my attending 14 year old nice was aggressively hit on by this perverted member of the host group. I had to deter this aggressive individual away from my niece about three times, and mind you he was at least 30 years old. The only member of the hosting group that made us feel comfortable and welcome was their Priest. We stayed and mingled for only an hour, and their Priest played guitar with my niece's friend. That was nice to see, but the general energy of judgment and malice that permeated through the group was not pleasant at all. It felt like they wanted us to leave, and that they had less than good things planned for after we were gone.

So after making a couple of good friends (other new visitors to the event) we left. On the way home, the coven as a whole discussed the situation. My wife is another member of our coven, she and my coven-sister had noticed something that I did not during our visit to the host group's event. Apparently there were open liquor containers and the group was drinking before, during, and after the Samhain ritual. Any tried and true Magick practitioner knows that you NEVER practice Magick when under the influence of any liquor or drug(Spirit Journeys and Vision Quests are a different topic). It's an unwritten automatic rule in our “book”. It's quite clear that this group was not nearly well enough prepared to be hosting a ritual that new visitors would be attending. The ritual location was dangerous, and definitely not handicap accessible. The ritual content was not well explained or visitor friendly. Many (though not all) of the group members were standoffish and judgmental. Lastly and probably most important for us, was the fact that there was an involved male adult host group member that aggressively flirted with a female minor that is an active junior member of our coven. As a whole we felt disrespected, uncomfortable, and outcast.

So needless to say, The Coven of Auranox will not be returning to practice with this particular group again. However, it is necessary to say that this group has no idea what type of harmful entities we felt/found tied to their 18 acres of land behind the first house we arrived at in Hubbardston. These entities were there to begin with, my coven and I just happened to notice them. We wish the aforementioned group the best of luck and safe practice on their path.

Blessed Be.