October 1: Welcome to the 3rd Annual Samhain's Sirens Celebration!

Welcome back to the third annual Samhain's Sirens October Extravaganza!

I'm Serena Siren, and I'll be your hostess for this month-long celebration. Each year, Samhain's Sirens gets bigger and better.

Our sponsor for these events is Imramma.com. If you are new to our soirée, welcome! You should start with our About and Rules pages first. Even our returning veterans (welcome back!) should check out those pages, just for review and to be sure you haven't missed any updates for this year.

We'll be hosting giveaways Monday through Friday, and our craft days will be Fridays and Saturdays. On Sundays, we'll take a break, but feel free to check in with all of our Stew Chefs over at The Sunday Stew as well.

Without further adieu, let's get started!

Welcome everyone!

We are absolutely thrilled to have you back with us again for our third year of the Samhain's Sirens October Celebration! As sponsor of this project, I am so honored and proud to be among this amazing group of people who so generously give of their time, talents and products for this event.

Our Sirens have been working since May to bring you the very best in giveaways, blog posts, songs, recipes and crafts. This is our gift of love to the Pagan community as the veil between the worlds thins, and we honor our ancestors, as well as those we love who have crossed over to the Otherworld.

Last year on Samhain, the community pulled together to honor our loved ones through "Forget-Me-Nots". If you would like us to feature your ancestors and loved ones, please send your tribute and photos to Serena by October 23.

Pumpkins, apple cider, hot chocolate, homemade breads, autumn leaves, the chill in the air... yes, it's October. For many of us, it's our favorite month of the year for all of these reasons and more. Halloween and Samhain are just 30 days away. As we prepare to cocoon in for our time of introspection, we honor our past and our birthrights. The Old Ways and gods call to us in a way that cannot be expressed adequately in words. We have a longing and a pull that is like no other time of year. We feel our connection to forever and to all who have gone before us. The tug of both life and death at their strongest now.

During this month, take time to breathe in the crisp October air, and celebrate the dance of life and death.

Sláinte,
Kallan

You heard it, too, didn’t you? Of course, you did. That’s why you’re here isn’t it? The Sirens called you. Well, my dears, welcome! I see no better way to start this off than with a little Alice Cooper.

The Witches’ Kitchen by Autumn Earthsong

Hello everyone and welcome to October and Samhain’s Sirens 2014!  I was thrilled to no end to be asked to be the Recipe Siren again this year.  I had so much fun doing it last year…. meeting new friends and sharing my recipes and I’m looking forward to doing it again!   I have a great batch of Fall-tastic recipes to share again.  Hope you try them out and let me know what you think!  So let’s get on with a month full of Samhain fun!

Boo-licious Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

3 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 tsps ground cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

3/4 tsp ground nutmeg

3/4 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp baking powder

3 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1 16 oz can pumpkin

1 cup dried fruit of your choice..I like cranberries or raisins

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (more if you like!)

Preheat oven to 350*  Grease and flour two 8 ½” x 4 ½” loaf pans.  Combine the first 8 ingredients (dry ingredients) in a large bowl and mix.  In a medium bowl, beat eggs, oil and pumpkin until blended.  Stir pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture and mix until well blended. Stir in dried fruit and nuts.  

Pour into loaf pans and bake for 75 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Cool in pans for 10 minutes.  Turn onto a wire rack and cool completely.  

Blessings and love!

Autumn

Today's Giveaway comes from artist Loren Morris at Hemlock and Garnet.
A one-of-it's-kind Sirens Ouija Board! Retail value: $298.00

"This board features a super lightweight starfish planchette with felted feet that glides easily over the heavily protected board! My boards and matching planchettes are always themed!"

Rules: (READ CAREFULLY)

YOU MUST PROVIDE A VALID EMAIL ADDRESS. If you choose not to share it in the comments, please use the contact form at the top of the page to provide your email address. You must provide your email address once per giveaway.

Drawing is held by random number generation and winner will be notified in email (that's why you have to have an email address listed). Announcement will be made in tomorrow's post.

Note: These giveaways are open to the U.S., Canada and where allowable. Void where prohibited.
Canadian residents, please pay close attention as by law, you have to use a different set of rules. Not to worry, we have you covered :)

CANADIANS READ HERE: You will be given the same number of entries for answering the following (remember, we STILL NEED YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS):

What is the answer to life, the universe and everything?

U.S Residents and all qualifying others, READ HERE:

1. Go to Hemlock and Garnet Etsy Shop.  Choose your favorite item, come back here and tell us what you liked best. (don't forget that email address!)

EXTRA ENTRIES: (USE SEPARATE COMMENTS. If you throw them all into one comment, it counts as one entry only)

2. Be a follower of this blog. Comment that you are following us.

3. Like the Sirens FB page (come let us know you did in comments)

4. Like Hemlock and Garnet's FB Page. Let us know you did.

5. Blog about this giveaway (comment with the url for your blog entry)

6. Tweet about this giveaway (come back and give us the url for your tweet)

So, all in all, you get 6 entries for this giveaway! The deadline for entries is midnight eastern time (11 Central, 10 Mountain, 9 Pacific) tonight. Announcement tomorrow, same time, same bat channel ;)

Questions? Email Serena.

See you tomorrow for more of our October fun!