Happy Samhain Eve and Halloween! This is our last big day of celebration, and we have a very special offering for you! Tomorrow, we'll be announcing the Giveaway winner and cross-posting Kallan's Tribute to those who have passed, called "Forget-Me-Nots".

Today in history:

1517 - Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Palace Church. The event marked the start of the Protestant Reformation in Germany. 

1860 - Juliette Low, the founder of the Girl Scouts, was born.

1864 - Nevada became the 36th state to join the U.S.

1952 - The U.S. detonated its first hydrogen bomb.

1955 - Britain's Princess Margaret announced she would not marry Royal Air Force Captain Peter Townsend.

1956 - Rear Admiral G.J. Dufek became the first person to land an airplane at the South Pole. Dufek also became the first person to set foot on the South Pole.

1999 - Leaders from the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Church signed the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification. The event ended a centuries-old doctrinal dispute over the nature of faith and salvation.






The Song of Samhain


You may have noticed, if you live a reasonable distance north of the equator, that the glory of summer has faded.  In much the same way that the hand of time turns our hair different colors and the years sketch our story upon our hands and faces, so has the natural world changed.  Leaves have turned color as well; where trees were once full of youthful green, the lines of their branches now inscribe the sky.

While we magickal types are aware of the changing of the seasons - and we often hold celebrations to honor various magickal days throughout the turning of the Wheel of the Year - we don't always consider what's happening to the energy around us as Spring turns first to Summer, then to Autumn, and at last to Winter.

I find it easiest to understand this flow of energy if I imagine the seasons are a symphony.  To me, Spring is the sound of delicate chimes and a trio of woodwinds.  With each blooming flower, with each newborn animal, another flute, clarinet, or oboe joins the growing chorus.  The sound is light and airy, the progress of the season pushed back by still-cold winds remembering their Winter power and the childlike determination of the life flowing forward whenever the winds relent for even a moment.

With the arrival of Summer brass instruments join our song.  The sound is the bright and blaring call of trumpeting sunlight, of fauns and foals finding their feet and dancing through meadows of flowers.  It's the reveling shouts of childhood with an entire season off from school.  The sounds are crisp, clear, and strong and echo from the bold call of morning to the softer movements of the night.

As Autumn appears, strings and percussion join our symphony.  The woodwind flowers are still blooming, the brassy warm weather fights to remain against the fading sunlight, and the strings and percussion of harvest drive us ever forward.  As each piece of the seasonal symphony fights for its space, the crescendo grows and grows to a great mountain of sound until...

Samhain.

Much like listening to a piece of classical music, you can feel it coming.  As our orchestral movement reaches its crescendo, the woodwinds of Spring don't have the strength to compete with the more powerful instruments and are lost beneath the trumpets and timpani, appearing only in notes here and there that cut through the din.  Summer still calls out its brassy tune, but the sound is old, wearing thin, the seasonal composition carrying us to something new.  There's a distinctive quality to the strings and percussion now.

Something special.  Something... sad.  Something... spooky... Something that isn't Spring or Summer or even Winter.

And then the orchestra fades away, leaving only the deep resonating sound of a beating drum.  At first the stillness shocks us after the crescendo of the seasons, but then we recognize the rhythm of the baritone percussion.  It's a heartbeat.  Slow.  Deliberate.

And fading.

A cello begins to play between the heartbeats.  First a single chord that fades to make room for the drum, then, as the drumbeat slows and the spaces grow longer, the cello begins to test its voice.  Without realizing the moment it happens, the heartbeat is gone and other strings have filled in the spaces.  The music is slow and deep, yet not quite sad.  There's a strange quality to the strings.  It's not something we'd typically refer to as power, yet it moves us.  It opens us.  It carries us far beyond the growing crescendo of Spring, Summer, and Autumn to a place older and deeper, a place primal yet still, a place quiet yet far from empty.

If we were to follow as the notes continue to lead us, they would carry us into the quiet stillness of midwinter before the chimes and woodwinds thawed the cold once more and slowly heralded the coming of Spring.   But that's not where we're at.  We're in that quiet, magickal, powerful place that is left when the world fades away, when the drumbeat stills, and all that meets our ears is the long drawn out notes of the cello.  It's as if the entire world has stopped at the edge of a sacred space, as if all of creation has paused for a moment of silence, a moment of prayer.  With the stilling of the drumbeat heart, we are in a space unlike any other.  The moment isn't about life, as the drumbeat has stilled. The moment isn't the stillness of death, as the strings carry us onward.  It's an in-between space, a space like our cast circles that is neither here nor there, but somewhere in between and rich with a power we can feel and yet can't describe.

We call that magickal in-between space in the ever-changing seasons, Samhain.  A doorway has opened, not leading to a destination, but to a point along the Wheel of the Year unlike any other.  If Samhain were a spell, all of the growing power of Spring, Summer, and Autumn has just been raised and it is the moment of release, when that energy is in the process of moving from one realm to another.  If Samhain were a deathbed watch, it is the moment that all life fades from the person we love and yet we can still feel them somewhere near us, not quite there, not quite gone.

To those of us who embrace the natural world and have witnessed all of the energy that has risen over the warm portion of the year, it is a doorway into something new, yet very old.  Samhain is all of these things at once - and a perfect time for working magick, for letting go, and for transitioning from one portion of the magickal year into the next.

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Autumn’s Red Hot Snack Mix

*This is one of those recipes that I honestly have no measurements.  But it’s easy to make so I’m passing it on!

*Preheat oven to 250*

In a large roasting pan (I buy one of those aluminum throw away ones..so easy and no clean up!) place a stick of butter or margarine and put it in the oven to melt while the oven’s heating up.

When butter is melted, add to pan any of the following to fill the pan full...not so full you can’t stir it up but full!

1 box wheat chex
1 box corn chex
1 box rice chex
1 box cheese crackers
1-2 cans or jars of peanuts

*Now...this is up to each of you to do as you please.  You can do different cereals (not sweet ones) like Cheerios or any other corn, wheat or rice cereal.  You can use other things besides the crackers or other kinds of cheese crackers like goldfish, or you can use bugles, pretzels, corn chips, sun chips, sesame sticks, melba rounds etc etc....it’s endless.  I use cocktail peanuts or dry roasted peanuts...you can again use as you want.  But fill up the pan as I did in the picture above.

Now give it all a good mix to coat with the butter.

Now add these seasonings...heavy handed!!

Worcestershire sauce
Red Hot Sauce
Lowry’s seasoning salt
garlic powder.

You can’t really do too much of this LOL.  The more the better!

Now don’t stir it....pop it in the oven for 20 mins.

Remove from oven, give it a stir, add seasonings again...yep...again....and put back in oven.

Do this 4 times!  The last time I may or may not add anymore of any of the seasonings.  If it’s looking well coated it’s done except for oven time.  If it still looks like it could use more..go for it!

After 4 x 20 mins of baking...dump the pan out onto a brown paper bag to cool.

This will make 2 gallon sized bags full!!

Enjoy!!




The time is here! It's our Grand Prize Giveaway:


Here’s how to enter:

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 :)

You have until tonight at 5pm EDT to enter. Note: this is a change from your usual 24 hour timeframe, because Kallan is going to celebrate Samhain peacefully tomorrow with her ancestors.

If you've been following us all along, for every valid entry you've given us, we've already put those into the Grand Prize Giveaway.

But, we thought we give anyone who hasn't entered yet a chance to jump in, and give our loyal Siren-lovers a chance to get more entries. So, here's how we're going to do this.

YOU MUST GIVE US YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS TO ENTER (if you don't want it public, email it to us and match it to the user name you're posting with in the comments)

1. Go to your favorite Siren's Page, whether that's a vendor, blogger, recipe siren, or author. Tell us one thing you absolutely loved about this Siren in the comments. (1 entry)

2. Tell us what your favorite day was here on the blog and why. (1 entry)

3. Blog about this giveaway (make sure you link back here), come back and leave us a link to your blog. (1 entry)

4. Tweet about this giveaway (link to us, please), come back, and leave us a link to your tweet (1 entry)

5. Like the Samhain's Sirens Facebook Page. Tell us here that you did (1 entry)

Note: If you want your entries to count as separate entries, you must post them separately. If you post 1 comment with all of these on it, it will only count as 1 entry.

Canadian residents, by law, instead of the above, you must answer the following question to be eligible:

What is 100 + 100?

What's cool about being a Canadian? You automatically get 5 entries per giveaway for just answering 1 question!  We still need that email address, and you're always welcome to tell us what you liked about this year's celebrations. :)


Kallan will email the winner tonight, and will post the Grand Prize winner's name here on the blog in the morning.
Good luck and Happy Samhaining!

It's a Wonderful Wednesday here at Samhain's Sirens! Our last one of the season, and the day before All Hallow's Eve. Are you getting everything prepared for the big event?

We have two last giveaways before the big Grand Prize Giveaway tomorrow. Remember, every entry you make here, gives you entries into the GP Giveaway (we'll also give you extra chances tomorrow as well).

There's also a very special treat for you today at the end of this blog from our mascot, Cupquake Danger. We know you're going to love it :)

Today in history:

1735 - John Adams, the second President of the United States, was born in Braintree, MA. His son became the sixth President of the U.S.

1831 - Escaped slave Nat Turner was apprehended in Southampton County, VA, several weeks after leading the bloodiest slave uprising in American history.

1938 - Orson Welles' "The War of the Worlds" aired on CBS radio. The belief that the realistic radio dramatization was a live news event about a Martian invasion caused panic among listeners.

1953 - General George C. Marshall was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

1993 - Martin Fettman, America's first veterinarian in space, performed the world's first animal dissections in space, while aboard the space shuttle Columbia.



Remember, Serena's still around if you need her.
Email her, or use the contact form at the top of the page.

And, now, let's celebrate!




Today, we remember Amy Winehouse.




"Leaves fallen on the breeze,

Game Day Chili

2 TB olive oil
*serve with corn bread and toppings like sour cream, crackers, shredded cheese, hot sauce..however you like it!!  Serves about 4-6....great the next day too!

Giveaway #1: from Danni at  Heartroot Studio:

 A stunning 8x10 print of "Harvest Moon",  retail value is $20.

Here’s how to enter:
You have until 6am EDT tomorrow to enter.

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 on the October 31st blog post at 9am EDT.

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 :)

You MUST provide a valid email address to enter the contest.

1. Go to Heartroot Studio. Find your favorite item, come back here, and tell us about it in the comment section. (1 entry)

2. Like the Facebook page for Heartroot Studio. Let us know you did in the comments. (1 entry)

3. Blog about this giveaway (make sure you link back here), come back and leave us a link to your blog. (1 entry)

4. Tweet about this giveaway (link to us, please), come back, and leave us a link to your tweet (1 entry)

5. Be a follower of this blog, Samhain's Sirens (1 entry)

6. Like Samhains Sirens on Facebook (1 entry)

Note: If you want your entries to count as separate entries, you must post them separately. If you post 1 comment with all of these on it, it will only count as 1 entry.

Canadian residents, by law, instead of the above, you must answer the following question to be eligible:

What is 99+1?

What's cool about being a Canadian? You automatically get 6 entries per giveaway for just answering 1 question!  We still need your email address, though :)



Giveaway #2: Francesca De Grandis, "Sprinkling Faerie Dust on Breakfast" Continental U.S. only.

About Francesca:  Francesca De Grandis, AKA Outlaw Bunny, authored the classic text "Be a Goddess!" Founder of Third Road, a Faerie Shamanism tradition that she teaches through both text and oral tradition, De Grandis explains, "I'm a non-theist, pantheist pagan serving Goddess. Mother and all my Gods, thank you." Ecstatic paradox. Bard, painter, spiritual innovator, Whedon fan, middle management for Chaos Gods, and busy elf. www.stardrenched.com  www.outlawbunny.com  https://www.etsy.com/shop/outlawbunny

Bonus Feature: Cupquake Danger Sings Witches Brew