October 23: Samhain's Sirens Thriller Thursday!

#Giveaway, #samhainssirens, #sosannascloset

Salutations from the sinister selkies!

We have thrills to enthrall on this Thor's Day.

Today is the deadline for your Forget-Me-Nots tributes/photos. Please email them to Serena at samhainssirens@gmail.com

Quick reminder: You MUST provide an email address to be considered eligible for the giveaways. If you don't provide that, then you're wasting your time in entering. By law, we must email you to notify you that you've won. We want you to have all the fun you can here!
Speaking of fun....

The winner of the Blackthorn Hoodoo Blends Oracle Reading is...

Angie Crabtree!

My Favorite October Things by Autumn Noel

I don’t know what is so special about the Halloween season; but something magickal kicks in come October. I always want to fill the entire month with festivities, from start to finish. No books can be read, no movies can be shown, and no weekends can be filled unless they are celebrating the Halloween time of year. I've been like this for as long as I can remember, and my husband thinks I take it a bit to an extreme, but this is the way I was raised and he has come to accept my Halloween spirit, even if it is twenty times greater than everyone else’s around me! I get giddy when the Halloween decorations start appearing in the craft stores and drug shops; I have pumpkins lining our flowerbeds and driveway, I live and breathe the whole year for October.

I wasn't raised in the Pagan faith, but growing up my brothers and sister and I always had a great love for Halloween. As an adult my spirituality changed, and I adopted the practices of Samhain. So now I celebrate both Samhain and Halloween, and I use the terms interchangeably. I celebrate a mixture of Pagan practices with commercial Halloween and involve my family whenever possible.

Here is a list of my favorite things to do in the month of October to celebrate the Samhain season….

Decorating my home from head to toe in Halloween!
A fresh batch of homemade apple wassil every week, even though its often too hot outside to really enjoy it A visit to the one and only pumpkin patch in the area, just to look! They’re too expensive to purchase
Apple cider sangria!!!
Pumpkin carving, every weekend
Wearing my orange and black apron in the evenings to cook.
My little ones dressed in Halloween gear almost every single day (…at least in public!)
My husband carving me a triple goddess and pentagram pumpkin on Halloween night
Dressing up as a witch on Halloween night.
Going for walks to look at the Halloween decoration in our neighborhood
All books are replaced on my toddler’s bookshelf to Halloween and Fall themes, lots are checked out from the library. The same goes for the cartoons she watches regularly. We have many Halloween episodes on DVD.
An altar table set up with pictures honoring our dead ancestors, and some other public figures we love that have passed on (even if we have never met them! …Anne Boleyn anyone?)
An offering of apples on Samhain night, held high to the sky and asked to be blessed and then left outside for our ancestors who may cross over on this eve.
Handing out candy to trick-or-treaters
homemade caramel apples and popcorn
A visit to the Catholic Church on November 1st for all souls day…it’s all relative to me.

I hope this list has given you some ideas to celebrate the season, both Halloween and Samhain with your family. Have a very blessed Samhain night!!!

Trick-or-treat!!
BOO!!
-Autumn Noel

There are no words for this one. Just enjoy.

The Witches’ Kitchen by Autumn Earthsong

Anything spicy brings to mind Fall for me. These spicy molasses cookies or ginger cookies definitely bring to mind Fall!! They are delicious with milk or spiced cider and make a great after- school snack for the kids. A favorite thing to do in the Fall….spread a blanket under a tree filled with Autumn color and have these cookies and some milk! Yummy!!

Spicy Molasses Ginger Cookies

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
Pinch salt
1 1/2 sticks butter, at room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup molasses
Sugar for coating

Preheat the oven to 350* In medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt and set aside.
In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and then the molasses. In thirds, gently mix in the flour mixture until just combined.
Scoop out the cookie dough into 1-inch balls, roll in some sugar and place on a cookie sheet. Then press down with the back of a spoon a bit.
Bake for 9 to 10 minutes. Remove the cookies to a rack to cool.
*Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

ENJOY, Autumn

To read my blog visit www.autumnearthsong.com
To check out my herbal products visit my shop at www.etsy.com/shop/verbenalaneshoppe

Pendant Giveaway from Sosanna's Closet

White Sea-glass with Swarovski crystal wrapped in silver plated wire. Retail value - $26.00

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 X 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. Citizens, and others- READ HERE:

1. Go to the Sosanna's Closet . Look over the site and tell us which product you like best.

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/Get Notifications on the Sosanna's Closet Facebook 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.