October 29: Samhain's Sirens Wrong-turn Wednesday

Welcome, all you Wicked Witches!

It's our final Wrong-Turn Wednesday, and we're a little woeful that we'll be leaving you soon. But, we aren't finished yet, so we won't dwell on that.

We have another Two-For Giveaway today! Be sure you specify in your comments which giveaway you are entering. Remember, every one of your entries is an entry into the big Grand Prize Giveaway from LaPulia Studio worth $504.98!

Just two more days until the main event! Do you celebrate Halloween and Samhain as one holiday or do you split them up? Tell us about it in the comments section!

And now, on to the fun...

The Winner of the Magical Garden Giveaway from Johanna Lawson is....

Hex Parker!!

The Winner of the Sosanna's Closet Giveaway is....

Engie Willow!!

Last Harvest with the Old Kitchen Witch
By Sharon Grimshaw

One thing you can never accuse me of is being ‘normal’.  While I may, to the cursory inspection, seem to be VERY ordinary indeed – I have a husband, two children (one of each variety), two cats, work in a school, volunteer and am on speaking terms with the local vicar – I don’t really do much the same way as other people.  This includes my particular brand of paganism!  So I thought I’d let you into some of my Last Harvest routines and rituals, as they have evolved so far.

I don’t refer to this time as Samhain.  To me, it is both Hallowe’en and Last Harvest. And it’s not just one day, either – it’s the beginning of a helter-skelter run of activity that spans thirteen weeks.  Yes, I’m not one to do things by half!

Hallowe’en is the secular part of my celebration.  It normally falls in the week-long half-term holiday that separates the two halves of the first term of the school year here in the UK, so celebrations begin as the schools finish. For Hallowe’en, we decorate the house and garden with orange and black displays, carved pumpkins, daft signs, and even the Witchlets’ teddy bears get into the action as they dress them up in old costumes they have grown out of.  I take the Witchlets trick-or-treating on the evening of Hallowe’en, all dressed up as ghosts, ghouls, zombies or witches.  Unlike our American friends, children in the UK tend to dress up in ‘scary’ costumes, or Hallowe’en themed ones (both Witchlets were dressed up as pumpkins in their first year!).  Then it’s back to the house to await trick-or-treaters arriving at our door, and handing out sweets.  I also throw a Hallowe’en themed party on the weekend nearest Hallowe’en night for the Witchlets, their friends and our family.  We have been lucky every year so far that it tends to be quite warm and they can run around the garden!

Last Harvest is my spiritual celebration.  It marks the last of the ‘outside’ portion of my spiritual work for the year.  I do not follow the calendar; my timing is set by the local landscape around me.  When the time is right, when the smell of winter just tickles my nose as I step outside – that is when my Last Harvest routines begin by one last walk to ‘my’ woods to whisper lullabies in the ears of deciduous trees, say prayers with the old Yews that act as guardians for this place.  Elderberry wine, made the previous year, is poured at the feet of these old guardians with thanks for their centuries of service.  The vegetable plot is put to bed, leaving the green compost to rot down in places, spreading my compost over the bare areas, leaving garlic cloves sleeping underground to poke through in spring.  The last of the leeks and swedes are left to store in the earth they grew in.  My neighbour leans over the fence and hands me the last of his unwanted apples from his small but incredibly productive apple tree.  I pass back a couple of bottles of hard cider made from the previous year’s crop, and a home-made apple and blackberry pie.  One evening, after my neighbour is fast asleep, I lean over that very same fence and whisper thank you to the tree, pouring more cider into the ground near its roots.

While it is the end of my outside year (more or less!), it is the start of the most frantic inside part of my year.  It starts now, and my backside doesn’t seem to hit a chair again until after Twelfth Night in January!  Every year I pull out my Tarot cards and do a reading for the thirteen moons ahead, and promise myself I will work with my cards far more in the coming year (a promise I have failed miserably to keep so far) and look over last year’s reading (if I can find it; again, something that has failed miserably on several occasions).  I begin by calling back my Beloved Dead – those who were close to me who are no longer living in this plane.  They are invited back with a solitary ritual, but celebrated and welcomed with a family meal, where The Hubster and I tell their stories to wild-eyed Witchlets.  Some of these stories are now over a hundred years old – they are stories that my Great-Grandmother told.  They are a tiny oral tradition, not written down, but told and embellished (because aren’t all great stories living things that evolve and grow?) slowly over time. 

A portion of this meal is left for all the Beloved Dead, those that we loved, those that they loved and those that loved them.  Some of this meal is left outside, for those Dead we don’t know who may pass our way.  Wards and boundaries are renewed for the Winter months ahead.

Our Beloved Dead though, are invited to stay from now until Twelfth Night.  It becomes a crowded house, wherever I go I catch a phrase or two just behind me or in the next room.  We smell lavender, roses, hand-soap and cigars.  I buy Babycham and Ginger Wine for our guests.  Family recipe books are brought out, favourite foods are made.  Preserves are labelled with fancy labels and decorated for the gift baskets I will put together for Christmas and Yule presents.  The freezer is raided for frozen berries – haws, hips, blackberries, elderberries – to make wine, mead and cordials.  I live in my kitchen, shooing out visitors with a wave of my wooden spoon when it all gets too chattery and I can’t concentrate!

So what do you do at this time, my Samhain friends?  What recipes do you dig out this time of year?  What do you make, who do you see, and what do you FEEL?  Do tell this Old Kitchen Witch!

Only two more days! That requires joyful dancing! Let’s do the time warp again! This was the group dance at our wedding. No “Chicken Dance”, “Electric Slide”, or “Cha-Cha Slide” for us!

The Witches’ Kitchen by Autumn Earthsong

Pumpkins are everywhere this time of year.  I have such a fondness for them.  I decorate my home with them in the Autumn, I take the grandkids to the pumpkin patch, we have pumpkin carving parties and of course I cook with pumpkin a LOT!!  This yummy bundt cake made with pumpkin would be wonderful to have while watching  “Its the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown”, or “HalloweenTown” or “Hocus Pocus”.  Add some fresh whipped cream to it and you will be in a state of sweet bliss! 

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cake

1 15 oz can of pumpkin

4 eggs, beaten

1 cup vegetable oil

2 cups sugar

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsps baking powder

2 tsps baking soda

2 tsps ground cinnamon

12 oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350*

In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin, eggs, oil and sugar.  Mix in flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon.  Stir in half the chocolate chips.  Pour batter into a greased and floured Bundt pan.  Sprinkle remaining chips over batter.

Bake at 350* for one hour, or until golden brown and inserted toothpick tests clean. Cool then remove from pan.  Top with fresh whipped cream to serve if you wish. 

*Makes 12-16 servings. 

ENJOY, Autumn

To read my blog visit www.autumnearthsong.com

To check out my herbal products visit www.etsy.com/shop/verbenalaneshoppe

Giveaway from Leave Them in Stitches

This giveaway consists of a dress in 9-12 mos. size
Diaper cover that can be adjusted slightly. Should fit 9-12 mos.
Also, includes an adorable little headband with flower.
All in the colors of the Morrighan.

Value: $50.00

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 Leave Them in Stitches Site .  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 for the Leave Them in Stitches 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 ;)

Two Question Tarot/Lenormand Reading (Value$45.00)

In this special reading I use two popular systems of divination the Tarot and the Lenormand. The lenormand cards are a set of 36 cards that contain basic symbols such as: house, key, boat, and fox to name a few. I will answer two of your questions using a mixture of Tarot + lenormand to get an in-depth look at the current situation surrounding your areas of concern.

This reading does not utilize a consistent spread but rather the best one I believe will answer your individualized questions at the time. I may use lots of cards or just a few. My most favorite spread is the nine card box spread which focuses on the central card as the issue and gives advice radiating out from the center.

This reading will be typed and contain a picture of your cards. I have also been known to use some oracle cards as well depending on the issue(s) at hand. If you are the winner please check your inbox as I will e-mail you asap to find out your specific two question of concern. I prefer for specific questions with this give away. Good luck!

Katie McBrien

www.katiemcbrien.com 




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 does 42 answer?

U.S. Citizens, and others- READ HERE:

1. Go to Katie's Site .  Sign up for the free week of magic e-book and let us know you did in the comments.

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. Follow Katie on Twitter. Let us know you did in the comments.

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 ;)