October 29: Throw-it-to-the-zombies Thursday

The apocalypse is nigh! Throw whatever you can to get away!

Our very last Thursday brings you all kinds of fun.. let's do this!

The winner of the giveaway is ......

 

Melissa "ChickynJane" Cassick!!

Today's Blogger: Tiffanie Dovich

Out of touch

Sometimes in our busy bee modern lives it becomes very easy to become disillusioned with things and be disconnected from the earth and even yourself.  This recently happened to me.  I have two children and my youngest was born with a condition called torticollis. It’s not life threatening or anything like that but it’s time consuming.  We have weekly therapy appointments for her. Daily stretches we have do to multiple times a day. Having a high need little one is very draining sometimes. You end up putting things on hold for yourself. Couple that with having other children and a house and business to take care of? Burnout happens really fast. You find yourself trying to find time to take a shower much less time to observe the Sabbaths or even to cast a circle.

Doing ” witchy” things gets shoved to the backburner, As well as doing anything just for yourself.   The household and kids needs become all consuming. What’s even sadder is that when this starts to happen you don’t even realize it.  I didn’t.  It took a good friend of mine asking me what I wanted for my birthday for me to realize that I didn’t even know! I had tons of things I wanted to get for the kids but I could not for the life of me remember or recall something that I saw and said I want that or I want to do that. Hellsfire I couldn’t even a name the last book I had read that was a chapter book! (for those that know me know just how out of character that is).

I wasn’t happy at all and it was crossing over into the way I handled personal relationships. I was grumpy and irritable and taking it out on everyone. I was so far from balanced I couldn’t even remember what that felt like. Which we all know is NOT COOL!............ So once I realized the problem I had no idea how to get my groove back. How do I go about reclaiming me? Who was I now anyways?   This idea of getting things settled stressed me out more than I was to begin with!

Then, at one of my witchlet’s therapy sessions, the therapist said something to me that really struck a cord with me. I was upset because my little was tilting more after a growth spurt  when we worked so hard for months to get rid of it and She said “ Any time you grow things change, and sometimes you might think the growing is bad. But really it’s not,  because babies have to grow and that them actually growing is something to be happy about.”

I mulled over that for a while.  I’ve come to the conclusion that change doesn’t happen overnight and little victories are still worth celebrating.  I’m not saying that everything is peachy keen and fully I’m okay with where I’m at in life but I am starting one little baby step at a time.  Yesterday I reset up my altar and enjoyed the light of the full moon.  I also sang silly songs with the girls and taught my 4 year old how to dance in the rain. I cuddled my other half just because I felt like it and took my dog for a walk under the stars.  The universe loves balance and I had forgotten that for a while.

The Siren's Song with Jennifer Rasmussen

We couldn't let the season go by without paying homage to Salem's official witch, Laurie Cabot, who is featured in this video!

Today's Recipe from Autumn Earthsong

In autumn, I just crave soups!  Chili, chicken noodle, creamy potato, vegetable, bean…so many good ones to choose from.  But my ultimate comfort food has got to be tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.  I know that many of you feel the same!  Now don’t get me wrong, tomato soup out of a can works for me too, but a really good homemade soup is so much better!  Try this recipe next time you crave the comfort….

Comforting Tomato Soup

1 Tbs olive oil
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 Tb butter
1 Tb lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper *I use more pepper than this!
2 Tbs minced fresh basil
Shredded parmesan cheese

Heat oil in a medium saucepan. Saute garlic.  Add tomatoes and all the other ingredients except parmesan cheese.  Simmer 15-20 mins.  Serve with parmesan cheese sprinkled over soup.
*Add toppers like sour cream, croutons, or goldfish crackers.

Be sure when you make a grilled cheese sandwich to have the skillet hot before you put the buttered bread down on it…it keeps your sandwich from getting soggy.  I like to use a good white bread and various cheeses like smoked gouda, Colby or baby swiss.  Try pumpernickel bread too..it’s sooo good!

Find comfort in foods that take you back to a peaceful time in your life.  Enjoy!

Blessings and Love,
Autumn

Autumn Earthsong is back for the 3rd year as our resident Kitchen Witch. You may have seen her recipes in Imramma Magazine and The Sunday Stew as well.  Autumn has been a practicing Witch for 17 years and hails from Ohio. She is a wife, mother of two, and Nana to three busy little grandchildren.  Samhain is a favorite time of year for her….with her name indicating what Season she loves!   Hearth, Fire, love of family and good food is how she brings Magick to her home.   You can also find her blogging at www.autumnearthsong.com.   She looks forward to sharing her recipes with you all and hopes that you have a very Blessed Samhain Season!

Stones and Crystals with Jennifer Hodgson

Periodot

Peridot is a protective aura stone and a powerful cleanser.

If you have old negative patterns that need to be released this is the crystal to use.

Peridot is also great if you are unsure of your spiritual purpose and is very helpful to healers.

This stone will help to get rid of jealousy, resentment and anger and will help with reducing stress.

Peridot can help you in many areas of your life. This crystal will help to sharpen your mind, boost your confidence, help you to admit mistakes and move on from them.

Peridot comes in the following colors:  Olive green, yellowish-green, honey, red, brownish.

Today's Giveaway from Sandi's Enchanted Garden

Sandi’s Enchanted Garden is giving away items to help you reach through that thinning veil and communicate with those you have lost. One lucky winner will receive a Spirit Communication Crystal Kit as well as 1 tin of Witch’s Power Magick Ointment (The tin with the Pentacle) made to help boost your power during medtation and spell work!

The Spirit Communication Crystal Kit (worth $10) is made with stones that open your spiritual connection to the other side. Use the power of this set to help you communicate with spirits, receive messages, enhance spiritual openness that facilitates the reception of psychic energy. This listing comes with 4 stones and information sheet about the stones.

Quartz: is very useful on the either the crown for clarity of psychic vision, and can be used to communicate with spirits and other worlds.
Selenite: is amazing for connecting to spirit and the other side. Opens the crown chakra and helps messages come through more clearly.
Amethyst: is a stone of pure emotional love. It is great for finding love and can be exchanged between lovers to strengthen their commitment.
Blue Kyanite: is an extraordinary crystal of connection, opening the mind centers, enhancing telepathic and psychic abilities, bridging gaps in all communication efforts, and providing a link for transmitting or receiving healing energy.

Witch’s Power Magickal Salve (worth $15) is made with Amber, Myrrh, and Sandalwood essential oils, amethyst & Kyanite crystal chips, and sprinkled with Sandalwood chips to help you connect with your power and boost it higher than ever before. This salve can be placed on your third eye and at the base of the back of your skull during meditation or energy work. You can also place a small dab on petition papers, mojo bags, poppets, spell envelopes, petition papers, etc. to boost the power of your spells.
Both items are carried in my shop Sandi’s Enchanted Garden on Etsy (link below). Please stop by the Facebook page and give a like! Happy Samhain and Good Luck!

Here's how to enter: (Canadians, skip this part and go to your section)

Like/Get Notifications on the Sandi's Enchanted Gardens Facebook page . Come back, comment on this blog post and tell us that you did. 

Remember to add your email address to the page (if you don't want to post it publicly, simply send it via the contact form at the top of the page).

Want extra entries??

1. Visit Sandi's Enchanted Garden etsy shop. Come back and tell us in the comments about your favorite item there.

2. Tweet about this giveaway. Comment with the link to your tweet.

3. Blog about this giveaway. Comment with the link to your blog post.

4. Follow Samhain's Sirens on Facebook. Comment, and let us know you did (if you're already following, just comment and say so!)

5. Follow this blog so you'll be in on all of the fabulous fun throughout October! Comment here that you did.

That gives you 6 chances to win this fabulous prize!

CANADIANS: LOOK HERE!

Canadians, your country requires that you answer questions instead of participating the American way ;) So, we're bringing you some good old-fashioned trivia about your country this year. Answer the question correctly in comments (don't forget to put your email address in the comment!) and you'll be given 6 entries in the giveaway!

Here's your question: 

Which province's entry into Confederation had to be moved up a day due to concerns that the original date, April 1, 1949, was April Fool's Day?

This giveaway is open until 9pm PDT tonight. Winner will be announced tomorrow  at 9am EDT. Remember, we have to notify the winner in email first, so those email addresses are critical for you to qualify for the giveaway!

Good luck everyone!