Samhain Ritual for Solo or Group

…I am so directionally challenged, it’s amazing I can cast a circle.

One-shot video. Usually never my best ideas, but it’s what happens when I try to do rituals for videos. And yes, this is my Sally dress. I thought it was appropriate for a ritual to honor the dead.

For this ritual, you will need a black chord/ribbon/string/yarn/etc, a white chord/ribbon/string/yarn/etc, and a red chord/ribbon/string/yarn/etc in a length comfortable for you and your timing for performing the ritual.

If you do not know how to cast a circle, or you are looking for a Sabbat-specific circle cast, the following is something you could do:

North: The North is a place of cold,
And the earth is silent and dark.
Spirits of the Earth, we welcome you,
Knowing you will envelope us in death.

East: The East is a land of new beginnings,
The place where breath begins.
Spirits of air, we call upon you,
Knowing you will be with us as we depart life.

South: The South is a land of sunlight and fire,
And your flames guide us through the cycles of life.
Spirits of fire, we welcome you,
Knowing you will transform us in death.

West: The West is a place of underground rivers,
And the sea is a never-ending, rolling tide.
Spirits of water, we welcome you,
Knowing you will carry us through the ebbs and flows of our life.

I linked the ritual in the first paragraph above. This isn’t my ritual; I chose this one first for a Halloween Party I was asked to “Shepherd” during and decided it was a very appropriate and simple ritual I could do indoors. There are many different rituals and invocations, prayers, etc, that you can do for Samhain. I, personally, shy away from rituals that would require me to have a “spotter” because that just means I have to get mean with entities and firmly enforce my boundaries. Sure, I can channel and communicate with the deceased, that doesn’t mean I want them popping into my body whenever they feel like it. The same goes for deities and such. My body, my rules. You can’t just shove my spirit to the side and take over, yo! This is something that has happened to me in the recent past and I was actually sick for two days from it. So, no thank you and good day.

Anyway! Samhain is also one of the best times for divination work. Whatever method of divination you prefer, cast your circle for added protection, drink your tea, and mediate into your headspace to begin your work. I don’t normally seek out divinations, personally, but this year–since I’m stuck at home–I may try some dousing or maybe even try my hand at scrying or Tarot. We’ll see. I may make a blog post about for my Patreons. If you enjoy these blogs and videos, please consider supporting me over there! There’s some Patron-only content that you may find interesting! Even just $1/mo helps me produce these videos and blog posts. Plus, you’ll get instant access to my Discord server and you can play with my Helios cat-bot who can do divinations and such for you!

But, for now, please have a blessed and safe, socially distant Samhain. We’ll be back next week with some more videos and start talking about Yuletide a bit later into November. Blessed be!

Portable Altar & How to Cast a Magic Circle

It’s been a busy week…

First of all, apologies that this video is late. It’s been a busy week! Another gig I have going on is for burlesque and I just found out that I’ll be debuting on November 12 (if you buy tickets, use the code LAVINIA for a $5 discount)! I’ve been frantically trying to find a space to rent to record my act and find a videographer!

But, anyway!

Portable altars are super awesome. I especially take them with me when I travel–you never know when you’ll need one! I purchased a set of tins from Amazon, then used acrylic paint on them. As you can see, the paint chips pretty easily, but, it’s fine for me. You can decorate these with anything you’d like. You can even just use an empty Altoids tin, if you’d like.

You’ll want to include some sort of representation of the directions/elements. I, personally, use a crystal for earth, sea shells for water, incense cones (but, I’m switching to feathers) for air, and a tea light for fire. I also keep a mini Bic lighter and a small bell in there. There are a bunch of things you can put into it, including a swatch of cloth for an altar cloth, if you’re so inclined.

When you set up your altar for casting your magic circle, don’t do what I did and flip North and South. North is where you place Earth, not fire. South is where you place Fire, not earth. East is Air; West is Water. In the grander scheme, I’m sure it doesn’t matter. The Guardians still came, but it does explain why they were snickering. Regardless, there are many ways to cast a Magic Circle, and many reasons. I cast one when I want to be protected from other entities because I am, among other things, a medium. Spirits talk to me frequently, sometimes even through me–and sometimes without consent because they don’t know any better! So, a Magic Circle offers me some protection against outside forces. The Circle can be as big or as small as you need it. When I deal with banishments, I tend to extend the circle to the entire house and grounds; simple spell work is usually just the room where it happens, and sometimes, not at all. I don’t tend to cast Circles for when I’m cooking. I just focus intent; Hestia’s personal altar is in my kitchen, so I don’t really have to do too much. She’s already there.

As we move toward the New Year (Samhain), I will start doing a few more videos for Sabbat-specific rituals, crafts, etc. If there is anything specific you’d like to see or have me write about, please feel free to leave a comment–here or on the video! Also consider checking out my Patreon and supporting me in my endeavors to entertain and educate!

…now, back to rehearsing for a karaoke sing-through of Hamilton tonight, and for my burlesque act!