October 29, 2003
Awakened Woman's Circle is working for peace
Time of the
Crone, of the foremothers, all the women who have
gone before, the witches who died, and the witches
who live today... Hecate by Sandra
Stanton
The
Turning of the Wheel: Hallomas
Hecate is the queen of witches, the goddess of the crossroads, and she is the grandmother who located Persephone in the Underworld when Demeter was grieving.
O my sisters
Let us remember
The Burning Times
The centuries of persecution
Let us remember the rape and oppression of women
Nine million witches were burned.
Never again!-- Shekhinah Mountainwater, Ariadne's Thread
"Hallows, Hallowmas, Samhain or All Hallows Eve is the ending and beginning of the year cycle and the witches' New Year. This is the night to turn the Wheel to a new start by descending into death to be reborn. The veils between death and living are thinnest on this night, with possibility for connection with those passed over. It's a good night for scrying, divination, contacting spirit guides, and contacting dead foremothers, pets or loved ones. In entering the labyrinth of death on Hallows night, women also enter the womb of reincarnation and rebirth. The cauldron of Ceridwyn, the womb that separates death from life and connects them again, is the central symbol of this Sabbat.
"At Hallows, Persephone in the underworld is visited by Demeter who pleads for her return to earth. The mother leaves Hecate's death realm with Persephone in her womb, growing toward rebirth at Yule. Inanna has been in the underworld dead for three days at Hallows, when her faithful friend Ninshuber goes into action to release her. The descent into the labyrinth has reached its bottommost darkness and ascent is about to begin again. The meaning of endings in the wiccan craft is new beginnings. The Wheel of the Year is a circle, and circles have no end.
"The Sabbat is also a night to remember foremothers, both of women's family lines and of women's cultural ones. Foremothers are named and invited into the circle, and a remembrance of the World War II holocaust in Europe and the Burning Times of the 13th to 17th centuries is made. In the Burning Times in Europe, an estimated nine million witches* and healers were executed by fire and hanging, driving the Goddess religion deeply underground and decimating healing knowledge and women's culture. In Italy, hundreds of women walked into the sea to drown, rather than allow the Inquisition to jail and burn them. Many Women's Spirituality participants have past-life recalls of these times; many women alive today were incarnated then. The emphasis at Hallows is not on bitterness, but on love and compassion, and the understanding that what is gone is not lost, what ides is reborn. It's an understanding and affirmation of women's herstory and personal pasts, and a deep honoring of those gone before.
In Mexico, the Sabbat is dedicated to Tonantzin/Guadalupe as El Dia de las Muertes (Day of the Dead). Lasting a week, the series of ceremonies honors those who have died, including Las Angelitas, a day for remembering dead children. In Egypt, the Sabbat is the Isia, Isis search for Osiris and mourning for his death and loss. In Ireland, Hallows is the Day of the Banshees, spirits who wail when a death occurs, and in Scandinavia it is the Rites of Hella, asking the Goddess of the underworld to raise and release the dead. The Hopi third women's healing ceremony, OwaqIt ("Melons on the Vine") honors women as the receptacles for seeds of new life. The observance has sexual connotations.
"Decorate the Hallows altar with fruits and flowers of late fall, pumpkins, nuts, dried corn ears, a pomegranate, pinecones and apples . . . The candles for Hallows are black and white. "
Diane Stern, Casting the Circle, pages 135-6
"Since this is a feast of the dead, it is appropriate to honor the lives and works of dead women, as an antidote to patriarchal history that seldom notices them. Each participant should come prepared to speak about any woman now deceased, whose influence on her was significant. This could be a relative (dead mother, grandmother, aunt), a historical figure, or a favorite female author, artist, or composer. Each participant tells the story of her chosen woman, and if possible passes around a personal memento, quotes the woman's words, or in some way evokes her spirit. In a guided meditation, try to envision all the spirits of the dead women attending the circle of the living, each ghost standing behind the woman who told her story.
"In celebrating the feast of the dead with various funereal trappings, it should be remembered that such celebrations aimed at overcoming the fear of death by providing some familiarity with it; by looking, so to speak, upon the dread face of the death-dealing Crone. Ancient sages used to say that the Goddess remains unknown to one who does not understand her death aspect . . . The Crone still rules Halloween in her archetypal form of witch."
Barbara Walker, Women's rituals, 181