I'm trying to plan the best Samhain possible this year, because next Samhain I should be in Afganistan for a year or more. I go to MEPS for processing this Monday and I'm going to volunteer for deployment. So what I'm looking for so this can be the best Samhain ever:
-Recipes.
-Decorating tips and ideas.
-Spells meant for Samhain.
-Fun games and traditions.
-And anything else you'd like to throw in. C:
Blessed Be!
The Best Samhain Ever
Your in luck!!! I love Samhain, its my favourite holiday. (I'm 21 and I still trick-or-treat 
)
I'll post each of your questions separtely.
Recipes:
Apple Pumpkin Soup
(I like to hollow out small pumpkins for soup bowls)
Ingredients
2 cups finely chopped peeled tart apples
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
4 cups chicken broth
3 cups canned pumpkin
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon each ground cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger
1 cup unsweetened apple juice
1/2 cup half-and-half cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Directions
In a large saucepan, saute apples and onion in butter for 3-5 minutes or until tender. Stir in flour until blended. Gradually whisk in broth. Stir in the pumpkin, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 25 minutes. Cool slightly.
In a blender, cover and process soup in batches until smooth. Pour into a bowl; cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
Just before serving, transfer soup to a large saucepan. Cook over medium heat for 5-10 minutes. Stir in the apple juice, cream, salt and pepper; heat through. Yield: 12 servings (about 2 quarts).
Autumn Butter
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 cup butter, softened
Mix all ingredients until well blended. Spread onto your favorite muffins, quick bread, sweet crackers, or drop a dollop onto morning pancakes
Golden Herb Rolls
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
1/4 cup water
4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 package quick-rising yeast
2 teaspoons dried savory leaves, crushed
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves, crushed
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed, crushed
1 cup canned pumpkin
4 eggs, divided
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 20 to 24 muffin cups. Combine milk, butter and water in small saucepan; heat until butter is melted. If necessary, cool to 120º F. to 130º F. Combine 3 cups flour, sugar, yeast, savory, salt, thyme and dill in large mixer bowl. Add milk mixture and pumpkin; beat for 2 minutes. Stir in 3 eggs and remaining flour. Cover; let rise in warm, draft-free place for 10 minutes or until doubled. Spoon into prepared muffin cups, filling 1/2 to 3/4 full. Cover; let rise in warm, draft-free place for 30 to 40 minutes or until doubled. Beat remaining egg and brush on top of rolls; sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until rolls are golden and sound hollow when tapped. Remove from pans; serve warm or cool on wire rack.
Remembrance Cookies
These cookies can be made on Hallow's Eve. They can be shaped like people and the herb rosemary is added to the dough as a symbol of remembrance. Some of the cookies are eaten while telling stories or attributes of special ancestors, reminding us that we still have access to their strengths--or perhaps a predisposition to their weaknesses. The rest of the cookies are left outside by a bonfire as an offering. This can be a solemn ritual, but it need not be.
Ingredients for the cookies:
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 c. butter or margarine (softened)
1 egg
2 t. vanilla
1 t. almond extract
2 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. cream of tartar
1 1/2 T. chopped rosemary
Heat oven 375 degrees. In a large bowl, beat sugar, butter, egg, vanilla, almond extract, and rosemary until creamy. In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Fold flour mixture into sugar mixture. Beat until dough forms and refrigerate for three hours. Divide dough into halves. Roll out one portion to 3/16 of an inch on a floured surface. Cut out with gingerbread women or men cutters and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat rolling and cutting with second portion. Bake for 5-7 minutes.
Howling Jack: Honey Pumpkin Mead
by Aurora
This mead is the color of a ripe peach and smells like autumn leaves - perfect for a Harvest party or sabbath.
1 sound, hard-rind pumpkin (approx. 2 quart capacity)
Paraffin wax
1 1/2 quarts of water
4 lbs. honey
2 each oranges and lemons
1 pkt. wine yeast
1 tea bag (black tea)
Prepare yeast starter.
Sterilize honey and water by boiling for 10 minutes, skimming the froth as it rises.
Remove from heat; stir in sliced citrus fruits, including skins.
Cool to room temperature; pitch yeast.
Allow to sit over night.
Prepare pumpkin by cutting off the top with a sharp knife. The top must "mate" with the bottom so cut carefully. Clean out the seeds, strings, and membranes of the pumpkin. Rinse out with water.
Pour the must into the pumpking, leaving an inch of air space between the liquid and the rim of the opening. Replace the top.
Prepare the paraffin/water bath: Fill a plastic bucket with hot water, melt the paraffin wax and float it on the water.
Dip the pumpkin, bottom first, into the warm paraffin until it is coated up to its lid. Once the paraffin begins to harden on the pumpkin skin, seal the lid by carefully pouring paraffin over the top, making sure to coat the seam.
Set the pumpkin in the middle of a shallow dishpaaan full of water to keep and thirsty pickle worms at bay and place it in a dark, quiet spot.
Allow to sit for two months, then siphon off and bottle.
Note: It is probably a good idea to rack the mead into a glass fermenter, fitted with an air lock, for evaluation prior to bottling. If the fermentation is not complete and you bottle prematurely, the corks and glass may blow.
)I'll post each of your questions separtely.
Recipes:
Apple Pumpkin Soup
(I like to hollow out small pumpkins for soup bowls
)Ingredients
2 cups finely chopped peeled tart apples
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
4 cups chicken broth
3 cups canned pumpkin
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon each ground cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger
1 cup unsweetened apple juice
1/2 cup half-and-half cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Directions
In a large saucepan, saute apples and onion in butter for 3-5 minutes or until tender. Stir in flour until blended. Gradually whisk in broth. Stir in the pumpkin, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 25 minutes. Cool slightly.
In a blender, cover and process soup in batches until smooth. Pour into a bowl; cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
Just before serving, transfer soup to a large saucepan. Cook over medium heat for 5-10 minutes. Stir in the apple juice, cream, salt and pepper; heat through. Yield: 12 servings (about 2 quarts).
Autumn Butter
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 cup butter, softened
Mix all ingredients until well blended. Spread onto your favorite muffins, quick bread, sweet crackers, or drop a dollop onto morning pancakes
Golden Herb Rolls
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
1/4 cup water
4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 package quick-rising yeast
2 teaspoons dried savory leaves, crushed
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves, crushed
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed, crushed
1 cup canned pumpkin
4 eggs, divided
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 20 to 24 muffin cups. Combine milk, butter and water in small saucepan; heat until butter is melted. If necessary, cool to 120º F. to 130º F. Combine 3 cups flour, sugar, yeast, savory, salt, thyme and dill in large mixer bowl. Add milk mixture and pumpkin; beat for 2 minutes. Stir in 3 eggs and remaining flour. Cover; let rise in warm, draft-free place for 10 minutes or until doubled. Spoon into prepared muffin cups, filling 1/2 to 3/4 full. Cover; let rise in warm, draft-free place for 30 to 40 minutes or until doubled. Beat remaining egg and brush on top of rolls; sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until rolls are golden and sound hollow when tapped. Remove from pans; serve warm or cool on wire rack.
Remembrance Cookies
These cookies can be made on Hallow's Eve. They can be shaped like people and the herb rosemary is added to the dough as a symbol of remembrance. Some of the cookies are eaten while telling stories or attributes of special ancestors, reminding us that we still have access to their strengths--or perhaps a predisposition to their weaknesses. The rest of the cookies are left outside by a bonfire as an offering. This can be a solemn ritual, but it need not be.
Ingredients for the cookies:
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 c. butter or margarine (softened)
1 egg
2 t. vanilla
1 t. almond extract
2 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. cream of tartar
1 1/2 T. chopped rosemary
Heat oven 375 degrees. In a large bowl, beat sugar, butter, egg, vanilla, almond extract, and rosemary until creamy. In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Fold flour mixture into sugar mixture. Beat until dough forms and refrigerate for three hours. Divide dough into halves. Roll out one portion to 3/16 of an inch on a floured surface. Cut out with gingerbread women or men cutters and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat rolling and cutting with second portion. Bake for 5-7 minutes.
Howling Jack: Honey Pumpkin Mead
by Aurora
This mead is the color of a ripe peach and smells like autumn leaves - perfect for a Harvest party or sabbath.
1 sound, hard-rind pumpkin (approx. 2 quart capacity)
Paraffin wax
1 1/2 quarts of water
4 lbs. honey
2 each oranges and lemons
1 pkt. wine yeast
1 tea bag (black tea)
Prepare yeast starter.
Sterilize honey and water by boiling for 10 minutes, skimming the froth as it rises.
Remove from heat; stir in sliced citrus fruits, including skins.
Cool to room temperature; pitch yeast.
Allow to sit over night.
Prepare pumpkin by cutting off the top with a sharp knife. The top must "mate" with the bottom so cut carefully. Clean out the seeds, strings, and membranes of the pumpkin. Rinse out with water.
Pour the must into the pumpking, leaving an inch of air space between the liquid and the rim of the opening. Replace the top.
Prepare the paraffin/water bath: Fill a plastic bucket with hot water, melt the paraffin wax and float it on the water.
Dip the pumpkin, bottom first, into the warm paraffin until it is coated up to its lid. Once the paraffin begins to harden on the pumpkin skin, seal the lid by carefully pouring paraffin over the top, making sure to coat the seam.
Set the pumpkin in the middle of a shallow dishpaaan full of water to keep and thirsty pickle worms at bay and place it in a dark, quiet spot.
Allow to sit for two months, then siphon off and bottle.
Note: It is probably a good idea to rack the mead into a glass fermenter, fitted with an air lock, for evaluation prior to bottling. If the fermentation is not complete and you bottle prematurely, the corks and glass may blow.
Decorations:
Foods from the harvest, photographs of your loved ones who have departed this world, a statue or figurine of the Goddess in her Crone aspect, pumpkins & Jack-o'-lanterns, balefires, besom, masks, cauldron &, the Waning Moon.
Fun traditions:
Make resolutions, write them on a small piece of parchment, and burn in a candle flame, preferably a black votive candle within a cauldron on the altar.
Wear costumes that reflect what you hope or wish for in the upcoming year.
Carve a jack-o-lantern and place a candle in it.
Symbolically extinguish the "hearthfire" of your home and then re-light it from the Samhain Sabbat Fire or cauldron.
During ritual invite departed friends and family into the circle and tell them of all that had happened in your life since their departure. You may wish to set a place for them at your dinner table and use this time to contact them. This is a good time to talk to them of any unresolved issues that you may have had with them and to let them go.
Drink apple cider spiced with cinnamon to honour the dead.
Bury an apple or pomegranate in the garden for spirits passing by on their way to being reborn.
Leave food outside as an offering to the dead.
Do divination for the next year using whatever form of divination appeals to you.
Make a besom, or witches broom.
Go for a walk in a local woods and find a magick wand of oak, holly, ash, rowan, birch, hazel, elm, hawthorn or willow.
Let this be the traditional time that you make candles for the coming year, infusing them with colour, power, herbs, and scent depending on the magickal purpose.
Look at old family photo albums or scrapbooks. Try to tell stories about each person in the pictures Honour the dead, remember those you loved who have passed on-perhaps by putting their pictures or something they gave you on your altar during your ritual.
Carve faces in to apples and pumpkin
Have a dumb supper (this is where you place a plate of food for a deceased loved one and invite them to join you, toast them, and speak of all the good things that they have done)
Samhain spells:
The Apple and the Mirror: Before the stroke of midnight, sit in front of a mirror in a room lit only by one candle or the moon. Go into the silence, and ask a question. Cut the apple into nine pieces. With your back to the mirror, eat eight of the pieces, then throw the ninth over your left shoulder. Turn your head to look over the same shoulder, and you will see and in image or symbol in the mirror that will tell you your answer.
(When you look in the mirror, let your focus go "soft," and allow the patterns made by the moon or candlelight and shadows to suggest forms, symbols and other dreamlike images that speak to your intuition.)
Prayer:
On this night of Samhain I mark your passing,
O Sun King, through the sunset into the Land of the Young.
I mark also the passing of all who have gone before, and all who will go after.
O Gracious Goddess, Eternal Mother, You who gives birth to the fallen,
teach me to know that in the time of the greatest darkness there is
the greatest light.
(this is from the eutm main site)
Sending a Message to a Departed Love
Spell to Contact the Dead
1. ink made of soot and pink wine
2. two black candles
3. place paper between the two black candles
Write at the top of the letter:
"Thou who are mourned, see now the nature of this mourning: As thou knowest now my sorrow, so on this paper I affirm it. I write thee my heart here, for thy sight and that we may be bound by such silent words even better than when our words were spoken. Receive this letter, a sign of my commitment not to forget thee nor to cease mourning for thee until my own life shall be ended"
4. Now write your feelings, emotions, devotion, memories, love, etc.
5. Fold the paper three times
6. Seal with herbs
7. Burn in a fire.
Foods from the harvest, photographs of your loved ones who have departed this world, a statue or figurine of the Goddess in her Crone aspect, pumpkins & Jack-o'-lanterns, balefires, besom, masks, cauldron &, the Waning Moon.
Fun traditions:
Make resolutions, write them on a small piece of parchment, and burn in a candle flame, preferably a black votive candle within a cauldron on the altar.
Wear costumes that reflect what you hope or wish for in the upcoming year.
Carve a jack-o-lantern and place a candle in it.
Symbolically extinguish the "hearthfire" of your home and then re-light it from the Samhain Sabbat Fire or cauldron.
During ritual invite departed friends and family into the circle and tell them of all that had happened in your life since their departure. You may wish to set a place for them at your dinner table and use this time to contact them. This is a good time to talk to them of any unresolved issues that you may have had with them and to let them go.
Drink apple cider spiced with cinnamon to honour the dead.
Bury an apple or pomegranate in the garden for spirits passing by on their way to being reborn.
Leave food outside as an offering to the dead.
Do divination for the next year using whatever form of divination appeals to you.
Make a besom, or witches broom.
Go for a walk in a local woods and find a magick wand of oak, holly, ash, rowan, birch, hazel, elm, hawthorn or willow.
Let this be the traditional time that you make candles for the coming year, infusing them with colour, power, herbs, and scent depending on the magickal purpose.
Look at old family photo albums or scrapbooks. Try to tell stories about each person in the pictures Honour the dead, remember those you loved who have passed on-perhaps by putting their pictures or something they gave you on your altar during your ritual.
Carve faces in to apples and pumpkin
Have a dumb supper (this is where you place a plate of food for a deceased loved one and invite them to join you, toast them, and speak of all the good things that they have done)
Samhain spells:
The Apple and the Mirror: Before the stroke of midnight, sit in front of a mirror in a room lit only by one candle or the moon. Go into the silence, and ask a question. Cut the apple into nine pieces. With your back to the mirror, eat eight of the pieces, then throw the ninth over your left shoulder. Turn your head to look over the same shoulder, and you will see and in image or symbol in the mirror that will tell you your answer.
(When you look in the mirror, let your focus go "soft," and allow the patterns made by the moon or candlelight and shadows to suggest forms, symbols and other dreamlike images that speak to your intuition.)
Prayer:
On this night of Samhain I mark your passing,
O Sun King, through the sunset into the Land of the Young.
I mark also the passing of all who have gone before, and all who will go after.
O Gracious Goddess, Eternal Mother, You who gives birth to the fallen,
teach me to know that in the time of the greatest darkness there is
the greatest light.
(this is from the eutm main site)
Sending a Message to a Departed Love
Spell to Contact the Dead
1. ink made of soot and pink wine
2. two black candles
3. place paper between the two black candles
Write at the top of the letter:
"Thou who are mourned, see now the nature of this mourning: As thou knowest now my sorrow, so on this paper I affirm it. I write thee my heart here, for thy sight and that we may be bound by such silent words even better than when our words were spoken. Receive this letter, a sign of my commitment not to forget thee nor to cease mourning for thee until my own life shall be ended"
4. Now write your feelings, emotions, devotion, memories, love, etc.
5. Fold the paper three times
6. Seal with herbs
7. Burn in a fire.
Crone Spell
To produce psychic dreams
As a part of your Samhain celebrations, in a properly cast circle, prepare as follows:
1. Blend the mugwort, elder leaves, and cypress oil in the mortar and pestle.
2. Light the charcoal, then the black candle, saying:
Hecate, goddess of the crossroads,
direct me.
Weaver, guide my thread into
the spaces between.
3. Sprinkle the incense onto the charcoal, and inhale the scent.
4. Close your eyes. Visualise yourself walking from the east to a crossroads at sunset and stopping to face north. From this direction, a dark figure approaches. This is the crone. When she stops, she will beckon you to follow her. She will lead you to a gateway; do not pass through this time, but note what it looks like and any symbols that are written on it. This is the gateway through which you must pass before you can walk between worlds- and you will need to look out for it, or its symbols, in lucid dreams during this winter.
5. Keep careful note of your dreams between Samhain and Imbolc.
Gateway Spell
To communicate with the deceased
you will need:
two blue candles
one white candle
one charcoal disk in a fireproof dish
matches or a lighter
two teaspoons dried Solomons Seal
1. Place the blue candles at the western quarter of the circle and place the white candle at your left.
2. Light the charcoal, then the blue candles, and face the 'gateway', saying:
Ancestors of Blood, ancestors of spirit,
you are honored here,
I call my beloved dead to this gateway
Only those who wish me well may enter
3. Name friends or relatives who have died in the last year:
I remember (name) who...
I want to say this to you...
4. For each person, place a pebble near the white candle, Next, remember those who have passed before this year, and then groups of people who you wish to commemorate.
5. When you have finished, and the pebbles are heaped around the white candle, light it, saying:
All are mourned, remembered and honored
6. Say farewell, and close the gateway before the circle is closed, and all your rites have been cast. Return the pebbles to the sea or whatever natural water source is closest to you.
To produce psychic dreams
As a part of your Samhain celebrations, in a properly cast circle, prepare as follows:
1. Blend the mugwort, elder leaves, and cypress oil in the mortar and pestle.
2. Light the charcoal, then the black candle, saying:
Hecate, goddess of the crossroads,
direct me.
Weaver, guide my thread into
the spaces between.
3. Sprinkle the incense onto the charcoal, and inhale the scent.
4. Close your eyes. Visualise yourself walking from the east to a crossroads at sunset and stopping to face north. From this direction, a dark figure approaches. This is the crone. When she stops, she will beckon you to follow her. She will lead you to a gateway; do not pass through this time, but note what it looks like and any symbols that are written on it. This is the gateway through which you must pass before you can walk between worlds- and you will need to look out for it, or its symbols, in lucid dreams during this winter.
5. Keep careful note of your dreams between Samhain and Imbolc.
Gateway Spell
To communicate with the deceased
you will need:
two blue candles
one white candle
one charcoal disk in a fireproof dish
matches or a lighter
two teaspoons dried Solomons Seal
1. Place the blue candles at the western quarter of the circle and place the white candle at your left.
2. Light the charcoal, then the blue candles, and face the 'gateway', saying:
Ancestors of Blood, ancestors of spirit,
you are honored here,
I call my beloved dead to this gateway
Only those who wish me well may enter
3. Name friends or relatives who have died in the last year:
I remember (name) who...
I want to say this to you...
4. For each person, place a pebble near the white candle, Next, remember those who have passed before this year, and then groups of people who you wish to commemorate.
5. When you have finished, and the pebbles are heaped around the white candle, light it, saying:
All are mourned, remembered and honored
6. Say farewell, and close the gateway before the circle is closed, and all your rites have been cast. Return the pebbles to the sea or whatever natural water source is closest to you.
And finally, the incense and oil blends:
Samhain Incense Powder:
1 part each of the following herbs: (one part=2 tbsp)
Nettles, Bayleaf, Calendula, Sage, Tarragon, Oak Leaf
4 drops Frankincense and 4 drops Myrrh oil
Grind the powders in your mortar until fine, then add oils
Use a thurible or stone burner with 1 inch of sand
Use a self-burning charcoal tablet, and sprinkle powder in small amounts to burn as smudging incense. Do not use briquettes in confined spaces, as these burn toxic.
Oil Preparation:
The following oil is a special preparation for use during scrying, tarot reading, any divination, soul-retrieval, and astral travel. This magic oil is a wonderful psychic enhancement, and will increase prophetic dreams. It enhances your creative powers, and is a very strong protective formula to use during rituals. You would use this to anoint yourself after ritual bathing, and it can also be used to anoint candles for Samhain. This is a subtle scent, but very powerful, it is used sparingly. Save any remainder for your next full moon ritual and tool blessing.
Create during the new moon on a Monday and also on Samhain (new Moon for 2005), when the veil between the worlds of the physical and spiritual is most thin.
Sixth Sense Magical Oil: (use 2 oz base almond oil)
1 teaspoon each of powder, or 2 drops each of essential oil (add oils last):
Lemongrass, mugwort, eye-bright, rue, mistletoe, jasmine flowers, mullien, wormwood, yarrow, bay, mace, star-anise, mistletoe, Solomon's seal, cinque-foil
Put powders in cheesecloth tied with a black string. Steep in the base oil for 3-5 day, left on an east window in sunlight. Squeeze to strain oil from cheesecloth, add other essential oils now. Shake he container and let it sit overnight outside. The preparation is ready for use.
Samhain Incense Powder:
1 part each of the following herbs: (one part=2 tbsp)
Nettles, Bayleaf, Calendula, Sage, Tarragon, Oak Leaf
4 drops Frankincense and 4 drops Myrrh oil
Grind the powders in your mortar until fine, then add oils
Use a thurible or stone burner with 1 inch of sand
Use a self-burning charcoal tablet, and sprinkle powder in small amounts to burn as smudging incense. Do not use briquettes in confined spaces, as these burn toxic.
Oil Preparation:
The following oil is a special preparation for use during scrying, tarot reading, any divination, soul-retrieval, and astral travel. This magic oil is a wonderful psychic enhancement, and will increase prophetic dreams. It enhances your creative powers, and is a very strong protective formula to use during rituals. You would use this to anoint yourself after ritual bathing, and it can also be used to anoint candles for Samhain. This is a subtle scent, but very powerful, it is used sparingly. Save any remainder for your next full moon ritual and tool blessing.
Create during the new moon on a Monday and also on Samhain (new Moon for 2005), when the veil between the worlds of the physical and spiritual is most thin.
Sixth Sense Magical Oil: (use 2 oz base almond oil)
1 teaspoon each of powder, or 2 drops each of essential oil (add oils last):
Lemongrass, mugwort, eye-bright, rue, mistletoe, jasmine flowers, mullien, wormwood, yarrow, bay, mace, star-anise, mistletoe, Solomon's seal, cinque-foil
Put powders in cheesecloth tied with a black string. Steep in the base oil for 3-5 day, left on an east window in sunlight. Squeeze to strain oil from cheesecloth, add other essential oils now. Shake he container and let it sit overnight outside. The preparation is ready for use.