Samhain Totems: Crane

In our tradition we divide the year not only by eight solar and agricultural holidays, but also by the Kalends. We celebrate twelve months of the year by the common calendar, plus a special thirteenth month for Samhain.  These month cycles are associated with different totemic spirits. Each month is assigned an animal, a bird (or other flying creature), and a tree. Samhain's totems are Toad, Elder, and Crane

The totemic associations are as follows:

Toad – (Buaf) transformation, inner visions, death and rebirth, hidden power and beauty
Elder (Ruis) – death and rebirth, change and transition
Crane – (Corr) longevity, remembrance, past lives, secret knowledge, patience

Crane

The Crane is an ancient and powerful symbol to many cultures. To the Chinese, it is a solar symbol, one of justice. It is also a modern symbol of wildlife conservation (and a deeper spiritual practice, too, of recovering what is becoming extinct within the self). The Crane represents longevity and creation through focus. In Celtic lore, Cranes are often associated with the Underworld and are thought to be heralds of war and death.

Cranes are protective/secretive parents. They lay two eggs, but raise only one, which gives them the connection to focus and undivided attention. They are also associated with perseverance due to the fact that they will stand for hours looking into the water and waiting for the right time to strike at fish. The Crane can help us to concentrate without distractions. They also represent longevity of life span. There is a crane, for instance, on the island Inis Kea who has been there since the beginning of the world, and it will stay there until the world’s end.

The Crane symbolizes “secret knowledge” which is represented by the Ogham script of the Celts.  This form of text is said to be based on the shapes of the Crane’s legs as they fly, and one can say that learning the secret knowledge of the Crane is learning to read the “book of nature.” The phrase “Crane Knowledge” indicates the knowledge of the Ogham alphabet, but it also implies an understanding of the world that goes deeper and has connections to many Realms – including past-life knowledge, predicting rain storms, etc.

The Crane bag is the Druid’s medicine bag (in which he carried his Koelbren lots – or carved Ogham staves). The Crane Bag is a symbol of the fetal sac or womb and has connections to the things we carry from one life to another. Certain Gods are said to have carried a Crane Bag. Manannan’s contained his own shirt, a strip from a whale’s back, the King of Scotland’s shears, the King of Lochlain’s helmet, the bones of Assail’s swine and Goibne’s smith-hook.

The Crane is often a guide to the Underworld, whether at the time of death or during an inner journey. These birds are often shown in groups of threes. For instance, three cranes protect entrance to Annwn, three cranes appear on a bull’s back in several drawings, and three cranes guard Midhir’s castle. Furthermore, cranes are said to dance and fly in circles (and are, therefore, said to be the basis of the triskele symbol).

Meditation: Visiting the Red God, Qayin, at Samhain

 Our tradition uses guided meditation to help impress certain symbols on our members' consciousness. Below is our Samhain meditation. It takes place at the Western Gate of the compass, the place of water and sunset.  It is the home of the Witch Father, whom we know as Tubal Qayin, Lucifer, Azazel, Melek Taus. To use this meditation let yourself relax comfortably and picture yourself drifting downward and inward to the third realm, the lower realm. The third realm is a place of darkness and mystery.  Let yourself sink down into the third realm and rest there peacefully.

Visiting the Red God, Qayin, at Samhain

 

You open your eyes to see that you sitting in a large, freshly harvested field. The damp earth is stubbled with the stalks of the grains that have been hewn down, the farmer’s scythe resting on a nearby fence. Looking to the West, you see the Sun sinking toward a large pond.

You rise and start walking toward the pond, squelching through the muddy field. The trees that border both the field and pond have nearly dropped all of their leaves, but a few brightly colored ones still cling to the barren branches.

A movement from above startles your attention skyward, and you see a crane in flight. He is joined by two others, and they make great swooping circles in the sky – forming a triskele, spirals, and great arcs. One breaks formation and dives toward the pond, and you follow him to the water’s edge. As you approach the bank, you see him standing on the edge of the water. You are surprised by his height and the uncanny way in which he stands. He regards you as you come close, still giving him a wide berth.

The crane turns his head upon his long neck, and you follow his gaze. There is a rowboat in the pond very near to where you are standing. You climb in head for the opposite shore. The sun is now very low in the sky, and you hear frog-song and the croak of many toads about you in the marshy reaches of the water. When you reach the western shore of the pond, you see a large, fat toad hopping just in front of you before disappearing into dark grey stones of a cemetery ahead.

You enter the graveyard, aware of the damp wind and the solitary Elder tree standing sentinel on the border of the plot. You read the names on a few of the mossy stones until your attention is drawn to a cairn some distance ahead. You can see that a three-legged dolmen forms the entry way, and you walk toward it, unable to see past the darkness of the doorway. This is the Western Gate, and you know that beyond it lies the Realm of the Dead. This gateway has strange markings and symbols carved into the stones. Some are unfamiliar to you, but other have deep meaning in your mind. (Pause.) You see a toad carved into one of the rocks along with the Elder tree rune, a crane, and a triskele.

Your eyes adjust to the gloom of the cairn as you pass beyond the arch, and you can see stone stair spiraling down in a left-hand circle. You follow them carefully and discover a torch set into a bracket a few feet ahead. Holding it ahead of you, you circle down and down and down into the deep belly of the graveyard until you reach a cavern that opens into a great room of stone and earth. You recognize this place as a forge, though there is no clinking of metal upon metal. The great bellows are still and no forge-fire brightens the room. The tools are neatly stored away, and you are met with silence. All is dark and quiet, and only the light of your torch reveals the large hooded and cloaked figure sitting on bench near a brimming barrel of water. A few doors and earthen pathways open into this room, and you realize that there is more than way to access this place.

The large figure holds out his hand to you, beckoning you forward. Standing before him, you can see that his face is painted as white as Death, and the outstretched hand is decorated with white bones upon his coal-black skin. A helm rests at his feet very near the quench tank.

His eyes glint from beneath his hood, and he holds you in a piercing stare.

He speaks to you. “This is a place of transformation, of alchemy, holds great power and Mystery even when it is dark and cool and quiet. The spark of life is wedded to the watery womb that is also the tomb of the world.”

He scoops water from the barrel with the helmet and places it within your hands. The helm is cold and hard, and the water within looks black and deep. Holding his hands over yours, he looks into your eyes and speaks a message only for you. (Long pause.)

You thank him, and after a moment more of looking at you, he resumes his takes the helmet from you and draws his hood lower over his face. Knowing that the time has come to leave, you turn and walk back up the stairs that brought you here, curving on a right-hand path now toward the darkening night.

You pass out of the cairn and cross the graveyard and pond where the crane and Elder tree each stand guard. The frogs and toads croak in the pond as you return to the harvested field. Sitting down again in the damp and stubbly field, you close your eyes and breathe deeply, coming back to yourself.

The Season of the Witch

From the Autumn Equinox until just after the Wild Hunt rides out around Samhain is the Season of the Witch.  People all over the United States seem to know that this is true without being told so.  The stores decorate for Halloween, reporters develop stories about local Witches, and Witches themselves feel a certain thrill in the chilly autumnal breeze that stirs something wild and magical within them.

We honor this season by flying out as much as possible during this time, in preparation for the Wild Hunt.  We also begin our Samhain season preparations, which include: changing over to black robes from white, ancestor contact, a dumb feast, pumpkin guardians, deep divination, and, of course, flying to the Sabbat.

Our friend and mentor Pythia Blackthorn, of the Classic Witchcraft Blog, has a wonderful excerpt from Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes that sums up the Season of the Witch beautifully:  The Autumn People:

“Beware the autumn people. … For some, autumn comes early, stays late, through life where October follows September and November touches October and then instead of December and Christ’s birth, there is no Bethlehem Star, no rejoicing, but September comes again and old October and so on down the years, with no winter, spring or revivifying summer. For these beings, fall is the only normal season, the only weather, there be no choice beyond. Where do they come from? The dust. Where do they go? The grave. Does blood stir their veins? No, the night wind. What ticks in their head? The worm. What speaks through their mouth? The toad. What sees from their eye? The snake. What hears with their ear? The abyss between the stars. They sift the human storm for souls, eat flesh of reason, fill tombs with sinners. They frenzy forth. In gusts they beetle-scurry, creep, thread, filter, motion, make all moons sullen, and surely cloud all clear-run waters. The spider-web hears them, trembles—breaks. Such are the autumn people. Beware of them.”

- Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes

Our totems for this time of year reflect the themes of this dark tide. The Autumn Equinox is the time we honor the early face of the Black Goddess: The Grail Queen.  We see her as the Silver Queen of Castle Perilous, whose treasure is the Holy Grail, the Cauldron of Cerridwen to which we must all return.  It is also the bloody Cup of Babalon, who collects blood offerings of sacrifice and transmutes them into magic.  Her totems are the swine, the chicken, and the grapevine, all of which offer forth their flesh and blood to feed and nourish us.  Early October's totems are those of deep wisdom: the salmon, the hazelnut, and lapwing.  These symbols of sacrifice and wisdom prepare us for our journey into the underworld to seek the heart of all magic at Samhain.  Samhain's totems are the toad, the crane, and the elder tree.  It is the time when we honor Tubal Cain in his dark aspect as the Lord of the Dead, keeper of the Quench Tank, the Deathhelm, and the West Gate.

Witches all, we hope to see you at the Sabbat, be it atop the Brocken, under the Walnut of Benevento, at the hill-top cromlech, or around the well-worn Mill Grounds.  Celebrate the coming of the Season of the Witch!

Samhain Totems: Toad

In our tradition we divide the year not only by eight solar and agricultural holidays, but also by the Kalends. We celebrate twelve months of the year by the common calendar, plus a special thirteenth month for Samhain.  These month cycles are associated with different totemic spirits. Each month is assigned an animal, a bird (or other flying creature), and a tree. Samhain's totems are Toad, Elder, and Crane.

The totemic associations are as follows:

Toad – (Buaf) transformation, inner visions, death and rebirth, hidden power and beauty
Elder (Ruis) – death and rebirth, change and transition
Crane – (Corr) longevity, remembrance, past lives, secret knowledge, patience

Toad

A witch feeds her toad (and rat) familiars.

The toad is a powerful symbol of transformation, as it grows from tadpole to toad.  It has associations with fertility, magic, fairies, and Witchcraft.

The toad represented the uterus in ancient Greece, Rome, and Scandinavia. Because of this symbolism, the toad came to be the symbol for a midwife, thus leading to associations with Witchcraft.

In Basque country toads were said to be favored familiars, with witches going so far as to “baptize” their toads in cemeteries, and adorn them with velvet ribbons and bells.

Toads secrete a thick white poison through their skin.  This “toad's milk” or bufotenine is sometimes hallucinogenic, and is said to be an ingredient in some ancient flying ointments.

In Shropshire it was said that the spirit of a well would manifest as three toads, the largest of which was to always be addressed as the “Dark Lord” – a manifestation of the God of the Witches.

Witches' marks are sometimes referred to as a “toad's foot”, and a birthmark shaped like a toad is a sure sign of witch power.

Toadstools are so named due to the toad's associations with fairyland, and with their hallucinogenic properties.

Doreen Valiente was a fan of the natterjack toad, and recommended them as pets and excellent familars.  The natterjack toad has associations with the “yellow ringed” toad which produced the legendary Toad Bone amulet.

The Toad Bone amulet was said to confer many strange magical powers on those that carried it.  It is related to the toadstone, a stone said to rest in the head of a toad.  The toadstone could grant invisibility to its bearer.

Round about the cauldron go;

In the poison'd entrails throw.

Toad that under cold stone

Days and nights has thirty-one

Swelt'red venom sleeping got

Be thou first i' th' charmed pot.

 -Macbeth, Act 4, Scene I 

Links for more information:

http://www.shanmonster.com/witch/familiar/toad.html

http://www.shadowdrake.com/toad.html

 

Samhain

Samhain is the point in the Wheel that is directly opposite to Beltane, and the intents behind the holiday and the season are, subsequently, directly opposite to those of the fertility and mirth of Beltane. However, they are connected along the road that leads through the center of the compass, and they are both presided over by Tubal Cain, denoting their inherent connection and potency. In the case of Samhain, Tubal Cain guards the Western Gate of the compass, the gate that leads to the western sea and the immortal lands -- the Lands of the Dead. This is his quench tank, an alchemical mate to the forge fire of Beltane's East Gate.


Samhain is one of the portal times during the year, and it is one that many Pagans credit as the strongest portal time. It is a time when the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead is the thinnest, and communication and passage between the worlds is easiest. It is a time to commune with deceased ancestors and loved ones. Though we should honor and rever our ancestors throughout the year, this is the perfect time of year to set aside sacred time to honor those who have passed.

Of course, since the veil is so thin, it is also expected that some rather nasty spirits might enter through the veil at this time, which can cause folks to be wary. Guardians of various types have been placed at doors and windows and hearth (all the entry ways into the home) to keep unwanted and unwelcome spirits out. The custom of dressing in costume comes from the idea of disguising oneself so as not to be recognized by unfriendly spirits.

Furthermore, it has long been a time of remembrance. The ancients had a deep respect for their ancestors, and this was a time to remember the deeds of forefathers and foremothers. They would recall the names of the people in their lineage and honor them with feasts and gifts. The ancestors would have a special place in the home during this time.

Samhain is contemporarily considered to be the last festival of the harvest, and we have encountered two schools of thought as two how this plays out. One says that Samhain is the final grain harvest and that it was imperative that farmers have all of their crops harvested before sundown on Samhain night. If not, tradition held that whatever was left in the fields belonged to the Sidhe. (We've also seen this said about Fall Equinox, but that simply couldn't apply to American crops.) The other indicates that, in Britain, Samhain would have been past the final grain harvest and would have been into a time that we might consider a "blood harvest" -- the time for slaughtering livestock before the winter comes. Technically speaking, we like the mytho-poetry of both schools of thought. However, we are trying to be practical about the Craft that we practice and the area where we live. In Indiana (where we literally live surrounded by fertile farmland), the harvest cycle has looked like this:

* Lammas -- call it "loaf mass" if you like, but it's not grain we're pulling in; it's tomatoes and squash -- the first ... veggies!
* Fall Equinox -- apples, more veggies, early corn, early wheat, early soy -- It'll be another week or two before the grains are really ready.
* Samhain -- the rest of the grains have been or are being harvested now. It's a race. November really is too late. As for the "blood harvest?" Maybe so.




Samhain Traditions

We celebrate Samhain as season, a "month" unto itself --  a two week period extending from October 15th until Octiber 31. This is a time for us to honor our genealogical and spiritual ancestors. We seek guidance from them, insight about the lessons from the pervious year and advice for work to be done in the coming year. We are making provisions within ourselves for the winter months ahead.  This is a time of reflection on death and rebirth -- contemplating beginnings and endings. As such, it is a time of introspection, reflection, communication with the Otherworld and Underworld. It is a time of profound spiritual growth. (It can be quite intense.)


We begin the cycle by Welcoming the Ancestors. In this ritual, we bring our skulls in token of all our ancestors – biological, spiritual, and otherwise. We then empower these skulls to be a vessel in which our ancestors can be manifest during the 13th month. Part of this ritual always includes a “genealogy chant” said by each person in attendance. (Women may name their mothers’ mothers, for instance as far back as they have knowledge of. Men may do likewise with their fathers’ fathers. Or, there could be a blending.) We work with skulls as a means of "tapping the bone" -- tapping into the knowledge, wisdom (hence, the skulls) and power of our Mighty Dead.  (As a note, human skulls, though *somewhat* available as curios, are extraordinarily expensive and are NOT necessary for this work. What you want is something realist -- either in look or material. Go for a realist replica from a science shop, a crafty skull of some sort, a Halloween prop that won't make you laugh, or an animal skull -- real bone, just not human.)

In the same general time-frame as the Welcoming the Ancestors ritual, we also empower our pumpkin guardians. Sometimes this is done as a group, and sometimes we do it individually. Whatever the case, one pumpkin is chosen for each member of the household, carved and empowered to protect that person and the home from harmful spirits during the 13th month. Some of the families choose an extra pumpkin to protect the family as a whole, as well. These are place outside the door and lit each night at dark during the duration of the 13th month.

The Dumb Feast is a ritual feast held to honor the ancestors. The entire ritual (from the point of laying the compass to eating the feast to finishing the ritual) is carried out in silence. A portion of the food from each person’s plate should be reserved for their ancestors. Their skull is placed in honor next to or in front of each person.

Individual dark mirror, cauldron, and skull trances -- We strive to do a great deal of individual meditation and trance-work with our cauldrons, dark mirrors and skulls, since they are among the key symbolic tools we associate with this Sabbat.

Samhain Totems: Elder

In our tradition we divide the year not only by eight solar and agricultural holidays, but also by the Kalends. We celebrate twelve months of the year by the common calendar, plus a special thirteenth month for Samhain.  These month cycles are associated with different totemic spirits. Each month is assigned an animal, a bird (or other flying creature), and a tree. Samhain's totems are Toad, Elder, and Crane.

The totemic associations are as follows:

Toad – (Buaf) transformation, inner visions, death and rebirth, hidden power and beauty
Elder (Ruis) – death and rebirth, change and transition
Crane – (Corr) longevity, remembrance, past lives, secret knowledge, patience

Elder

The Elder tree is associated with death and rebirth. The 13^th month is a time of endings and balances, and the Elder is a tree of balance. This tree is never called into the compass, but it is recognized where it stands (outside the sacred space). The Elder is usually found at the opening to barrows and passages to the Underworld.

           

This is a tree of the Faery. If one cuts down this tree without seeking the will of the Tree Spirits and of the Faery, a blight or curse will fall on that person. Her wood is never burned as it is considered bad luck to do so. This injunction is remembered in one of the couplets from the modern Wiccan or Witches' Rede: "Elder be the Lady's tree. Burn it not, or cursed you'll be." 

In some parts of the world the Elder is considered as a protection against snakes and thieves.

             

The Elder protects one from harm and psychic attack. It represents change and transition. The elemental association for the Elder is water, and its gender association is feminine.

           

The Elder is sacred to the various guardians of crossing over from one life to death and from death back into life.