Welcome to the Witching Season

Every year at this time, I post a blog that I call Welcome to the Witching Season. This year is no different. This is my favorite time of year. This is the season of the witch, the season of gargoyles and ghosts, of magick and bonfires. This is the season when the mists rise, and creatures creep out of the woodwork. Could it be a werewolf? Or maybe a vampire? Or maybe it’s your next door neighbor, out to howl at the moon and drum in the ancestors.

As a shamanic witch, my life is steeped in the autumn season. What are fun and games and a bag full of candy to others, is a very real and spiritual part of my life. As the leaves turn color and drift lazily to the ground, my heart swells. The rain lulls me, the morning chill braces me, the smell of spice and apples and roasting turkey are among the best scents in the world.

This month is a joyful one. Those of us who are pagan look forward to the festival of Samhain—the third harvest, when we give honor to the ancestors and all who journey the spiral path. So let the spiders spin, and the rains come, and break out the orange lights and all decorations that remind us of the shadow side. For without darkness, the light burns too brightly and can scorch. Without the rains of autumn, the bonfires may blaze out of control. And so we plunge deep within our own shadows to face them, integrate them, and come out whole and balanced.

Tell me, what makes you shiver at night? What parts of autumn do you love?

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Welcome to the Witching Season
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13 thoughts on “Welcome to the Witching Season

  • 10/21/2017 at 12:08 pm
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    I have always loved fall, since I was a little girl. I love it for everything mentioned in the comments above. I love it because of how I feel when I breathe in the first of the cool, crisp fall air and know that autumn is on the way. It is the time of year when I feel most alive and happy.

    Reply
  • 10/04/2017 at 3:09 pm
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    My favorite things about this time of the year is the very different ‘feeling’ in the air. No matter what kind of year I’ve had up to this point, when the late September evenings begin to roll through I am instantly reminded why I became a witch in the first place and realize that there isn’t any other way for me to be! It just feels that special, and it brings me home. That is to say it helps me find my own center and balance again. Add in the changing foliage colors and the cool evenings that are the perfect enticement for sitting on the back deck, sipping a warm mug of something mulled or spicy. I’m lucky to live near woods and fields, so I get to enjoy the colors and see the deer and other wildlife. I also love to spot all of the migratory birds who pass through the region, along with the gorgeous monarch butterflies.
    There’s so much to love!

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  • 10/04/2017 at 6:07 am
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    love the changing of the leaves and days get cooler. Of apple picking and pumpkins. Of grabbing sweaters and sweatshirts. I love seeing the seasons change and feeling that bite in the air at night.

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    • 10/04/2017 at 9:00 am
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      Yes, I love the change of the seasons, though I’m less thrilled about summer than any of them. I love that feeling of the cycle.

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  • 10/03/2017 at 7:59 pm
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    The warm spicy scents of cooking apple and pumpkin pies. The gathering of friends and family. The colors of the leaves and grasses.

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  • 10/03/2017 at 4:55 pm
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    I love fall. When it’s cool enough to open all the doors and windows. Listening to the leaves crunch under shoes, the way it’s seems the earth is going to sleep slowly soft and tender. I like the way the mornings are slow and the day heats up. Walking, the briskness if the weather. The leaves changing color. Boots, jeans and sweaters. I love the beginning of the holidays, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years.

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    • 10/04/2017 at 9:00 am
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      Yep! For me, Mabon–Fall Equinox–is the start of the holiday season. 🙂

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  • 10/03/2017 at 1:35 pm
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    The changing leaves and warming fires inside.
    The brisk cool that hurries your step.
    The gentle tap of rain upon the roof.
    Snuggling in bed to sneak in a little more rest.
    Those are the memories of my Washington Autumns.

    It is so different now that the Australian Fall
    Comes in March and sheds hardly any leaves.

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  • 10/03/2017 at 12:55 pm
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    I absolutely Love Autumn. My favorite is the electricity I feel.
    I feel more in tune with myself and other things as well

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  • 10/03/2017 at 11:36 am
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    Fall is truly my favorite time of year, the leaves changing colors, the crisp morning air, and the smells of cinnamon and other spices coming out of my kitchen and those around me.

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  • 10/03/2017 at 11:16 am
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    Fall is my season. I feel my my most powerful during Autumn. I love the beauty of the leaves changing and coolness of the morning air.

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    • 10/04/2017 at 9:01 am
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      There is something incredibly energizing about the autumn!

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  • 10/03/2017 at 9:57 am
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    Shivering at night is the big black spiders that seem to only come out in October. Favorite part of fall is the smell. I love to sit on my step in the morning drinking a cup of coffee and just breathing in the smells of fall and the ocean.

    Reply

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