I wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a blessed Samhain today. May your ancestors, be they of the line of blood, creative, spiritual, adopted or other, offer their blessings and guidance to you on this day. Be sure to light a candle for them and a little offering couldn’t hurt, either. Somewhere along the way I picked up the tradition of keeping a devotional candle on my stovetop to honor the ancestors. If you know where this comes from, leave a comment and help me remember!
I haven’t written in this blog for roughly an eon but I have been writing. If you don’t already know, you can find me, regularly reporting on the Pagan community over at the Wild Hunt. Here’s an archive of posts under my byline. You’ll catch my stories about Pagan environmentalists in the Everglades, water protectors in Cannonball, North Dakota, the Pagan community’s response in the face of a category 4 hurricane, and more. If you like the work that the Wild Hunt does, please consider donating to the Indiegogo campaign that’s going on right now. There’s only a few days left.
And speaking of water protectors, keep your eye on Cannonball, ND. The Standing Rock tribe there are trying to protect their sacred land and water resources from an oil pipeline. The response from the state of North Dakota and the Dakota Access hired security has been heavy handed, to say the least. Find out more about the tribe’s struggle and what the reality of oil and water wars looks like at the Sacred Stone Camp website, you’ll also find information there about making donations to the legal defense fund for the 100+ people who are facing charges for peacefully protesting.
Finally, Happy Halloween, if you celebrate it. Thank the gods for this holiday, for giving me a discrete doorway to explore the occult and open my eyes to a much more colorful world than the bland one imposed in my small town as a boy. It’s not the sacred day that Samhain is, but it lead me to it.