Category: Samhain

Witchcraft Survives

11/15/2024

Witchcraft Survives

Lady Morgana and Lord Mordred at Mugshots

Hard times come (hard eras, hard centuries even) and then go. But there has always been and there will always be those who work Magick, revere Nature, and perform Rituals singly and in groups.

For example, ten years ago in October, our beloved and Founding High Priest, Lord Mordred died by suicide. Lady Airrawind’s name on my phone before dawn that morning alerted me something was terribly wrong. Lady Airrawind is a true hero from those days of Temple Of The Inner Circle, having kept the Bell Book and Candle open for business two plus years past any viability, and teaching the final TOTIC classes there and in her own home after the store closed. She also was first on the scene at Lady Morgana’s house and was in charge of cleaning after authorities left.

In the next few weeks, there was an incredible amount of work done by current and returning Temple members and Initiates. I still feel an immense sense of gratitude for all the effort so many people put into packing up Lady Morgana’s house for her move to a beautiful senior’s apartment that Lady Scierna arranged for her. Lady Atheona arranged for a friend’s junk hauling business to pitch in overwhelming as it was.
Then there was Lord Mordred’s memorial service. Lady Morgana and Lady Aisliong arranged the service at Davis. Lady Morgana requested ‘his boys’ Lords White Bison, Airebus, and Tanys to deliver eulogies. Lady Atheona asked that everyone send her their favorite ‘Mordy-ism’ and then she made the most incredible video montage of photos and Lord Mordred sayings. (https://youtu.be/rEp0X8m0p1M?si=-HjrEGZFjR-5yiel) This played at the memorial and is also available on our youtube channel. The outpouring of support and affection was overwhelming that night and for weeks after.

And of course, Samhain was upon us. Samhain is often a difficult Sabbat for Witches, as our beloved dead are invited into the Ring with us to mingle and enjoy the food and drink we lay out for their Dumb Supper, and Lord Mordred of course was very beloved by all of us. Our Witches performed the Samhain Ritual beautifully and lovingly, and Lady Morgana, who was initially hesitant of holding our Samhain Ritual and indeed hesitant of keeping the Temple going without Lord Mordred, came around and started making plans for the Inner Circle Tradition’s future up there in the mountain with me.

These were incredibly difficult weeks. Many tears were shed, and many kept asking “Why?”. But Witchcraft helped us continue, singly and together. This was ten years ago, and it still does. Lord Mordred often advised

“When things get tough, dig into your Religion.”

You will find strength in Witchcraft, whenever you need it, and however you practice it. We certainly do.

originally posted on Facebook 11/8/2024
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=561826013216531&set=a.175189011880235

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Follow this link to a Google Doc:
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Event: All About Samhain

10/4/2020

Event Photos:

Our event kits contained:
*Samhain oil
*Samhain incense, powdered
*White candle and parchment to write a message
to a deceased loved one.
*Handmade Geomancy divination tool
by Lady Silverwolf

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2020 AT 6 PM – 9 PM
All About Samhain
on Zoom

Halloween. All Hallows’s Eve. Feast of the Dead. Spirit Night. Samhain. Whatever you want to call it, it’s the most wonderful time of the year.
It’s time to honor our ancestors and invite them to join us in our feasts and merriment.

It’s time to honor the dark seasons that are headed our way.

It’s time to learn all you can about this fantastic sabbat and season.

Inner Circle Sanctuary will be discussing:

The history of Samhain
Myths and symbolism surrounding All Hallow's Eve
Crafts, spells, and divinations you can do at this time,
How ICS celebrates the end of Summer
Many other themes running through this fun, yet reverential, season.

Our lecture will be held online through Zoom.

Please consider donating $10 to a charity as your entrance fee to our event. As always, if you are unable to donate, please let us know. Due to the nature of our students, many will donate extra to cover the cost of those who can’t.

Please message us a copy of your donation receipt so we can send you the meeting information.

Have some snacks on hand so we can try to keep up the tradition of potluck lectures!!

Please email us with any questions at [email protected]

Visit our event invite on Facebook here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/357225378661254/

#Samhain #AllHallowsEve #Wicca #Witchcraft #ICSEvent #InnerCircleSanctuary

Image title http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/371846
Copyright holder https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

Follow Inner Circle Sanctuary on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram.

If you are interested in learning more about us,
please don't hesitate to Contact Us.

If you are interested in Joining our classes,
please start with our questionnaire here.

Want to see how we do things? Try out a sample test:
Follow this link to a Google Doc: https://forms.gle/7oaQ5GF3d8k4CsA37

Event: Sam Hain's Trunk or Treat

10/4/2020

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2020 AT 12 PM – 3 PM
Sam Hain's Trunk or Treat
at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Las Vegas
3616 East Lake Mead Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89115

Inner Circle Sanctuary, UUCLV, and Spiral Scouts Desert Pack would like to invite you to a trunk or treat! Our volunteers will be handing out goodies bags from 12p-3p at the UUCLV. We are following common safety guidelines and state mandates. Come enjoy a safe and fun trick or treat experience. Hand sanitizer will be available.

Guidelines for visitors:

All school aged children and older will be required to wear masks at all times.
We ask that only one family at a time be at each car.

Guidelines for Volunteers:

We encourage all Volunteers to wear costumes and to decorate their trunks.
Volunteers must wear masks at all times.
Each car will be separated by 6 feet.
Each car will hand out goodie bags rather than having a communal bucket of candy (the goodie bags can be as simple as a Ziploc bag with a few candy pieces.)
NO HOME MADE ITEMS.

If you would like to volunteer please contact Inner Circle Sanctuary on Facebook or at [email protected]

See our Facebook event invite here: https://www.facebook.com/events/2204729066338807/

#Halloween #Samhain #TrunkOrTreat #TrickOrTreat #ICSEvent #InnerCircleSanctuary #SpiralScouts #UU #UnitarianUniversalists

Inner Circle Sanctuary featured on Local News

11/21/2017

Read the text story here: http://www.fox5vegas.com/story/36883300/las-vegas-witches-inside-local-covens

Lady Sisterwolf from Inner Circle Sanctuary

We are extremely proud of all of our members for making our style of Wicca so beautiful and wonderful. We are supremely proud and indebted to
Lady Sisterwolf
for stepping out of the broom closet to be featured in the piece, despite most of her family not knowing she practices the Craft.

Her courage is unfathomable.

We are grateful for Kathleen Jacob and KVVU Fox 5 Television for wanting to create a news piece that wasn't a Halloween / Samhain trope. For the seven minutes they were allowed, the video turned out wonderfully!

The ritual being performed is our Samhain festival with Lady Nashoba as High Priestess and Lord Tanys as High Priest. Lady Sisterwolf was the only person mic'd for the ritual and the camera stayed outside the circle for their video pieces. The interviews with Lady Sisterwolf and Lady Walking Turtle from the Coven of the Red Dragonfly were filmed a few days later during the daytime.

Kathleen had put out a call in the pagan community to everyone she could contact via Witchvox and met with a few people in person to pitch her story. Our Lady Sisterwolf introduced and invited her to the Las Vegas Pagan Pride Day event where they also interviewed and filmed extensively. It is our understanding that the footage from Pagan Pride Day will be used for another news video piece at a later time. We were grateful that Kathleen offered us a preview of the clip before airing so we could correct anything if needed and if possible. Lady Sisterwolf enjoyed her time contributing to this story and is extremely proud of its result; as are we. Huzzah!

Follow Inner Circle Sanctuary on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram.

If you are interested in learning more about us,
please don't hesitate to Contact Us.

If you are interested in Joining our classes,
please start with our questionnaire here.

Samhain: Winter Has Come

6/8/2017

Samhain: Winter Has Come
with Lady Atheona
from Inner Circle Sanctuary
SATURDAY, October 21, 2017 at 6pm

This event is RSVP only.
Please email us at innercirclesanctuary@gmail.com
or message us here for location details.

$10 donation
or bring what you can afford.
100% of donations are given to charity.

“Samhain is a Gaelic festival marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter or the "darker half" of the year. Samhain is believed to have Celtic pagan origins and there is evidence it has been an important date since ancient times. Samhain was seen as a liminal time, when the boundary between this world and the Otherworld could more easily be crossed. While Bealtaine was a summer festival for the living, Samhain "was essentially a festival for the dead." Traditionally, Samhain was a time to take stock of the herds and food supplies. Samhain is seen by some Wiccans as a time to celebrate the lives of those who have died, and it often involves paying respect to ancestors, family members, elders of the faith, friends, pets and
other loved ones who have died."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samhain
Join us on our Facebook invite for magical tidbits until the event. Click here.

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Samhain 2016

11/6/2016

1 Comment

Inner Circle Sanctuary - Samhain 2016

High Priestess - Lady Nashoba
High Priest - Lord Rand

Maiden - Lady Gwendolyn
Summoner - Lord Sissterwolf

It's November in Vegas, and even here in the Mohave Desert the temperatures usually cool during daylight hours.... usually; but not this day. It was unseemingly hot, however, we were grateful it was not as unbearable as Vegas summer days are wont to get. The majority of us arrived nice and early to help set-up the area.

We always include a lot of photos of set-up. It is during this time that we joke, laugh, and build bonds between us. The building of the ring allows for a flawless ritual to follow. The in-depth preparation prevents mishaps later when you want the focus to be on the magic and ritual of the sabbat. Meticulously, using an actual compass, we find the four quarters and hammer in the beautifully hand-forged quarter markers that Lord Rdhawk made for us. For Samhain, our quarters are also marked by the carved pumpkins whose 'noses' reflected their guardianship. The building of the firepit (which almost always turns into a class) ensures that when the High Priest is ready to light it for ritual, it is immediately aflame. The circle is drawn using the tools we bring to rake and shovel the rocks and then the rope is laid with an entrance in the northeast. Once the rope is planted, and even though there isn't any energy commited yet, the doorway to the ring is the marker by which we enter. The ring space is sacred once the rope is down. There is no stepping over the rope to retrieve a item from the altar or to take an item there. All that is left is for the maiden to clear the province with her besom, the High Priestess / Goddess incarnate to cast the ring, and for it to be consecrated with the elements; all parts of the ritual itself. There are many levels and layers to constructing a magical sabbat ring which means many hands. It is this working together for the festivities ahead that help to build our comradery and closeness. You can see the reflection of this bonding in the friendships that are forged.

BFFs Lady Nashoba and Lord Rand were ecstatic for finally being able to work together. Their love, care, and devotion to one another was emulated by all who attended. Sometimes though, in the excitement of it all, and in the nervousness and stress that comes with being the leaders of a celebration, the meticulous preparations of SELF are forgotten. Self preparation for ritual is just as important. One must take care to eat and drink and rest, especially on an abnormally hot November day. During the ritual, directly after casting the ring, Lady Nashoba grew lightheaded and in a display of proper coven etiquette, the maiden, Lady Gwendolyn stepped in as the assistant to the High Priestess. (In my 19 years with Inner Circle Temple and with Inner Circle Sanctuary, it was the very first time we have ever had to do this that I had witnessed. It was unsettling in the most wonderful way. ~Atheona) Lady Nashoba was able to recover quickly and reclaim her leadership role to finish the night.

Everyone wore masks and some dressed in beautiful regalia. From paying respects to the honoring of the Lord of Misrule, the remainer of the sabbat was delightful. There was giggling as the members did the Dance of Going and Returnings and shrieks of delight as they spun back into life. There were of course, sad moments. The reading of the names of those who have made our coven what it is today brought scattered tears and the toasts to our loved ones choked up more than a few of us. After the circle there was birthday cake for our lovely Lady Joyanna, leader of our crew, along with some delicious wassail, punny pagan jokes, songs, stories, and dancing. The Sanderson Sisters even honored us with a visit and a wonderful performance.

As we move into the winter season (hopefully the days here in Vegas cool quickly), we will huddle even closer to one another for the warmth and love that comes from being a family. We will plan and prepare; we will eat and drink; and we will work and celebrate each other. In the dead season, LIFE is always appreciated much, much more.

1 Comment

That Which Is Remembered Lives

10/18/2016

That Which Is Remembered Lives
DINING WITH THE DEAD

In our tradition, the word 'tradition', means so much. Whence we camest is very important.... both the positive and the negative. From the positive we are emboldened to be the best, and from the negative we learn and change, which is why we often add the word "living" with tradition. What we have is a living tradition.

In our tradition for Samhain we honor those who have passed who were a part of us. Our members are encouraged to bring a 'Dumb Supper' for their loved ones; purchase or cook the favorite meal of your loved one(s) to set upon the 'Dumb Supper ' altar just outside our ritual area. When the ritual is done and we gather, the food is moved to around the fire with us and we exchange stories of those loved ones, if wished.

During the ritual for the coven, we incorporate the names of those who have passed among us, lest we ever forget. The single peal of the summoner's bell emphasizes the pointed and poignant effect their lives and deaths have upon us.

Personal remembrances at this time are varied and just as effective. Personal anecdote: a few years ago, my very young niece asked about Halloween and why it was a holiday. "Many people believe that at this time, the curtain between the world of the dead and the world of the living stands open. So many people welcome home all those people they loved with food and drink and fires and love."

Some people will make a photo display on a table, burn some candles, and put a plate of food for the deceased on it, like an altar.

Others will set places at the table and serve their loved ones food that they will take out into the yard afterwards as an offering or feed to the dogs.

Some will set the table with just an empty plate and a photo of the loved one.

Others will adorn the dinner table with photographs and serve and eat dinner in silence - hence the term 'Dumb Supper.'

Some will visit a temple, shrine, or the graveyard and spend the day eating and talking around their loved ones graves.

Some tips:
If you do decide to serve your deceased love ones food, don't let anyone else eat it.

Try to serve foods they liked... when I pass, if someone pours some beer for me, just imagine the wrinkly face I will make from it.... coffee, on the other hand, well...

Many cultures honor their ancestors / loved ones throughout the year... not just at Samhain. Big holidays like Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year's, and their birthdays are great days to have your passed love ones rejoin you for the day!

Whatever you do, however you honor your loved ones and/or ancestors, just remember them.
Say their names.
Tell their stories.

As our Lord Tanys likes to say, "That Which Is Remembered; lives."

-Lady Atheona

Food is offered to the ancestors during the annual Hungry Ghost festival prayers. Thailand. by Sampuna
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Festival
public domain

Altar tradicional de día de muertos en Milpa Alta, México DF by Eneas de Troya
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_Dead#/media/File:Altardediademuertos.jpg
CC BY 2.0

A Ryukyuan butsudan - This photo was taken at a birthday celebration and the ancestors were included in the celebration by presenting them with dinner and birthday cake.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryukyuan_religion#/media/File:Ryukyu_Butsudan.jpg
public domain

Event: Samhain Lecture 2016

10/13/2016

0 Comments

Inner Circle Sanctuary event - Samhain Lecture 2016

SAT. OCTOBER 22 at 6PM
A Lecture on
SAMHAIN
Presented by Inner Circle Sanctuary
Learn the history and traditions associated with
Samhain, Halloween, All Hallows Eve and more!
At the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Las Vegas
3616 East Lake Mead Blvd, Las Vegas, Nevada 89115

$10 donation or bring what you can afford

https://www.facebook.com/events/196061777488975/

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News, Updates, & Information

Witchcraft Survives

Witchcraft Survives

Event: All About Samhain

Event Photos:

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2020 AT 6 PM – 9 PM
All About Samhain
on Zoom

Event: Sam Hain's Trunk or Treat

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2020 AT 12 PM – 3 PM
Sam Hain's Trunk or Treat
at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Las Vegas
3616 East Lake Mead Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89115

Inner Circle Sanctuary featured on Local News

Samhain: Winter Has Come

Samhain 2016

That Which Is Remembered Lives

Event: Samhain Lecture 2016

Inner Circle Sanctuary

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Witchcraft Survives

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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2020 AT 6 PM – 9 PMAll About Samhainon Zoom

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2020 AT 12 PM – 3 PMSam Hain's Trunk or Treatat the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Las Vegas3616 East Lake Mead Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89115

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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2020 AT 6 PM – 9 PM
All About Samhain
on Zoom

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2020 AT 12 PM – 3 PM
Sam Hain's Trunk or Treat
at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Las Vegas
3616 East Lake Mead Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89115