vintageteapots

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Samhain Celebration - Ritual

Introduction (Meditation)

Sit in front of your altar and relax. Visualize that you are outside, somewhere in the fields - they are barren and harvested. The weather is slightly cold but you are dressed up well, only on your face and hands you can feel cold air. The sun has gone down, but it is still not dark yet. The sky is pretty much cloudy and you can notice that fog started to appear above the fields. In the distance, although it is not very far from you, you can see a light. You go towards that place.

After walking there for about 2-3 minutes, you see an interesting, a bit strange or even a spooky scene - in the middle of a field there is an open empty coffin and candles around it, you approach it. The light of the candles became much stronger since it has become dark. After a short examination of the place, you should enter the coffin and close it, once you are in. Now, think about the passed year - what positive and negative things happened to you? What have you left behind, what is not a part of your life anymore - it could be people, some of your traits that you wanted to change...? Give yourself a bit of time to think about it, and even allow yourself to feel sad, it is a time of separation and moving on after all.

After you have done contemplating, imagine now that your spirit is leaving your body and it goes out of a coffin. Note that you do not open coffin anymore, since you are a spirit, you easily went out. As you left the coffin, in the contact with the air and the earth, you got your new physical body. It looks the same as the previous one but still it feel very new, different. You also notice that you on changed a psychological level, you have become a new person. Now, stand in front of the coffin, give thanks for all learned lessons in the previous year, give thanks to your old body, bid it peace and farewell, then turn around and without looking back go back to the place from the beginning of a meditation.

When you are there, you look at the sky and you notice that the dawn is near. You take few deep breaths and feel energized, cleansed and consecrated by the chilly air. When you are ready, slowly return to the real world, to here and now and open your eyes...

Sacred circle

If you have a habit of drawing the circle, now it is time to do so. I would write the words I usually use, but since they are not on English, it sounds a bit silly when translated. It is important that you visualize and feel your sacred and safe space.

Invocation

After the sacred circle has been drawn, you can call those who you want you to join in your ritual. I have a habit of inviting goddess Morrígan, to who I pray often, my both family and "spiritual" ancestors and the nature spirits. (I call spiritual ancestors those people who I am not connected to by blood but who had a great influence on me, whether by spending time with them while they were alive or people that inspire me: artists, politicians etc.)

My invocations are usually like this:

"Goddess Morrígan, my dear ancestors and nature spirits, I invite you on this day when the veil is thin, so we can together celebrate the holiday of Samhain. Welcome!"

Celebration

This part of the ritual is classical religious ceremony. These are activities that I will do:

Giving thanks to the deities, ancestors and the nature spirits, with my own words

Making a small list consisting of 3 goals that I want to achieve in the next pagan year

Special prayer dedicated to my ancestors, with my own words

Divination

Feast and celebration - eating and drinking, listening to some music that we find suitable for the holiday we are celebrating, dancing etc.

Closing

Giving thanks and bidding a farewell to the deities, ancestors and the nature spirits and after that closing the sacred circle, if you previously have drawn it.

Small note: My personal practice is that I carve a pumpkin and make the dumb supper before the ritual.

[vintageteapots]

For Samhain I had a small altar set up for Hades and Persephone, on this long table plate with skeleton hands, which seemed appropriate for the season.

Left to Right:

Persephone's offering dish, containing a purple candle, dried freesia petals, pink agate and black obsidian.

A jack-o'-lantern tealight holder, with battery operated tealight.

A skull shaped shot glass (later used as the receptacle for our mead libation).

Hades' offering dish, containing a black candle, various coins, hematite and zebra agate.

We had a stew for dinner, filled with various root vegetables, and a root vegetable mash. We set out an extra serving at the table for our honoured dead, and gave cake and mead as libations to Hades and Persephone.

We left the food and drink out overnight, and the following morning I returned the food to the earth.

[vintageteapots]

lines from the secret history that keep me awake at night:

“but walking through it all was one thing; walking away, unfortunately, has proved to be quite another.”

“i suppose at one time in my life i might have had any number of stories, but now there is no other. this is the only story i will ever be able to tell.”

“in fact, i think the reason they took such drastic steps was because they were not only frightened but also terribly attracted to it.”

“i wondered what it would be like to fall and break my head open on one of those bright rocks: a wicked crack, a sudden limpness, then veins of red marbling the glassy water.”

“but of course i didnt see this crucial moment then for what it was; i suppose we never do.”

“ill never forget this, you know’ he said matter-of-factly. ‘its nothing.’ ‘its everything and you know it.’”

“to my surprise, he smiled at her. ‘you think id hurt you?’”

“a month or two before, i would have been appalled at the idea of any murder at all. but that sunday afternoon, as i actually stood watching one, it seemed the easiest thing in the world.”

“if i do, i am looking forward to asking him why the hell he didn’t just shoot us all and get it over with.”

“bun, i thought, oh, bun. im sorry.”

“forgive me, for all the things i did but mostly for the ones i did not.”

“are you happy here?’ i said at last. he considered this for a moment. ‘not particularly’ he said. ‘but you’re not very happy where you are, either.’”

“love doesn’t conquer everything. and whoever thinks it does is a fool.”

“i can’t help it. i still love him.’ ‘i loved him too’ i said. for just a moment, i thought i felt her waver. but then she looked away. ‘i know you did’ she said. ‘but its not enough.’”

[vintageteapots]

Is he...you know.... [Spanish dubbed]?

[vintageteapots]

If I had a nickel for every time a queer angel quit their thankless job and fell in love with a dude obsessed with his car, I’d have two nickels.

Which isn’t a lot but it’s weird it happened twice.

[vintageteapots]

Don’t get me wrong I love the queens gambit with my whole heart and I love Benny and belteik and townes

HOWEVER

It would have been so easy to make Beth more explicitly queer. Like there was so much tensions with her and jolene at the beginning. And then between her and Margaret or whatever her name was in school ( I know she bullied her but like the talking while making out with that guy, and also the other girls teasing Beth about the guys she played against really felt like they were teasing her for her sexuality and I really think that one girl was projecting). And then when they meet again when they’re older t e n s i o n. The whole thing with cleo could have been WAY more fleshed out and confirmed (cleo should have had a bigger role regardless) like the straight people I watched it with did not pick up on the fact that they definitely fucked. And then when jolene came back at the end they could have rekindled what they had it something. This is not to say I don’t love beths male live interests (she’s undeniably bi) I just think her female love interests weren’t given enough attention and it’s right there it would have been so easy

#the queen’s gambit #the queens gambit #beth harmon #Beth x jolene #Beth x Cleo #it could have been so gay

[vintageteapots]

[vintageteapots]

when taylor swift said "I'd like to be my old self again, but I'm still trying to find it" and emily dickinson said " and I am out with lanterns, looking for myself" and florence said "and I forgot my name and the way back to my mother's house"

[vintageteapots]

Got mad on twitter

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looking for a woman to take a trip with me to my friend’s cabin but instead we kill a man, fuck brad pitt, get a ring, politely rob a store, drive though the desert, listen to music, blow up a truck, liberate ourselves, kiss, and die holding hands. please dm if interested.

[vintageteapots]

but what if greta gerwig had directed the goldfinch movie?

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this has gotta be the cutest shit i’ve ever seen. greta gerwig directing lucas hedges and saoirse ronan in lady bird (2017).

[vintageteapots]

if theo decker isn't gay then why do i feel the unstoppable urge to commit homophobic hate crimes against him every time he opens his stupid pretentious mouth

[vintageteapots]

inst: lustra.etc