Three words or phrases kept coming up last night at our Samhain event. Community. Ancestors. and the next one was a phrase ‘oh my goodness, I’m so full!’ and they were all spoken by pretty much everyone at some point during the evening. I want to share why they were significant to me and to tell you more about the night if you couldn’t make it.
Organising community events when you attract a broad audience is challenging and I often have I have no idea (beyond a name) who is in the room. I assume I have beginners, experienced practitioners, all ages and all abilities; be they witches, magicians, occultists, ceremonialists, animists, shamans, pagans, you name it and generally from across Western Sydney but also well beyond. Even the decision to mark a Wheel of the Year sabbat carries cultural and historical weight that not everyone shares or relates to equally. The challenge isn’t necessarily obvious, but it’s one I take on because, well, I like this time of year and it’s important to me.
This year, I wanted to do something a little different. The world feels like A LOT right now, and I didn’t want the night to feel like we were simply going through the motions or plunging everyone into the pits of grief and depression. I wanted to cultivate something – hope, renewal, and a bit of joy in the darkness before we head into Winter.
So, we absolutely made time to honour our ancestors, as you do at this time of year. But we didn’t sit in our grief for long, we then we turned toward each other. Each person shared who they are, where they’d come from, and why they’d made the effort to turn up and create something in connection with others. The word community surfaced again and again alongside connection, friendship, finding where I fit. What brought people to a council hall in Kings Langley on Dharug Country on a Saturday night wasn’t going to be just the ritual itself. It was the chance to be somewhere in-person, with people who get it.
Still as a part of the ritual, we then took our places at the feasting tables and I invited everyone to write out their wishes, hopes and intentions for the year ahead, then share what they’d written with people nearby. Something shifted as we settled into that. Laughter started filtering through. Conversations found their own direction organically. Energy in the room lifted. We closed the rite and moved to the feast and I tell you, when fifty-odd people bring food to a potluck, the buffet table does not disappoint.
Some highlights were the whole roasted pumpkin stuffed with curried lentil stew (vegan and gluten free), adobo chicken, sesame honey cake, and the best spiced plum & port wine jam I’ve ever tasted in my existence which was served with mini home-baked scones and freshly whipped vanilla crème. Oh and my baked potato bar with as many toppings as I could imagine, think butter, sour cream, fresh chives, but what idiot forgets the shredded cheese? (me, that’d be me)
You might be reading this and thinking ‘this doesn’t sound like witchcraft at all’. Well, it’s not the coven based practice I’m used to. It’s not even the small group based ritual work I’ve done either. But when you’re working with large groups of people you’ve never met before, who don’t know each other either, and everyone is coming from a different place spiritually, you can work with what brings people together and it’s surprisingly simple. It’s a shared meal, a shared intent, and just showing up. The rest can flow from there.
Wanna join in? Wanna do it again? Join our mailing list to receive details of the booking link for Midwinter to be held on 27th June when it is available. See you then!