Baltimore Reclaiming Celebrates Samhain 2020
Date: Nov 7, 2020
Time: 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm (Zoom Room opens at 6:45)
Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4942898732?pwd=ZWhvZjBDcUdxeWZOMVZGMENsSVZxZz09
Meeting ID: 494 289 8732
Passcode: 1234
Intention: In the darkness of dreams we find a new way to see; we write our own stories and turn rest into energy.
Among Pagan traditions that mark time on The Wheel of the Year, Samhain is considered the “Witches’ New Year.” As the world around us completes another cycle it feels challenging, even impossible to imagine a stranger time to be moving in the world. We may look to our elders for wisdom, advice on how to bring balance back to our lives. Watching young ones navigate change and uncertainty can also teach us to be innovative, open to possibilities. Traditional Samhain activities focus on the thinning veil between the living and dead, the coming darkness of the sun, and connections to our ancestors. In Reclaiming we are taught that Ancestors are known by many names and linked to us by more than just blood. Beloved Dead. Ancestors of the Craft, of Resistance, of Liberation, and others unnamed, or unknowable.
“There are many ways to fly.” The practices of magick that sustain and empower us one day may feel clumsy or lacking on the next. We strive to remember that the power within us is constantly changing and needs tending just like a treasured herb garden or beloved familiar. By giving our bodies and minds permission to rest we allow our spiritual reserves to replenish; in dreams we receive messages that may be difficult to hear or understand while awake.
This Samhain we explore how to keep our community connected and co-create magick within an increasingly isolated, socially distanced world. Join us to enter a story written by the RPC and guest witch Jen DuMars. As we hear this story we consider how rest and dreaming are tools that can help us through uncertain times. We ask the Ancestors for guidance and experiment with energy raising in a digital sphere.
In the darkness of dreams we find a new way to see; we write our own stories and turn rest into energy.
Items to have on the ready:
Tarot deck: Baltimore Reclaiming has a tradition of doing a Tarot card pull at Samhain. The card you draw can be viewed in the year to come as a portent, a special focus for your personal work, or the theme you may want to watch for. If you do not have your own cards or prefer to pull from an unfamiliar deck, we will provide some time and Priestesses to help you before or after the ritual.
You might also bring your favorite brew of tea to sip and bites of food share with the ancestors. As a pre-ritual activity, this option is unguided and at your own discretion. Tinctures, plants, candles, or other magickal tools that you wish to bless with the energy of our ritual are also welcome.
Financial Contributions: In keeping with the Principles of Unity, no one is ever turned away from a Baltimore Reclaiming ritual for lack of funds. When we were able to hold in-person rituals the monies collected at ritual went to paying for facility rental, supplies (candles, lights, small tokens to hand out, etc), and often to fund a donation to a local activist or charity organization. Since the 2020-2021 Ritual Arc is taking place online many of these expenses are reduced or eliminated. Instead the RPC intends to use the funds raised in ritual to pay marginalized witches for their labor, supporting anti-racism work in Baltimore Reclaiming, and funding activities planned by other Baltimore Reclaiming cells. Please give as generously as you are able so we can support the ongoing effort to Decolonize Reclaiming!
Who is Baltimore Reclaiming? We are a group of witches, artists, pagans, healers, activists, queers, priestesses, anarchists, theater geeks, feminists, and other good humans. We see our work as teaching and making magic: the art of empowering ourselves and each other. In our classes, workshops, and public rituals, we train our voices, bodies, energy, intuition, and minds. We use the skills we learn to deepen our strength, both as individuals and as community, to voice our concerns about the world in which we live, and bring to birth a vision of a new culture. We gather, mostly on the Sabbats, to work magic, often for personal healing and also for the healing of our society and planet. We believe that the work we do together in our sacred circles really can change the world.
Drugs & Alcohol: All Baltimore Reclaiming events are drug and alcohol free. We respectfully request that you do not use drugs or alcohol before or while attending our events.
What to Expect: New to Baltimore Reclaiming? Visit this page on our website to learn more about what to expect at an event. https://www.baltimorereclaiming.org/rituals
Dress Code: Wear whatever you like! You are welcome to wear everything from jeans and a t-shirt to a tuxedo. Often, people like to wear something special for ritual which might mean a favorite dress, a special shawl, a flower crown, or something else. We encourage you to wear whatever you feel most comfortable in.