The winds of transformation are fiercely sweeping through our Sonoran desert as I write to you today on this New Moon in Scorpio. During these sacred days surrounding the final harvest celebration, Samhain and All Souls, we enter a very special time of the year:

As we enter the darkest quarter of the year, we find ourselves in the most liminal time of our seasonal cycle. Here the veil between the worlds is thin, which is why we also mourn, remember, and celebrate loved ones passed on All Souls Day and Dia De Los Muertos.

• I prepare an altar with final harvest fruits and vegetables such as squash, pumpkins, pomegranates, figs and dates as well as marigold flowers. I add statues of deities such as Isis, Kali and Ganesh. This is also the first day where I place pictures of my loved ones past on the altar. 
• I bake a Samhain bread which is basically a delicious, organic pumpkin bread of choice ceremoniously mixed with roasted spices, enchanted with a conjured melody, infused with Reiki and blessed before baking. I may add some rose petals or lavender to the mix. 
• I make a harvest soup with corn or squash in addition to baking bread.

• I dress in black to honor the darkness and to help eliminate the negative. I anoint myself with Isis & Rebirth Anointing Oil,Hekate Perfume or Ganesh Perfume. 
• I gather with a friend or a sisterhood for ceremony. 
• We call upon our guides and invoke divine blessings. We have a fire and blow our troubles and all matters we want to let go of into a stick and throw it into the fire. We may say things out loud and we may share in circle what we are needing to let go of for new growth. We pray and dance, we drum, we cry and we laugh. 
• And then we feast and talk, in gratitude for the blessings of the past year as well as the new cycles and the seeds we are nourishing to be planted on the Winter Solstice. 
• The solitary practitioner, which I have been for many cycles and will be again for many to come, can do all these same things; just write instead of talk. 
  

• We look closely at the pictures placed on the altar and place flowers, foods and drinks that connect us to our loved ones past. 
• We may burn incense such as copal, Frankincense and Myrrh and apply All Souls Perfume. 
• We remember, we mourn, we tell stories funny and sad. 
• We may visit graves or simply invite their spirits to join us. 
• In Mexico, Pan de Muerto (Bread of the Dead) and Atole are typical for consumption during this time. *Here are two great recipes for Mexican Atole and Pan de Muerto.
• The Marigold flowers and Copal incense are traditionally used to lure those passed closer for us to connect with during this time.
• In our part of the world, close to the border, we are blessed to have a strong Mexican tradition that demystifies the western taboo of death. Here in Tucson, Arizona we wear costumes and paint our faces to resemble death and walk together as a community in an All Souls Procession to remember, mourn and honor the inevitable cycle of life. 
  

Although I outlined rituals and traditions that can be done on specific days, this potent time continues over the coming weeks. Before the Winter Solstice (Dec 21) we want to evaluate where we are in life, it’s an opportunity to ask ourselves:

And we must always remember to have gratitude for our blessings!!

Faithfully Yours, 

Kate