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Rowan Ashby
@silver_besom
Ritual

Setting the ancestor table a week early

Samhain is a week out and I've already started the ancestor altar, because if I wait I'll be doing it at 11pm on the 31st with a flashlight again.

This year: Nan's reading glasses, a tin of the butterscotch she always kept in her coat pocket, my uncle's terrible fishing hat, and a photo of a friend from my old coven who crossed in spring. One white candle in a deep glass holder on a ceramic plate, well away from the curtains (lesson learned in 2011).

For the night itself I'm planning a dumb supper: one empty chair, that plate served first, and the whole meal eaten in silence. If you've never done one, it's stranger and gentler than it sounds.

Wicca#samhain#ancestors#altar#dumb-supper
4

Replies

4 replies
  1. Mara Hollis

    Butterscotch in the coat pocket. My mother was exactly the same. I think every grandmother was issued a tin. Blessed Samhain when it comes, Rowan.

  2. Odette Laurent

    Dumb suppers always give me the most vivid dreams the night after. Keep a notebook by the bed in case someone wants to say thank you for the meal.

  3. Marisol Echevarría

    The glasses and the fishing hat say more than any photo could. Our dead like to be remembered as they actually were.

  4. Sam Whitaker

    Could someone with no tradition at all do a dumb supper? Asking for me, obviously.

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