A day early, and at the turning of the year: welcome to our final Pagan Community Notes of this Pagan year.
The Great Wheel turns again. Tomorrow evening, many of us in the northern hemisphere will welcome Samhain with candles, offerings, shared meals, and the names of those we carry in our hearts. For many Witches and other Pagans, this is the final harvest festival and the threshold of a new spiritual year—a time to remember, give thanks, and listen.
Across the equator, many of our southern hemisphere kin are preparing for Beltaine. Where some of us gather around ancestor altars, others welcome the season of blossoms, growing warmth, and bright possibility. Our celebrations follow different seasons, but we remain connected by the turning Earth.
Samhain invites us to consider what we have gathered and what we must release. Some harvests arrive as accomplishments; others as lessons we would rather have learned more gently. We remember the beloved dead, acknowledge the people who helped us reach this moment, and make room for whatever comes next.
For those who mark Samhain as the beginning of the year, that beginning may be quiet: a candle lit, a story told, an empty place set at the table. Renewal can begin in an act of remembrance.
Across traditions, this season holds many occasions for honoring the dead. Baltic observances include Veļu laiks, the time of spirits; some Heathens observe Winter Nights and Álfablót. Urglaawe practitioners celebrate Allelieweziel, while Dziady preserves traditions of ancestral remembrance in parts of the Slavic world. Their calendars, customs, and understandings differ, reminding us how many ways there are to sustain a relationship with those who came before us.
In Haiti and Haitian communities abroad, Fèt Gede honors the dead through Vodou ceremonies, offerings, music, and spirited celebration. In Mexico and its diaspora, Día de los Muertos brings families together through traditions shaped by Indigenous practices and Catholic observances. These celebrations deserve to be understood on their own terms, even as we recognize the affection and remembrance expressed through them.
Meanwhile, our southern hemisphere kin welcome Beltaine with their own rituals and gatherings. There is wisdom in celebrating life’s abundance, too: tending what is growing, making room for pleasure, and allowing hope to ask something of us. May the coming season bring reasons to dance—and people with whom to share the dance.
Then there is Halloween.
Tomorrow night, the sacred and the silly will once again find themselves sharing the pavement. There will be solemn ancestor offerings and inflatable skeletons, carefully prepared rituals and last-minute costumes, candlelit windows and at least one person discovering that a cape presents difficulties in a public restroom.
For some Pagans, the overlap is joyful. For others, it can be uncomfortable to see sacred symbols become seasonal merchandise or Witchcraft reduced to a pointed hat and a questionable complexion. Many of us manage to feel both things before the evening is over.
Still, Halloween offers a remarkable invitation to imagination. Ordinary streets become stages for ghost stories. Adults briefly recover permission to play dress-up. Neighbors open their doors to small strangers demanding sweets. The familiar world acquires a little theatrical uncertainty.
And that invitation travels.
In Tokyo, Japan, Halloween finds ready companions in cosplay, anime, manga, and the city’s inventive fashion cultures. Themed cafés, attractions, and entertainment venues offer settings for seasonal fun, while districts such as Harajuku provide plenty of inspiration for anyone whose costume ambitions exceed a plastic mask. Visitors should check local arrangements carefully: Shibuya’s reputation for Halloween crowds comes with restrictions and official efforts to discourage disruptive street celebrations.
In Sleepy Hollow, New York, Washington Irving’s Headless Horseman still has an impressive hold on the local imagination. The historic village and its cemetery offer a setting steeped in literary lore, while the wider Hudson Valley adds autumn scenery and attractions such as the Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze. Some places decorate for Halloween; Sleepy Hollow has a story waiting around the bend.
In Hong Kong, elaborate seasonal entertainment brings Halloween to major attractions, including Hong Kong Disneyland, where costumed characters and Disney villains join the festivities. Beyond the themed displays, visitors can explore neighborhood food stalls, take the Star Ferry, or enjoy the harbor after dark. The city also maintains its distinct Yu Lan, or Hungry Ghost Festival, traditions during the seventh lunar month—an observance with its own religious meaning and calendar.
In Seoul, South Korea, Halloween’s contemporary expressions draw on fashion, music, café culture, and themed entertainment. Hongdae’s creative energy makes it a familiar destination for visitors interested in costumes and nightlife. The season also carries the memory of the 2022 Itaewon crowd disaster. Anyone attending events should follow current local guidance and crowd-management arrangements, approaching the celebrations with care for themselves and those around them.
Elsewhere, the holiday speaks in local accents. In Italy, children call out dolcetto o scherzetto. Here in Miami, the familiar trick-or-treat can become tricotrí, depending on which doorstep you are standing beside. The pronunciation changes; the expectation of candy remains admirably clear.
These celebrations have different histories and purposes. Some offer entertainment, some sustain religious obligations, and some create a welcome opportunity to gather. For many of us, the season holds room for several of these experiences: we can enjoy the costumes, remember our dead, and still have strong opinions about the candy.
As this Pagan year closes, we thank you for sharing it with The Wild Hunt.
Thank you for the stories, the questions, the corrections, the encouragement, and the trust you place in us. Our communities contain much to celebrate and much that asks for care. We are grateful to keep telling those stories with you.
As the Wheel turns, may we remember:
We carry forward more than we know.
The courage we inherit can become the kindness we offer.
And remembering the dead can help us care more tenderly for the living.
To our readers in the south:
May your Beltaine fires burn bright with joy, love, and renewal.
To those in the north:
Samhain blessings. May the memory of your beloved dead bring comfort, and may the coming year find you sustained by courage, wisdom, and community.
Cherry Hill Seminary explores magical plants in Balkan folk traditions
Cherry Hill Seminary’s November course, “Magical Plants in the Folk Traditions of the Balkans,” will explore the relationships among plants, magic, and folklore in the region’s traditional cultures.
Taught by Professor Georgi Mishev, PhD, the course draws on ethnographic sources, folklore, and comparative mythology to examine how plants serve as intermediaries between the human and supernatural worlds. Students will consider their symbolic meanings and practical roles in rituals, healing charms, incantations, folk songs, epic narratives, fairy tales, and legends.
Featured plants include basil, rue, wormwood, tansy (Tanacetum vulgare), white and yellow sweet clover, blue gentian, ivy, and hawthorn. Through these examples, participants will explore the mythological associations and ritual significance of plants across Balkan folk traditions. More information is available on the Cherry Hill site.
Mercury Retrograde
NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington. [Public Domain
TWH — Mercury’s final retrograde of 2026 is well underway, bringing an astrological invitation to reconsider conversations, relationships, and unfinished business. Retrograde motion for Mercury began October 24 and will run through November 13 in Scorpio; the period also overlaps with Venus retrograde, adding questions about affection, finances, and personal values to the seasonal mix. Both planets turn direct November 13 in Eastern Time.
In astrology, Mercury governs communication, thinking, and everyday exchanges. Its apparent backward movement is traditionally associated with misunderstandings and opportunities to revisit earlier decisions. This Scorpio passage places particular emphasis on what remains unspoken: lingering resentments, difficult conversations, and expectations that others should somehow read our minds. Astrologers encourage clearer communication, firmer boundaries, and an honest assessment of whether familiar commitments still meet our needs.
Which signs receive the strongest cosmic nudge? The sources offer different selections. Some astrologers are highlighting Gemini, Virgo, and Scorpio, emphasizing emotional reflection, reconsideration of old narratives, and personal accountability.
Others identify Scorpio, Taurus, Gemini, and Aquarius. Scorpio faces potentially sensitive conversations and returning connections; Taurus is encouraged to examine recurring relationship patterns. Gemini’s routines and responsibilities may require attention, while Aquarius is invited to reassess professional ambitions or reconsider an earlier opportunity. The emphasis is on reflection before reaction, particularly when frustration threatens to take over a conversation.
Basically, students of astrology suggest treating the coming weeks as an opportunity to review rather than rush. Revisit an unfinished conversation, reconsider an expensive commitment, or ask whether keeping the peace has meant overlooking your own needs. The recurring advice is straightforward: slow down, speak clearly, and leave room to change your mind.
Kaden Colton, a graduate student at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, is inviting Pagans with sensory impairments or disabilities to share their experiences through the Experiences with Disability, Paganism, and Inclusion Survey. Part of Colton’s thesis research, the survey explores participants’ experiences and practices within their Pagan traditions. Readers can learn more and participate through the online survey.
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Community Announcements
Hekate’s Sickle Festival Returns This November to the Salish Sea for a Three-Day Rite of Devotion, Mystery, and Community
The Aquarian Tabernacle Church (ATC) announces the return of Hekate’s Sickle Festival, a three-day Witch Retreat devoted to Isis, Hekatean practice, sacred arts, and community ritual, to be held November 6-8th at Camp Moran State Park on Orcas Island, Washington.
Set amid evergreen forest and wide water views in the San Juan Islands, Hekate’s Sickle Festival invites practitioners, seekers, and dedicated devotees to step into a concentrated weekend of ritual, teaching, devotional practice, and fellowship. The festival’s programming centers on reverent engagement with Hekate through guided rites, workshops, and community spaces designed to support both newcomers and long-time practitioners.
“While the amenities of the hotel are comfortable, Witches want to be in the wild woods, under the moon, with firelight, and drums,” said Belladonna LaVeau, Archpriestess and CEO of the Aquarian Tabernacle Church. “Hekate’s Sickle is a witch retreat, dedicated to magic, deepening your connection with deity and each other, so we can return to our lives strengthened by shared mystery and sacred work.”
Register now, as space in the camp is limited and spots are filling up fast. The Weekend Registration is all-inclusive; we feed you and give you a bed in the camp cabins for the weekend for only $299.
A Festival Designed for Real Bodies and Real Lives
ATC acknowledges that rustic state-park lodging can be a barrier for some attendees. The park does not have ADA-compliant facilities in the cabins. In response to community feedback, ATC is highlighting nearby off-site lodging options that offer a higher-comfort environment while keeping attendees close to the heart of the event.
- Doe Bay Resort (approximately 12 miles from Camp Moran): https://doebay.com/
- Rosario Resort (approximately 9 miles from Camp Moran): Rosario Resort | 1624 Rosario Road, Eastsound, WA, USA https://www.rosarioresort.com/
Because November is a quieter season in the San Juan Islands, these properties may be open to negotiating rates, and ATC can help coordinate pickup and drop-off between the festival site and either lodging location.
Registration
Registration is open now, and discount tickets are still available for a limited time.
- Register: http://sickle.atcwicca.org
About Aquarian Tabernacle Church
The Aquarian Tabernacle Church (ATC) is a 501(c)(3) religious organization serving a broad Pagan community across the United States, Canada, and South Africa. ATC supports spiritual education, seasonal festivals, devotional practice, and community-building through local branches and online resources.
“Bring us Witches with agency. Bring us transformation. Bring us rot and bloom.”
California — Coreopsis Journal has announced an international call for submissions for Spellbound, the first volume of a planned three-book fantasy anthology inspired by The Coven, a series of paintings by Ukrainian fantasy artist Inna Vjuzhanina.
Vjuzhanina, who lives and continues to work in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, created The Coven as part of what organizers describe as her personal spiritual and artistic journey. She is collaborating on the anthology with the team behind Coreopsis Journal. The project is being published by an independent Canadian publisher, with the first volume planned for 2027.
Each of the three proposed volumes will feature nine of Vjuzhanina’s paintings accompanied by original fiction and poetry inspired by the artwork. For Spellbound, writers select one of nine paintings and create a work in which the depicted Witch is essential to the story. The figure may be interpreted broadly—as protagonist, antagonist, deity, familiar, machine, memory, place, or something else entirely—but editors emphasize that the work should not function without the Witch at its center.
Submissions are open to writers worldwide. Fiction of up to 15,000 words and poetry of up to 50 lines will be considered, along with shorter and flash fiction when appropriate to the selected artwork. The project offers a token payment, with organizers hoping to increase compensation through fundraising.
An optional priority-reading process is available for Ukrainian and Ukrainian-diaspora writers and writers currently living in or displaced from war zones.
Editors say they are particularly interested in imaginative, emotionally engaging work featuring Witches with agency and transformation. They will not consider work relying on ethnic stereotypes, pseudo-Slavic caricatures, stock portrayals of Witches as evil hags or seductive villains, graphic sexual content, sexual violence, or gratuitous violence. Writers drawing upon living cultures or traditions outside their own are asked to approach the material with research and care.
Submissions for Spellbound close December 1 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.
More information, the nine paintings, and submission instructions are available from the Spellbound project at Worldsmyths. Questions may be directed to publishing@worldsmyths.com.
And they shared some Magical Music to write by …
EarthSpirit Announces Fall schedule
WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS — The EarthSpirit Community has shared its calendar of rituals and gatherings for the remainder of 2026, beginning with an Autumnal Equinox Ritual and Sacred Land Walk near EarthSpirit’s home in western Massachusetts.
Twilight Covening, EarthSpirit’s annual intensive spiritual retreat, will take place October 9–12 in the Berkshires. The community will return to Glenwood on October 25 for an Ancestor Ritual and Sacred Land Walk from 1 to 5 p.m., including a ritual walk at 1 p.m. and an Ancestor Ritual at 3 p.m.
EarthSpirit’s Samhain Ritual is scheduled for Friday, October 30, from 7:30 to 9 p.m. at the Williamsburg Grange in Williamsburg, Massachusetts. The community will close its 2026 seasonal ritual calendar with its Yule celebration. Specific details below:
EarthSpirit Samhain Ritual
Friday, October 30, 2026 7:30-9pm
Williamsburg Grange, Main St, Williamsburg, MA
Events and Announcements
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As always, our deepest gratitude to everyone who has brought us this far.
Deck: The Halloween Tarot, by Karin Lee, art by Kipling West, and published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.
Card: Six of Bats (Air/Swords)
The incoming week, in addition to being filled with the usually spooky fun for this time of year, is liable to hold promising signs of improvement and better times soon to arrive. Decisive action may be required to head off and overcome potentially difficult or troublesome situations. The need to let go of past issues and emotional baggage in order to move forward and on to greener pastures is also indicated.
Conversely, holding on to beliefs, practices, and relationships that no longer serve to provide positive aspects may prevent the ability to advance one’s personal practices, career, and relationships. Recognizing that a transition is already underway and embracing it rather than fighting it is likely to be key. Additionally, wrapping up loose ends and unfinished business is also indicated.
And of course, some seasonal music…
And we know whatever you’re wearing, you’ll be fabulous
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