Ancestors and Apples

As Samhain approaches, she gathers the apples from the witch’s orchard, thinking all the while of the ancestors. She lets them come to her as the veils thin, allowing her thoughts to become theirs, so she can hear their voices and heed their wisdom. She will feed the ancestors with the witch apples. And as she peels them and turns them into pies, casts spells with them, and places them at the crossroads or where the faery places are, she gives thanks for all those who came before her: those who planted the trees, the gateways to the other worlds and those who lived in darker times, who kept the wisdom of the old blood and the old ways alive.

She knows that now the sun’s power will ebb, the night’s dominance begins, and the harvests will dwindle until she must live and work with what has been stored, rather than what can be taken from the outside. So, you too must prepare — what are you storing, not only within your magickal work but within your own self? What ancestral wisdoms would you do well to heed? What can you offer to them? What can you give thanks for? And what can you plan to leave behind when you are no longer in the same form your soul has taken this lifetime?

At this time, honour those who walked the path before you, the teachers, those loved, those you feared, for all have led you to this place. Listen to the whispers from beyond the graves, and feed those who dwell between the worlds. Store and plan, preserve and prepare, and know that your harvest must come from inside you as much as it will come from good Mother Earth herself.

Deceased loved ones. Gratitude for the past. Memories. Visions. Ancestral wisdom. DNA, family, blood, traditions, and inheritance. The harvest, and what we offer from it.

Forgetting the lessons of the past. Feeling disconnected from your bloodline. Thinking of ancestors as being very far away, that those who have passed are unreachable.