Samhain Events

Here are just some of the Samhain events to be found around the UK in the coming days. Don't forget to look up local Moots for meetings and events. Information on these can generally be found via a Google search, Facebook pages, The Pagan Federation etc. 

Check out the Helpful Links page of this website for more information on Pagan and Witchcraft organisations. 

Bristol
Bridge Farm - 31st October
1900-2200hrs
Samhain Fire Ritual & Ecstatic Dance

Glastonbury
Chalice Well - 31st October
1600-1800hrs
Floating candles for the Ancestors in the Vesica Pool 

Keswick
Whinlatter Forest - 1st November
1900hrs
Fire & Cacao Ceremony

London
Natural History Museum - 31st October 
1845-2230hrs
Halloween Party

Luton
The Barn, Woodside - 5th November
0900-1300hrs
Samhain Celebration Ceremony

Middlesbrough
Dorman's Club - 30th October 
1700-2100hrs 
Wolf & Witch Night Market 

Papworth Everard
The Wild Edges - 29th October
1930-2100hrs
Sacred Samhain Gathering

Suffolk
Woodbridge Community Hall - 4th November
1030-1600hrs
Samhain Market

Have a wonderful Samhain, however you may celebrate. 

The Woodland Trust’s 2022 Tree of the Year

On Friday I learned from @thewitchesstone that this tree - the yew from Waverley Abbey in Farnham, Surrey - has won The Woodland Trust’s #treeoftheyear 2022. @woodlandtrust

I’m particularly happy about this because it’s a tree that has featured heavily in my lifetime. I’m originally from this part of Surrey, and this tree, thought to be more than 750 years old, has watched over many happy picnics and family days out. I have even featured on the Goths Up Trees website in February 2012 cradled in the branches of this beauty - as seen in the photo below. @gothsuptrees

This tree won with an impressive 16% of the vote, and I’m not surprised; this tree seems to be known by many people near and far. The Waverley Abbey tree will now go on to represent the UK in the European Tree of the Year 2023 contest.

Have you ever visited this tree?

Many people don’t realise that one of the scenes from zombie film 28 Days Later, where the fugitives enjoy a brief countryside idyll down in the southwest before heading up the M1 to Manchester, was filmed here. 

Photo submitted to Goths Up Trees by Neil Geddes Ward.

Fabulous Folklore: The Crooked House

This is The Crooked House in Lavenham, Suffolk. It dates back to 1395, and it is believed that it is the inspiration behind the old folk poem:

“There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile,

He found a crooked sixpence against a crooked stile;

He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse,

And they all liv’d together in a little crooked house.”

The Crooked House has been used as a gallery and by an arts, history and antiques outfit. It is also used for filming and events.

I don’t live in Suffolk any more, but I really miss visiting Lavenham. It is considered to be Britain’s best preserved medieval village, and was East Anglia’s most famous wool town. As such, tiny Lavenham was once Britain’s 14th richest town, and among the twenty most wealthy settlements in the medieval period. Lavenham has a rich cultural heritage, and is known worldwide as a film location for Harry Potter.

There are other beautiful buildings to see here - the Guildhall, Molet House (which has a five pointed star in the doorway), and the Old Grammar School. De Vere House, another incredible building, was the home of Elizabeth Scrope, Countess of Oxford. She was the second wife of John de Vere, 13th earl of Oxford, and was tried and then held under house arrest for Witchcraft in 1473.

Would you live in this house? What’s your favourite place to visit?

NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: Place Names 

Greeting the Sun After the Longest Night

I hope you all had a beautiful Solstice! 

The morning after the Winter Solstice we went to Stonehenge to welcome the return of the Sun.

This ancient monument is located on Salisbury Plain, and historians are not entirely sure what its intended purpose was. It is aligned with the Sun and may have been used for working out the farming calendar. Other considerations are that it was a healing centre, or dedicated to the world of our ancestors.

Whatever its intended use, it was incredible to walk in the footsteps of our Neolithic ancestors today, and it was good to be back, as I’ve not celebrated Winter Solstice at Stonehenge for ten years.

It was extremely cold, we are still defrosting!

What did you do to celebrate the Solstice? 

NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: Yule Evergreens 

NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: The Battle of the Holly & Oak Kings 

NEXT - Pagan Holidays: Imbolc

Review: Witchy Birthday Cake by Shannon Holdsworth

Yesterday we went for a surprise birthday trip out and there were surprises galore!

My husband had planned an amazing trip to Stanton Moor to see the Nine Ladies Stone Circle, but he had also arranged for us to meet my best friend and her partner there - and they gave me this incredible cake.

Isn’t it amazing? It has sugar amethysts and is decorated with runes, ivy, candles and a pentagram - I was absolutely blown away; it’s a total masterpiece. The cake was light and fluffy with a beautiful buttercream filling. So delicious.

We had a fantastic trip to this incredible place, and I’ll be sharing photos throughout the week.

Hope you’re all having a lovely weekend!

Cake by Shannon Holdsworth

NEXT - Review: Aromafume Incense Brick Burner