Black Stone Sanctuary

Happy Halloween and Samhain. Some Northern polytheists may celebrate Winter Nights but this varies by tradition. I light a candle and incense and say prayers to my ancestors of blood and spirit. However you celebrate whether secularly or religiously, enjoy your night and this entry into the coming winter season.

Below is a glimpse of a corner of my ancestor altar.

I've been quiet lately as I dealt with a death in the family, a funeral, and related duties for the past month. 

Thanks to @trishd for "holding down the fort" for the BSS channel.

Now that I'm back to my daily routine, I'll be casting more in the channel and returning to our publishing queue.

A bit late, but Trish has inspired me to share an old photo of my own ancestor shrine from 2012. 

I like the similarity of the skull candles in the lower left corners of our photos!

Artsy-fartsy dog mom. Owner of /acrafterscove, /trishd, and I collab with /blxstonesnctuary. trishd.bsky.social

Writer, senior editor, music journalist, polytheist, GenX eldergoth, + Moxiesplainer. /blxstonesnctuary https://tinyurl.com/Black-Stone-Wordsmith

It's lovely to be back. 💜 

Looking at them more closely, I think they're the exact same candle design but yours is white and mine is black. Both are beautiful. I remember that I got the candles on my altar from a Halloween seasonal sale at Hirons (drugstore + craft store) in Eugene, OR. 

On my shrine there's an amethyst, which was once owned by my father. In the lower right (in front of the photos of my Swedish great-grandparents) there's a mousepad with "Sweden" and a photo of Kalmar Slott (Castle).

So glad you're back and up to casting. That's another beautiful altar by you. Aren't those candles marvelous? I love how dark yours is. I think I got mine from one of the Halloween stores that pop up seasonally. The silk flowers are in honor of my grandmother who liked to make brightly colored arrangements.