Witches and Shapeshifters

In Singapore, Halloween is not considered a major public holiday even though some people do celebrate this event. Halloween originates from the British Isles and has been celebrated since ancient times in Ireland, Scotland and Britain. It goes by several other names according to the local customs. Some of them include: All Hallows Eve, Hallowtide, The Day of the Dead and All
Soul's Night. Being witches, this day is especially special to us.

We name the year as the Wheel, where a full cycle is marked by 8 Sabbats (or holy days). Historically, this calendar is created due to agricultural reasons, for each sabbat coincides with the Equinoxes or Solstices, indications of the movements of our God and Goddess (the Sun and the Moon). The early people use them as a guide to decide when to begin planting, when to harvest and when to expect long months of cold. This is a lot like the Chinese who follow the Lunar Year. However Dad and I do not adhere strictly to the Wheel. After all the sabbats are Celtic in nature, they are less applicable in warm climates like Singapore, but we still celebrate momentous sabbats like Samhain.

Halloween, or as we call it, Samhain (pronounced 'sow-in' which is Scottish for November) marks the first and the last Sabbat in the Wheel's cycle and it extends from October 31st to November 1st. It is a time where the Earth bids farewell to the God, knowing that he will once again be reborn of the Goddess and the cycle will continue. It is believed that on this day, which lies exactly between the Autumnal Equinox and Winter Solstice, the veils between the worlds are very thin and both the living and dead can commune by passing through to each other's realm. Contrary to what most think, witches do not use this day to summon the dead or generate chaos. For us, Samhain is a time we honor the dead and reflect upon our deeds for the past year. Some will perform forms of divination by reading tarots, others carry out rites to symbolize the end of summer, each observing this period as is befitting his or her traditions.

Preparations for Samhain start almost a week before the actual day. Dad and I will make trips together to Orchard road to shop for candles, dried flowers, wreaths of holy, new bed sheets and pillows. Then we will try our luck at Little India, searching for sandalwood incense, frankincense, colored powders that are used to draw runes and spices such as cinnamon and pepper seeds. Along the way, we pick up other items like lovely rugs that are embroidered with complex patterns, handcrafted cutlery and chinaware.

It is actually quite funny to see the expressions of the passer-bys and shopkeepers as they watch two grown men haggle like fishwives in the market and openly giggling with merriment when we find a good buy or some rare object; The puzzled looks of the salesgirls when we pay for the boxes of candles, the bewildered frowns when we beat seasoned housewives at a bargain, and the
disdainful glares of men who cannot stomach seeing their own species arguing heatedly over whether white is a nicer color for a bed sheet or yellow is more appealing.

Sometimes we do attract unwanted attention even though our dress code is usually casual, a plain T-shirt and a pair of faded jeans will suffice as it is more comfortable to juggle the heavy shopping bags. Suggestive looks from ladies who are window-shopping or waiting for friends; Men, most of them we guess could be dormant gays or bisexual, winking lecherously at us. This
occurs more frequently when Dad forces Papa to come along and I think it has to do with the flashy clothes that Papa always wears. He probably has two reasons for doing this, the obvious one being it annoys Dad extremely when people look appreciatively at Papa's scantily dressed attire of flimsy, semi-transparent top and snug pants that cling to the beautiful curve of his butt and slim waist. The other reason is it provides Papa with an excuse to be lazy because he can whine about how degrading it will be for a smartly dressed man like him to be seen burdened with loads of shopping bags tagging after the both of us like a panting dog, although Dad never
falls for such a lame, exaggerated excuse each time Papa brings it up.

Incidentally, as I have found out after a few years of living under my parents roof, Samhain also happens to be an important day for shapeshifters as well. According to Papa, a shapeshifter's concept of a year is divided into 3 parts, Go (the Future), Bu (the Past) and Ra (the Present). Go lasts for a few hours from the setting of the sun on December 31st to the morning of January 1st. Bu begins on October 31st and Ra is the rest of the year from January the 2nd to October 30th. This is modeled after the Ta'etokar, translated meaning The Great Trinity, which is a triangle linking three circles, the center of each circle forming a point on the triangle. Each circle symbolizes a certain period using a specific color scheme and design. Go is enshrouded in black billowing clouds, Bu is a spiral interwoven in a kaleidoscope of rainbow colors and Ra is represented like a bursting sun using a mixture of yellow, red and orange.

On the day itself, I prefer to don a flowing robe of black sewn with a solitary shooting star that forms a glittering tail of silver and white from the front to the back. Most people think black is evil, for us it is not. Black is an absence of color and refers to the night and outer space, the ultimate universe and a lack of falsehood. The dash of white is for my belief in pure spirituality. Dad likes a cloak of purple that has two fiery phoenixes, intermingled together in luminous threads of yellow as they soar to the heavens. The purple is for focusing his spiritual awareness and magickal abilities, whereas the yellow helps him in his divination.

Our house will be filled mostly with black and white candles (the former for the Goddess and the latter for the God), some of them hanging from holders suspended from the ceiling while others burning and shedding their comforting glow upon candlesticks and cupboards. A candle altar is setup in the living room where guests are invited to lit the special colored candle that mirrors
their wishes or hopes for family and friends on Samhain. Pink is for love and romance; Green signifies fertility, good luck and harmony; Red is to bless them with health, courage and strength and the list goes on. Fresh flowers like sunflower, tulips and lilies add splashes of colors to the house. Papa will take out his prized collections of animal deities - the great Bear spirit, the golden Antelope, and put them on display near the staircase that leads up to the second floor. All fans and air-conditioners are switched off as dusk falls and the windows are thrown open with the curtains drawn to allow Nature's cooling breeze to purify the house. The fare ranges from spicy herbal soup, roast chicken, deep fried fish soaked in lemon juice to sweet, soft almond tofu and apple pies.

Guests are normally close friends and extended families, some of them straight others lesbian or gay but all of them open-minded and discreet. However only very privileged people get to remain for our rituals at midnight because Dad feels these are sacred rites, not some public performance that everyone should see. Among the few who gets to stay are Antonio, Papa's nephew, Peter and Betty, my best friends, Tricia and Clarice, Dad's lesbian friends whom he met during a convention in Philippines. As my parents have a house in the Bukit Timah area, we do not have to care much about disturbing our neighbors if we celebrate well into the night, so long as we keep the noise down.

Most of our guests are very amicable and easy-going with the exception of Antonio. To others he is Jeremy's 25 year old nephew but he is actually a 100 years old Noble shapeshifter (Sha'vikar) who is studying under Papa. He is a million times more arrogant than Papa, with eyes that are set so high which makes me wonder how he manages to walk in the first place. The most irritating thing about him is that he thinks he is irresistible and no woman or gay man can ignore him if works his charm on them. By a stroke of bad luck, he also happens to be the first man that I have intimate physical contact with.

We do not observe the traditions of giving out candies or make jack-o-lanternsunlike some of our counterparts in the States and Europe do. But still when children of our guests ask for trick-or-treat, Dad will hand out lots of goodies like skeleton head lollipops and delicious pumpkin cookies. After dinner, Dad and I will take turns to divine various things for our guests; Some will ask about love and romance, others about career and health. There are a few requests we don't accept though like whether a certain plot to harm someone in the office or anything to that effect and we make it a point to tell our guests that what is seen is only a projection of what was. They are the ones who hold the power to change what is and what will be. Dad uses tarot cards whereas I go for the coins and tortoise shells that the ancient Chinese use. Papa will sit next to me as I perform divination, tapping my shoulders as I rattle the shell and closing his eyes as if in deep concentration. He calls it 'Energy Shifting', directing the 'channels' into me as I harness the power of Spirit, because he worries that I will make a fool of myself with my inexperience in the craft.

By 11 PM only the few selected people are around while my parents and I go about clearing up the place. An ornate table of dancing fairies crafted from brass and silver is laid with offerings of wine and fruit, our Feast For The Dead. We then proceed to prepare the altar. A quarter before 11, the group of us will sit down and meditate, looking in retrospect of what has gone by for the past year, remembering our mistakes and resolving not to repeat them again. By 12 PM, or as some describes it as the Witching Hour, we begin the ritual to commemorate our ancestors. Only Dad and I participate in this and the guests are asked to view at a distance. Papa and Antonio do not take part because they have their own rituals to perform.

A circle is cast around us and evil is dispelled by spraying salt. The guardians of the four corners, Earth, Fire, Water and Air are called upon to help us. We invite our forebears to step through the veil and cross from the other world to join us for the day, as we chant,

And so it is, we gather again,
To give our humble offerings to those who come.
Whom do we invite, our Ancients, our Ancestors?
We call them by name, Iluvar Xenovich

Here they come, our Grandmothers, our Grandfathers
Where ever the country, where ever the land
They leave us not, to travel alone.
Flesh of our flesh, bone of our bone!

Welcome within to our humble abode
Our hearth is your hearth and welcome to thee;
Old tales to tell and new visions to see!

After which we then light a fat candle that has protection runes inscribed on it. The basic rune is a series of rings, each embedded in the other. The blessing chant goes like this,

We Invoke The Divine Three:
To Protect, To Purify, To Prosper
The Household, The Home, The Hearth
This Night, Each Night, Every Night!

When the rite is completed, we then include our guests in a final thank you to the deities for their kind patronage in the past year. This more or less concludes our celebrations for Samhain.