Dead Man’s Garden

ANEMONE: Sometimes depicted on a memorial to symbolize the brief flowering of life and an early death.

ASPHODEL: Believed by the ancient Greeks to be the favourite food of the dead, these flowers were thought to grow in one of the fields of the underworld.

CHRYSANTHEMUM: In many European countries, including Italy and France, this flower is associated with death.

HOREHOUND: This plant was one of several listed as sacred to the ancient Egyptian god Anubis and is useful for summoning the spirits of the dead.

LILY: Associated with resurrection, lilies were used widely in Victorian funerary iconography and can be found decorating many modern tombstones as well.

POPPY: A plant sacred to the god Morpheus, the poppy is the source of opium, which relieves pain and induces dreams. Its association with death is two-fold: First, it presents death as a relief from pain. Second, it presents death as a great sleep or dream.

WILLOW: Sacred to Hecate, the willow has ancient ties to the dead in both Western and Eastern traditions.

YEW: A poisonous tree whose dark, brooding greenery seems perfectly at home looming over a lonely grave.

Symbols of Death

ANCHOR: A symbol of hope that one can cling to through troubled times.

BOOK: The Book of Life, wherein one’s destiny is written.

BROKEN CHAIN: When this symbol appears upon a memorial, it represents the bonds of family that have been sundered through death.

CIRCLE: A symbol of eternity. When complete and whole, the circle represents the hope for unending life in the next world. A broken circle signifies that life has ended.

COVERED URN: A symbol of death and mourning used from Roman times onward.

CROWN: A symbol of glory in the afterlife and victory over death.

LIT TORCH: The flame of life. When upended, the torch indicates that life has been snuffed out.

TREE STUMP: The severing of life, often before its proper time.

Elements of the Death Altar

* In its most basic form, an altar is merely a table or raised structure that provides a specialized space where matter and spirit converge. The altar will become the focal point of death energies in your home, creating a threshold between the world of the living and the world of the dead where you can more effectively pursue the Twilight Path.

* The first and most basic step is to find a table, desk, or similar structure that can serve as the base of your altar. Consider buying a piece of cloth to drape over it. Good colours include black, purple, and red. Midnight blue can also work.

* Set up the base of the altar in a room that you can close off, so you will not be disturbed in your work, against a western wall. The west was the traditional realm of the dead to Egyptians.

* Find reproductions of the four elements: earth (salt or dirt - dirt from a cemetery is especially effective), air (smoke from incense), water (chalice or goblet - symbolic of both blood and tears) and fire (two candles: black and white; they serve a dual symbolic purpose. The lit wicks will represent the element of fire upon the altar, the element that both destroys and renews. The candles themselves will represent the forces of life and death. Place the white candle on the far right corner of your altar. Place the black candle opposite this, on the far left. Together, these represent the pillars of the threshold between life and death, and this is the conceptual space ultimately evoked by your altar).

* The centerpiece of your altar will be a mirror. This should be relatively large, at least large enough so you can look into it and see your whole face. The mirror represents the Otherside, the realm of the spirits, which is the energetic echo of our own physical world. Hang it securely on the wall above your altar, directly between the candles of life and death. You will also need a piece of lace cloth large enough to completely cover the mirror. This veil should be black or some other appropriately dark colour, but it can’t be opaque. When you drape it over the mirror, it should obscure the reflection slightly, but you should still be able to see partial images through it. The veil represents the point of separation between the world of spirit and the world of flesh.
* Memento mori were objects or symbols used in the Middle Ages and beyond to remind people about the ever-present reality of death in their lives. The phrase is Latin and generally translated, “Remember that you must die.” (Skulls, willow branches or branches of cypress - trees often planted in graveyards; willow is sacred to Hecate, hourglasses - the fleeting nature of life, poppies - the source of opium, symbolize dreams and visions as well as the sleep of death, bones.

The Colours of Death

BLACK: In Western culture, this has become the colour most widely associated with funerals and mourning. If the Grim Reaper is depicted, he is most often portrayed wearing robes of midnight black.

GREEN: According to certain Irish traditions, green is the colour of faeries and the Otherworld, and is thus related to the spirits of the dead.

PURPLE: In Victorian times, the horses in a funeral procession wore purple plumes upon their heads. Elements of this practice still linger in the purple colour of the flags used to designate the cars in a funeral procession.

RED: The crimson colour of fresh blood, red has associations with violence, death, and passion.

WHITE: The colour of the funeral shroud. In Eastern cultures, white - not black - is the colour of death.

Prayer of the Dead

“We come from beyond the stars,
And beyond the stars we shall return,
Ennobled and possessed of great powers,
If we each prove ourselves worthy.
To one who is a hero of our people,
One who has done great things, learned much,
Death is but a portal to the Godhead
Which each of us can attain, in the fullness of time.
It is said that the Great Lords of High Valhalla
Once trod the sacred groves, and were as us.
Saluted the fierce and honourable wolf,
Honoured the raven as messengers of the Gods,
And learned wisdom. So shall it be with us.
Know that though we change form and essence
We shall be ever yet the same.
Know that, sooner or later, for each and all of us,
Our own divine and everlasting Sparks of life
Shall go beyond.
Shall range among a million million worlds.
Like great Odin himself, we shall eventually become as Gods,
To be in all times, and in all places.
This is Odin’s message to each and all of us.
Hail Odin!”

Samhain Ritual

“Ever-present at this time is the beautiful,
Yet dark and fearsome Ruler of the Realms
Of the Dead, known to men as Hellia or Hel.
She gathers in the souls at twilight’s end,
And gives to each, what each deserves.
Without hate, without love, without pity.
Hail, Queen of the Dead!

Let me now place flames before the
Portals of the East and West,
For at this night the veil between
The living and the dead are thin,
And in times long past did the Dark Queen
Lead the spirits and the shades on procession
Through the dark forests, the night,
And the storms
Of this Middle Earth of humankind.
So let me now, in symbol, open the path
That leads between the worlds.”

Light the candles in the appropriate colours in the West and East.
Pour the drink into the chalice.

“On this night, O Great Ones,
Do I offer thee mead in lieu of blood,
For the times have changed.
Yet our honour and reverence to Thee
Remains as unchanged now
As it was in ages past.
On this night may we drink to welcome
The Gods of High Valhalla, and the ghosts
Of those who were of our people
In times past.”

Drink now in honour of the dead, those whom you have loved, and those you know not, yet all who were your kindred.

The Crossing

* A Wiccan funeral

* A Rite of Remembrance

* Can be done every year.
* Samhain is the perfect time.

* One can symbolize the crossing in a myriad of ways:

EXAMPLE #1

Use a white rose for each departed loved one (white symbolizes the eternal), and to speak to each of them for a few moments, before letting go of the rose in some symbolic way. Perhaps floating it on the water in your cauldron.


EXAMPLE #2

Scatter the petals on your altar. Then release them later outside to the wind.