Salem for Samhain!

I've spent the last two weeks in Mass working in our center, but took advantage of the opportunity to drive over to Salem on Halloween, which is the witch's New Year, Samhain. It's a time to respect and honor our ancestors, get rid of excess baggage, and set goals for ourselves. As you should very well know, Salem, MA was the site of the Witchcraft Hysteria of 1692. Nineteen people were murdered either by hanging or being pressed to death, all on the conviction of witchcraft. Most of which were found guilty based off of spectral evidence, nothing tangible. Now, I'm not going to go into a history lesson here, but these men and women were innocent people murdered by fear and bigotry. I've always had a fascination with Salem, as I've been visited by Thomas Newton, the King's Attorney during the trials... so anyway, my hubby came up to MA and we headed over to Salem for the day.

One hundred thousand people were in attendance. It was totally INSANE, but it was enthralling! I had a reading, which was amazing. The reader and myself both ended up in tears. She even pulled out the fact that I was vegan. It was definitely the best reading I've ever had in my life.

We went up to Gallows Hill, the area where the hangings were, in a procession. The Temple of Nine Wells had a Samhain ritual, and then had a candle light vigil walk back into the town which ended at the Salem Witch Memorial. Of course along the way there were people preaching that we were going to hell, and God hates sinners.. can't go one day without the hate!

Here's a video with some snippets of video we took throughout the day.