Halloween ─ Customs, Recipes, Spells

It's a time for children to dress up as princesses and pirates and go from house to house, calling, "Trick or Treat!" Their eyes will get big as they are rewarded with treasures and sweets. And perhaps you will celebrate Halloween by going to a costume party or a haunted house.

But did you ever wonder where all this holiday gaiety came from and what it means? Silver RavenWolf (I'm sure you know her!) reveals the answers in Halloween.

The book begins by sharing the history of where this harvest holiday came from. Did you know it was originally called Samhain? Samhain means "the end of summer". You'll find out what the ancient people did to celebrate this holiday and how the ideas about it have changed over the years. Did you know it has really become wildly popular in the U.S. only over the last 100 years? It's true! You'll also find out why ghosts and skeletons, jack-o'-lanterns and vampires are associated with October 31 of each year.

Halloween shows you lots of neat stuff you can do, either by yourself or at a party. First you can learn to do divination (or foreseeing the future) in a variety of ways. You can use pumpkin seeds or magick mirrors, nuts or tap water to find out what is going to happen.

There are all sorts of recipes for Halloween treats and fun you can have in the kitchen, making things like "tuna ghouls" or "magickal mice." They're tasty, too!

Next you can do real magick. There are spells here for protection, love, prosperity and much more. Finally, you'll learn rituals to honor the dead.

Honor the spirit of this hallowed harvest holiday with the rituals, recipes, and spells you'll find in Halloween.

Silver RavenWolf (Pennsylvania) is a nationally recognized leader and elder of Wicca, and her writing has been instrumental in guiding the future of one of the fastest-growing faiths in America today. The author of seventeen books, she has been interviewed by The New York Times, Newsweek Magazine, and theWall Street Journal, and her work has been featured in numerous publications, includingBust Magazine, the Baltimore Sun, the St. Petersburg Times, theNational Review, Publishers Weekly, Body & Soul Magazine, and Teen Lit Magazine.

Her many titles include the bestselling Solitary Witch, Teen Witch,To Ride A Silver Broomstick, To Stir A Magick Cauldron, To Light A Sacred Flame,American Folk Magick, Angels: Companions in Magick, Silver’s Spells for Prosperity, Silver's Spells for Protection, Silver's Spells for Love, Halloween,and the Witches’ Night Out teen fiction series. Her new book Hedge Witch is forthcoming from Llewellyn in September 2008.