Halloween Day with an Indian Witch

Anuja 

Anuja Gala is  a modern witch stays in the very heart of  Lokhandwala upmarket area of Mumbai. She has a shop in Sunswept building, she  specializes in angel cards reading, runic forecast, crystal gazing, healing sessions. Often she performs the spell. According to her, Halloween is the day that noble souls roam the Earth. The witches draw their energy via a ritual to cast a spell for world peace. There is crisis around the globe, terror is threatening the very existence of humanity. Halloween marks the end of the harvest season in west and harbinger of winter. Straddling the line between fall and winter, plenty and paucity, life and death, Halloween is a time of celebration and superstition. It is thought to have originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off roaming ghosts. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor all saints and martyrs; the holiday, All Saints’ Day, incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain. The evening before was known as All Hallows’ Eve and later Halloween. Over time, Halloween evolved into a secular, community-based event characterized by child-friendly activities such as trick-or-treating. In a number of countries around the world, as the days grow shorter and the nights get colder, people continue to usher in the winter season with gatherings, costumes and sweet treats. India like Valentine Day gradually making inroad into urban India.

Anuja informs that Halloween  is also called Witch or Wizard’s New Year. She says “Last year, our spells were very successful; this year too we are confident that the spirits will listen to our prayer. All energies will combine and pray for a noble cause and the good of the universe,” says Gala. Explaining the details of what they will do, she says, “We have arranged traditional Halloween games like apple bobbing, pumpkin carving and a fancy dress competition where one is free to dress like a witch or a ghost or a zombie. We will end the service with offerings to the Universe and Mother Earth. These will be pumpkin or apples or corn as a tradition that is followed by all Wiccan witches and wizards around the world.”

Witches or Wiccans do not believe in an ultimate source of good or evil. There is no all good benevolent father watching over us or a devil whispering in our ears tempting us to sin. In fact, there is no concept of sin within Wicca. The  believe that each person is responsible for their own actions. Some Wiccans believe in fate or destiny, others do not. Anita is one of those who believe that  each one has a personal destiny. She also believes that as humans every one of us has free will to make choices that work towards that destiny. Wiccans in general believe in protecting the environment, for the Earth is mother, and not causing needless harm to other humans or other living things. This does not mean that all wiccans live in mud huts and ride bikes instead of cars. That is a bit silly in today’s world. What is does mean that they strive to make as small of an impact on the environment as we reasonably can. She  doesn’t think that she  needs to go into how she does that here. Just go to any environmental group’s site and they will outline how you go about that there. Last but not least is the importance of the elements in Wicca.

Wicca recognizes five elements. To understand Wicca you must understand the elements. Those being earth, air, fire and water which is ruled by the fifth element, spirit. These elements also have directional correspondence to them. Earth being north, air being east, fire being south, water being west and spirit being at the center. These elements are also assigned other attributes as well. These are a few of them. Earth is stability, grounding, peace the antithesis to chaos. Air is intellect, thought, clarity. Fire is energy, passion, desire, will and courage. Water is purity, love, compassion and introspection. Earth and water are the Ying to air and fire’s yang. Also, they represent the following:
North = Earth, old age, nature, feminine,
East = Air, birth, intellect, the Sun, masculine
South = Fire, youth, passion, sex, masculine
West = Water, mid- life, the land of the death, feminine

Witch