Otherworldly + a Playlist
Words by: Maggie Laubscher | Music by: Abby Yemm
Photo by Cassandra the Creatrix of @cassandracastaneda. This print is part of her Halloween Witchy Print Sale, a series of haunting limited edition pieces.
Welcome to Halloween season, Nellies. It’s the season of witches and rituals and full moons. ‘It’s a festival of fantasy, a celebration of otherness,’ author Paula Guran explains. ‘The one time each year when the mundane is overturned in favor of the bizarre.’ This is the mindset we bring to the season. It’s not just a night of dress-up and children trick-or-treating: it’s a season of otherworldliness.
The root of Halloween goes back thousands of years. Tribes in Central Europe, called Celts, celebrated their new year on November 1. The day before, they had a festival called Samhain when they believed the barrier between the physical and spirit world was weakest. On this day, they believed the dead returned to earth. They gathered in the evening to light bonfires and offer animal sacrifices. Some disguised themselves in costumes of animal heads and skins to frighten away spirits. Jack-o'-lanterns were also used to frighten evil spirits.
Banquet tables were laid with untouched food to placate unwelcome spirits. As time passed, people began dressing up as the unwelcome spirits in jest, in exchange for the banquet food - one precursor to trick-or-treating. Trick-or-treating went from this ritual to ‘souling’: poor people visiting the houses of wealthier families on Samhain and receiving soul cake pastries in exchange for praying for the families’ dead. In Scotland and Ireland, children would go in costume to houses and first perform a ‘trick’ - sing a song, recite a poem, tell a joke - before collecting a treat. Irish and Scottish immigrants to America then helped popularize Halloween here.
Over the centuries, the holiday has evolved into what we know it as today. In the Christian faith, the date of Halloween marks the beginning of three days of remembering the dead. Outside that faith, Halloween is a time of ritual and decadence and otherworldliness.
Continue reading for some local experts to guide you through the season. And remember, the next full moon falls on Halloween - a rare treat. In the words of the queen, ‘I charge my crystals in a full moon.’ Get ready, Nellies.
Moon Mamas KC
Moon Mamas KC is a local initiative that celebrates women and community. It’s centered around women gathering in ceremony, celebration, nature, love for self and others, and love for life’s mysteries. The group holds full moon events and other gatherings.
*Update: Moon Mamas is hosting a Sensual Yoga and Cacao ceremony on November 13th, 6-9pm. Sign up via DM on their Instagram.
Image: sourced from @moonmamaskc Instagram, photo taken by @kelleyphoto
Steffany Barton
Steffany Barton is an experienced spiritual medium based in Kansas City. She offers private and small group readings, helping people connect with guardian angels, spirit guides, and loved ones on the Other Side.
Image: sourced from @steffanybarton Instagram
The Violet Vision
The Violet Vision is the brainchild of Emily Graham, a local energy healer and Reiki master. Graham specializes in card readings, meditation sessions, chakra balancing, and other energy work.
Image: sourced from @thevioletvision Instagram
Mark by Mark Allen
Mark Allen is a KC artist and mystic. Allen specializes in tarot, astrology, Reiki and home cleansings. Beyond individual sessions, Allen offers personalized astrology charts with interpretation and coaching available, as well as well-crafted home cleansing and blessing kits.
Image: sourced from Mark Allen’s website, one of his stunning personal works of art
Moth & Candle
Moth & Candle is a local tarot studio created by Laura Pensar, an artist and writer. Pensar has been studying tarot since she was 12 years old. She reads and teaches tarot, cartomancy, candle reading, and tea leaf reading.
Image: sourced from @mothandcandle Instagram.
