Swinging Watch Spring Halloween Note Halloween, also known as All Hallows' Eve, is widely celebrated on the evening of October 31st. It is a holiday that has its roots in ancient Celtic traditions and has evolved over the years to become a fun and spooky festival celebrated by people of all ages. One popular tradition during Halloween is the carving of pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns. This custom originated from an Irish folktale about a man named Stingy Jack, who would play tricks on the devil and ended up being trapped between heaven and hell. People began to carve scary faces into turnips and other vegetables to ward off evil spirits, and over time, this practice shifted to using pumpkins. Another well-known Halloween tradition is the practice of dressing up in costumes.

Sacred Dance in Pagan Practice

“All she wants to do is dance, dance, dance…”. Yes, that pertains to witches and Pagans, too! Within a Pagan circle or community, sacred dance is often incorporated in ritual and ceremony. Therefore, energy is raised and we connect with Majick and The Goddess in a special way.

Movement is the most valuable and beneficial gift we can give ourselves! Movement is innate, undeniable and powerful! Additionally, dance is a beautiful manifestation of movement, including rhythm, full body involvement, joy and often sharing of energy.

Crowwommen love to dance in Ritual

The Crowommyn are certainly musicians and singers; we also dance, for ourselves, and in the larger Pagan community. As you might expect, many songs we have written and recorded refer to dance, as movement has a role in our spiritual lives. Here are a few of our dance-oriented songs, according to the album where they can be found. We hope you will use any of these songs in your own rituals and ceremonies, as you move to your inner dance magic.

• Crow Goddess: Let’s Go Down, Song of Beltane, We Won’t Sleep Tonight
• Crow Magic: Dance of Dreams, I Am Flame, Sing Ho! For the Mead, Ecomancy, Bless our Mead
• Seasons: We Turn the Wheel, Dance of Spring, Beltane Spirits, Join Together, Celebrate Summer

Of these, one that really celebrates sacred dance is Dance of Dreams which came to Alane in a magical way at Dragonfest‘s Freedom Circle, during an epic dance and drum jam.

Our other song that explores the sacred nature of dance is Laura’s Dance of Spring. “Dance with the Goddess the maiden of spring”!

One venue for dance is within sacred spaces. My background includes facilitating dance/movement for ceremony and ritual, which is a powerful contribution to a sacred occasion. I have worked this way in a various church settings, but more often with Pagan and Wiccan ritual. Sometimes we create the magical Spiral Dance. There are also other dance opportunities for raising energy and offering praise to the Goddess and the God. When we truly forget ourselves and allow the movement and music to rise within us, we are offering the best of our human selves to Deity.

Let’s encourage everyone to dance!

As a dance teacher, choreographer and performer, I have worked with many different populations of people to create dance opportunities. These include college students and community members, elders, therapeutic groups, persons with intellectual challenges and individuals with schizophrenia. As soon as one releases the notion that we have to be “good” dancers to be able to dance, then this wonderful activity is available to all manner of folks.

In fact, I invite you to reject that too-common phrase; “dance as if no one is watching”. What’s the message here? That when you dance, you should be so embarrassed about the way you look that you don’t want to be seen? That our individual movement style is something to be ashamed of? That is a defeatist attitude! Let us replace that phrase with; “dance as if everyone is dancing!” I suggest that we all reject judgement about how we look when we dance. That evaluation may be OK for professional dancers that we pay good money to watch, but not for us normal people, for whom movement is our birthright!

Pagan tradition includes many dancing deities

Notably, we recognize that Dance is a special talent of many deities celebrated by the Pagan community. For instance, Pan, the goat-featured God of revelry is often called “The Lord of the Dance”. Can’t you picture him, playing his pipes and leading a merry dance of festive followers in the springtime madness of love and lust? Another deity, also named Lord of the Dance, is Shiva in his aspect as Nataraja. We see Shiva stomping his feet in a dance of creation and destruction…that’s how powerful his dancing is! Additionally, one of the Muses, Terpsichore, is the Mistress of both song and dance.

Let Spirit move us all

Recently, I have been the originator and facilitator of the Spirit Movers, a group within the congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Durango in Colorado. As many of you know, the UU church is very Pagan-friendly. I feel that my membership in this organization enhances my spiritual practice. With a group of women and men, we co-create movement that is then offered during some of our worship services, accompanied by hymn or reading. It is in the spirit of sharing our work that the dancers take part in these services. Here’s the link to my video.

I encourage you to include dance and movement in your own rituals, both solitary and communal. Move around the central altar or fire, singing, beating rhythm with your rattles and drums. Snake a line of dancers through a sacred grove or meadow. In these ways, we are all creating a sacred circle, within which our Majick strengthens and infuses our deepest selves. So, dance on! Dance as if everyone is dancing! Dance to the drumbeat of your body, dance your inner joy, your fiercest moods…and the Goddess and the Lord of the Dance will bless you!

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The Power of the Spiral Dance

The spiral is a common shape in nature. We see examples of spirals in pine cones, pineapples, hurricanes, seashells, and more. Why is this the case? The Franklin Institute in Philly says plants use a spiral form because “they are constantly trying to grow but stay secure. A spiral shape causes plants to condense themselves and not take up as much space, causing them to be stronger and more durable against the elements.”

The spiral allows not only a plant to stay secure but humans too, as is reflected in our psychological growth. Carl Jung said, “Psychologically you develop in a spiral; you always come over the same point where you have been before, but it is never exactly the same – it is either above or below.” In the quote’s context, he’s speaking about how internal healing is not linear, but this sort of spiral healing is something people potentially can experience externally too. One example is the Spiral Dance.

The Spiral Dance (also known as the grapevine dance and the weaver’s dance) is a group dance practiced in neopagan circles, especially in feminist Wicca and the associated "Reclaiming" movement. It emphasizes community, rebirth, and raises power in a ritual, according to Starhawk, a witch who wrote a book, The Spiral Dance, in 1979.

The first Spiral Dance was performed at Fort Mason in San Francisco and was intended to meld art, music, and politics as well as to celebrate the publication of Starhawk’s book, according to Georgie Craig. “Dancing was key to the original Spiral Dance,” she wrote. “Medea Maquis created a tree of life with the faces of the Triple Goddess around which the Goddess invokers danced.”

Since then, the Spiral Dance has turned into a yearly ritual and currently exists as a Samhain celebration to honor the dead and celebrate rebirth. And yes, it also took place during the pandemic, when it was held online!

The dance usually involves a drumming group and a chant or song in addition to the dancers. All members hold hands and follow a leader in a counter-clockwise motion using a grapevine step. As the leader nearly closes the circle, the person whips around and begins moving clockwise while facing the rest of the dancers. By continuing the formation, every dancer in the line will eventually be face to face with every other dancer. In this way, the Spiral Dance itself is an embodied practice of healing not being linear.

I was first introduced to Starhawk in 1998 via an undergraduate teacher and mentor. We went to hear a lecture by, move with, and meet Starhawk at UPenn. When I moved to the West Coast, I participated in the Spiral Dance regularly and entered an alternative state of consciousness. It was like a psychedelic experience without the external substance. The group experience was important…seeing all the faces….feeling the hands I was holding and the energy that both surrounded me and was being generated from within and without.

The richness of the Spiral Dance stems from not only the movements and the crowd of people, but also the ecopsychology aspect. Ecopsychology asserts the human psyche can be more deeply understood through and with a relationship to nature. The Spiral Dance invokes nature by acknowledging the presence of our environment as a living being that we interact with. In that way, the Spiral Dance is spiritual, but also it mirrors healing taking place among community because people are joined together, holding hands, and supporting one another in the process.

It goes back to a principle I affirm over and over again: It takes a village to be a human. If you’re at all interested in the Spiral Dance, I recommend researching it further and watching the YouTube link of 2021’s Spiral Dance. Who knows? It may potentially bring healing and integration.

References

Craig, Georgie. “The Beginning of the Spiral Dance.” Reclaiming Quarterly. http://www.reclaimingquarterly.org/web/spiraldance/spiral4.html. Accessed April 5, 2022.

Starhawk. The Spiral Dance. New York: HarperCollins, 1979.

Divine Mother Prayer Dance

The Divine Mother Prayer Dance is a ritual dance that was created especially for Swami Radha, of Yasodhara Ashram.

In her secular life, Swami Radha was a renowned professional dancer. This is a skill she turned to devotion as sacred dance to the Divine.

The dance is performed with Mudras - that is, sacred and meaningful gestures of the body. Unfortunately, these are very difficult to explain in written form. If you'd like to learn the Divine Mother Prayer Dance mudras, it is taught through Radha Centres and Yasodhara Ashram. (Links open in new windows.)

But even when recited without the dance, the Divine Mother Prayer has incredible potential to reconnect you with the Goddess Within.

I recommend saying or dancing it several times in a row, before beginning your day.

This is the short form of the Divine Mother Prayer. There is a longer version, below, that invokes the Goddess in four of Her many forms, and expands the devotional part.

Divine Mother Prayer

O Divine Mother May all my speech and idle talk be mantra All actions of my hands be mudra All eating and drinking be the offerings of oblations unto Thee All lying down prostrations before Thee May all pleasures be as dedicating my entire self unto Thee May everything I do be taken as Thy worship O Divine Mother

Divine Mother Prayer Dance (The Whole Thing)

O Divine Mother In the form of Annapurna, the giver of food, we worship Thee. May we ever be grateful for the nourishment of the teachings.

In the form of Lakshmi, you hold the Lotus of Higher Consciousness, which is rooted in the mud of earthy existence. Bless me.

As Durga, seated on the Lion's throne, you courageously slew the buffalo-headed demon of egoism and pride. Though you are fierce, yet we need not fear you. You seek only to liberate us from selfish ignorance.

As the Goddess Saraswati, you play the Veena, and inspire us with the heavenly lure of Divine Inspiration. Goddess of Wisdom, come to me.

O Divine Mother May all my speech and idle talk be mantra All actions of my hands be mudra

I place down the Siva Linga, and pick up rose petals for my worship. I scatter the petals in gratitude for thy Divine Abundance.

Placing down the flower basket, I lift up the sacred lamp. I shine it in all directions, ever seeking a vision of Thee.

Placing down the lamp I pick up the sacred bell. May it ring clear and dispel all gloom and negativity. May I ever hear your call.

Please accept my offerings.

May all eating and drinking be the offering of oblations unto Thee. All lying down prostrations before Thee. May all pleasures be as offering my entire self unto Thee, May everything I do be taken as Thy worship. O Divine Mother.

Another well-known Halloween tradition is the practice of dressing up in costumes. This tradition can be traced back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, where people would wear masks and costumes to disguise themselves from wandering spirits. Today, both children and adults dress up as ghosts, monsters, superheroes, and various other characters to join in the festivities.

How to Pray with the Divine Mother Prayer Dance

When praying to Divine Mother, this prayer dance is a powerful expression of devotion. You are using your body, your mind, your breath, your heart . . . all in a harmony of celebration.

Every aspect of that is a gift from Divine Mother, and when you show Her this prayer dance, She receives not only the gift of your prayer, but the understanding that you value these wonderful gifts.

With Brightest Blessings,

A popular activity during Halloween is visiting haunted houses or participating in haunted hayrides. These attractions are designed to provide a thrilling and scary experience for visitors. People enjoy getting spooked by actors dressed as ghosts, zombies, and other scary creatures. Trick-or-treating is perhaps the most well-known Halloween activity for children. Kids dress up in costumes and go door-to-door in their neighborhoods, ringing doorbells and exclaiming, "Trick or treat!" They receive treats such as candies, chocolates, and other goodies from generous homeowners. This tradition is believed to have originated from the ancient practice of leaving food and offerings for wandering spirits during Samhain. In recent years, another popular Halloween tradition has emerged – the swinging watch spring. This game involves using a large spring or a rope swing to propel oneself into the air and swing back and forth. People take turns swinging on the watch spring, trying to jump off at the highest point or perform acrobatic stunts. The swinging watch spring adds an element of exhilaration and thrills to Halloween celebrations. It is often set up in large open spaces or parks, where people can gather and have fun. The swinging motion combined with the spooky atmosphere of Halloween makes for a unique and memorable experience. Overall, Halloween is a holiday filled with traditions and activities that bring people together in a spirit of fun and excitement. Whether it's carving pumpkins, wearing costumes, visiting haunted attractions, or swinging on a watch spring, there is something for everyone to enjoy on this spooky holiday..

Reviews for "Spreading Spring Halloween Cheer with a Swinging Witch Décor"

1. John - 1 star

I found "Swinging Watch Spring Halloween" to be a complete waste of time. The plot was convoluted and lacked any coherence. The characters were shallow and uninteresting, making it difficult to invest in their stories. The film seemed to rely heavily on jump scares and cheap thrills, rather than building genuine suspense or fear. The editing was choppy and felt disjointed, further adding to my frustration. Overall, I was thoroughly disappointed with this movie and would not recommend it to anyone seeking a quality horror film.

2. Lisa - 2 stars

While "Swinging Watch Spring Halloween" had potential, it ultimately fell short of my expectations. The concept of using a swinging watch spring as a central theme was intriguing, but the execution left much to be desired. The pacing was slow, and the movie took too long to establish any real tension. The acting was subpar, with wooden performances that failed to convey genuine fear or emotion. The jump scares were predictable and overused, making them less effective as the movie progressed. Overall, I felt that "Swinging Watch Spring Halloween" lacked originality and failed to deliver the scares it promised.

3. Mike - 1.5 stars

I have to say, "Swinging Watch Spring Halloween" did not live up to the hype. The storyline was confusing and left me feeling unsatisfied. The pacing dragged on, and the movie lacked a clear direction. The scares were lackluster, with jump scares that were more annoying than frightening. The acting was mediocre at best, and the characters felt underdeveloped and one-dimensional. I was hoping for a terrifying Halloween horror film, but instead, I got a disjointed mess. I would not recommend "Swinging Watch Spring Halloween" to anyone looking for a quality scare.

The Spooky Delightfulness of Swinging Witches for Spring and Halloween