🎃 Happy Halloween, and Blessed Samhain! 🎃

Hello, lovelies! I’m back after a quiet October. My CUUPS group celebrated Samhain a few weeks ago, so tonight I’m having a fun and secular Halloween. No plans today other than decorating cupcakes with friends and watching seasonal movies… because sometimes I forget to be an ordinary teenager instead of an aspiring Pagan priestess-poet. 

Lately I’ve been thinking about mythology-themed Halloween costumes. My best childhood costume as was Artemis in 3rd grade. I had gold and white flowers for my hair, a toy bow and arrow, and a feminist attitude. No one knew who the heck I was supposed to be, but that was okay- because I had never felt more connected to my childhood hero.

As for my 6th grade wax museum project… is anyone surprised that I dressed up as Sappho? 

Flash forward to 7th grade, around the time when I had my am-I-Pagan crisis and decided to dress up as Persephone. I put on red lipstick, fashioned a chiton out of a bedsheet, dyed it green, and crafted a crown of dead flowers. That was my first time celebrating Samhain- the day that everything changed.

Up until that Samhain, Persephone had only ever been a story to me. But as I stood beneath the waxing moon in my costume, something indescribable happened. Storm clouds tumbled in the distance and I felt a flash of awe and divine power. 

So I danced around barefoot in the backyard singing “Scarborough Fair” until it started to storm. 

(In case you were wondering, yes, my mom dragged me inside as soon as we heard thunder)  

I call that night my Pagan Baptism because it was impossible for me to ignore the call of Persephone once I’d felt a glimpse of Her awe-inspiring power. And a major part of that mystical experience was the joy of wearing my Halloween costume. 

Nowadays, as a practicing Hellenic Polytheist, I would never dress up as one of the Theoi for a secular Halloween celebration. It just feels too sacrilegious for me, personally (I’m not offended by other people’s costumes because they don’t believe in the Theoi). Yet I can’t deny that my Greek Goddess costumes facilitated important spiritual experiences. 

Think about it this way: Everything has a time and place. Catholics dress up as saints at pageants. There’s a big difference between performing Mary in a Nativity play and wearing a “sexy nun” Halloween costume. 

In Ancient Greece, priestesses often wore the iconography and costume of their Goddesses; in fact, some of them were even chosen for sacred service because they resembled their deity. I often think, “What would Persephone wear?” when I’m getting ready for a ritual. There’s a big difference between dressing up like a God and pretending to be a God. 

So you won’t see me dressed up as a deity this Halloween, but I have a feeling that my costume days are far from over. 

Have a blessed Samhain ✨

~ Rose Eleusis