13 Days of Samhain- Day 3

 

Photo courtesy of Elena Mozhvilo

Welcome to Day 3 of our Samhain Celebration!

It's time to announce the winner of the Crystal Oracle Reading and Custom Crystal Bundle from The Witch of the Starspun Woods!

Zabrina Newell!!

Congratulations!

Today's Music Selection 

is from Jaye Todd, and is "Samhain" from The Academy of Irish Music

Today's Article: "Spirit Meetups: Pandemic Edition" by Sam Curtin

Over the past eighteen months the pandemic has changed the way we do everything. For me that includes the spirit encounters that I usually have throughout my day to day life. Now that I’m working from home and we travel infrequently, these encounters haven’t happened at their usual rate, even during the thinning of the veil. 

That doesn’t mean I haven’t had any and in fact it has made the few that I have had, that much more intense. The first one that comes to mind was this past July in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. My husband and I were in town for a friend’s wedding, right before the Delta Variant decided to cause an upswing in cases. 

When we first arrive in Pittsburgh, just driving through the city I could feel the energy from the mountains around us. We stopped in the strip district to start, and walked around getting food and coffee as we went. 

Most of the buildings in the strip district were repurposed from their original use and one of those was a tall, weathered apartment building on the corner of two main streets. Tucked inside was an antique shop that caught my husband’s eye so we decided to go in. 

We walked through updated glass doors into a lobby area and the feeling of oppression hit me even more than the humid July air outside. I always carry amethyst with me (my go to calming crystal) so I gripped it tightly in my hand as we took the stone stairs up to the antique shop. 

Right before my hand reached for the handle of the door an intense feeling of dread hit me. My stomach felt like it was dropping down to my feet and my whole body went numb. Without another thought I turned around and walked right out of the building and continued to walk down the street. My husband, who is used to me doing this by now just followed me. 

That was one of the few times in my life I have felt true negative energy in a building; the only other time I felt that was when I was in my early twenties during a hurricane in the house my husband lived in at the time. When we walked back to the car later I made sure to steer clear of that place. 

Thankfully the other encounters I’ve had over the year weren’t bad though most have been in my own house. I’ve joked with my friends that my spirits in my house are getting annoyed that we’re always here now. There have been more bangs than usual coming from my garage and lights going on and off are a common occurrence. Still my extroverted self takes comfort in knowing that even in the times where I’m working from home alone, I’m never truly alone. 

Today's Cocktail: Witches Brew Cocktail with Alexis Kennedy

Vodka is a part of this drink. I start the article off this way, because Vodka and I stopped being friends my first year of college when I poisoned myself with alcohol. Being a long-time tea-totaller, I'm sharing this out of love for you who like a good cocktail now and again. This one is a lot of fun, and you could leave the alcohol out if you want to.

Ingredients:

 6oz box of lime gelatin

2 cups of boiling water

1- 2ltr of lemon/lime soda (think Sprite, 7-Up)

3 cups of Pineapple juice

2 cups of chilled vodka 

1 large punch bowl

Directions:

Pour the gelatin mix into a large bowl.  Stir in the boiling water  and keep stirring for at least 2 minutes, until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Add the pineapple juice to the entire 2 liter of soda and the vodka. 

Enjoy!!!!

Today's Recipe: Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash with Renee Olson

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup quinoa

• 2 1/2 cups low sodium veggie broth

• 2 tsp onion powder

• 2 tsp garlic powder

• 2 tsp thyme

• 1 tsp salt (may omit if salt free)

• 1/2 tsp celery seed

• 1/2 cup cranberries (frozen)

• 1/2 cup cremini mushrooms chopped

• 2 -3 padashew peppers chopped

• 2 tbsp maple syrup

• 1 half sweet onion chopped

• 1 large acorn squash halved and seeded

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400, place halved acorn squash cut side up on a rimmed baking tray. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until fork tender.

2. 

   Shown with a beet and arugula salad.

   Rinse quinoa under cold water through a small sieve then cook quinoa in a separate medium size pan. Bring 1 1/2 cups veggie broth and quinoa to a boil, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes. Fluff with a fork once all liquid is absorbed.

3. Sauté onions with a little bit of remaining veggie broth, adding as onions cook, add cranberries, mushrooms, padashew peppers and spices, cook until onions are translucent and cranberries are tender. Adding the remaining broth as needed.
4. Once onions, cranberries and mushrooms are done, add the mixture to quinoa and mix.

5. Take the mixture and fill each half with acorn squash, return to the oven for an additional 20 minutes. Quinoa will get brown and lightly crunchy on top.

6. Remove from oven, cool for 5 minutes and serve.

Today's Giveaway: Signed Summer's Hollow Triology books from Sam Curtin

Signed copies of the horror trilogy Summer's Hollow.


Journey to the haunted town of Summer's Hollow, MA and follow Rylie Bradford as she explores the secrets that can't seem to stay buried.


Value: $25




How to enter: (United States)

Go to Sam's Amazon Page. Find a book title  you'd like to read, then come back and enter that into the comments section. We need your name and email address to notify you if you win. You are welcome to put it in the comments section or you can enter it here for privacy purposes. We do not share your information with third parties, and only use it for giveaway purposes for this season.

Bonus entries: (1 comment= 1 entry)

• Follow the Sirens Life Facebook page (comment below that you did)
• Follow Author Samantha Curtin on Facebook (comment that you did)
• Follow Author Samantha Curtin on Instagram (comment that you did

For Canada: 

Your laws require that you earn your entries. So, for four entries, here is your quiz question:

What is Canada's national sport?

Your entries will be pulled tomorrow morning, east coast time, and will be numbered by Alexis Kennedy (sponsor). She will then run a number generator at random.org, and will announce the winner on tomorrow's blog post. The winner will be notified first via email. The winner has 36 hours from announcement to claim the prize, or it will go toward the Grand Prize Giveaway on October 31.

If you have any questions or concerns, please email sirensallaround@gmail.com and we'll happily respond. Note: The sponsor is not eligible for any giveaways.

That's all for today!

Happy Spooky Season!