To call this a labor of love may be understating things a bit. There was so, SO much more I wanted to do (and I will, the frames MUST be done!!) however, rendering some of these pieces took an age! Morien even stepped in to render pieces that’s just how crazy the sizes and render times were! The rune rocks got rendered but, no I didn’t have time to complete them.

For those who don’t understand what Samhain is, I’ll give a brief explanation.

Samhain night is considered the most sacred sabbat by Pagans around the world. This, is our new year and so much more. The veil, between this world and the next is at its thinnest. Allowing those we have loved and lost to return to this plane. To join us for a few hours and guide us along our path. To us our ancestors are respected and revered. So a chance to sit with them in circle is treasured. It is a night of reflection upon the past yearand to set goals for the coming year. Many practice divination, tarot, runes, ouija to help them make important decisions or to catch a glimpse of what they hope is a prosperous new year. So you can probably see why doing this kit and doing it as a dedication to my Patron Goddess was very important to me.

For me, my reflection will begin with a dumb supper. Extra plates are set and those who’ve gone before me invited to join us. Then the meal is eaten in silence. It progresses from there and is quite private. Having the abilities I do, the night can be quite interesting!

The preview just doesn’t do this kit justice. There’s 17 papers, a Raven to symbolize The Morrighan, a half dozen candles, censers, books of shadows, blank parchment (both photo and digital rendered), one parchment with spell, tags, brads, ribbons, zippers, feather quills, inkwells, book of shadows covers, chalices, cauldrons, pentacles, god and goddess symbols, pouches, several bottles, fae dust jar, 2 other jars, photo corners, staffs, wand, tarot cards (3), ouija board, mortar and pestles, 2 altars, lacing. Yes it’s a big kit and I still didn’t do all I wanted to. However, I will!

Be advised, I left the elements at rendered size. I did that so YOU can do the layouts you want at the size you want! Papers are at 3600×3600. All are at 300dpi Some of the elements are rendered at 2 different angles as well. Not all are shown or I’d never get this to you!

Special thanks to Morien for his help with some of the elements. And to Snowraven for actually encouraging me to do this!!

Download:
Embellishments 1
Embellishments 2
Papers 1
Papers 2
Papers 3

Snowraven has also done a Samhain kit which is gorgeous! If you haven’t picked it up go over and get it!! Snowraven’s Cave

In other news! I have taken on a position at Gothic Blend as a music reviewer! I am so stoked about this as it allows me to help promote bands who are absolutely incredible and get very little exposure for one reason or another. There’s forums that they hope to turn into a true Goth gathering place. If the intro forum isn’t up yet, it will be shortly! Come on over and check us out Gothic Blend. Morien will also be doing guest reviews! As he’s in the heart of the European Metal music scene, you won’t wanna miss his reviews and news!!

Blessed Samhain Everyone!!!!

Morgana Wynter (and Morien by proxy!)

Facebook is planning to enter the Chinese market soon, according to news reports. Hopefully, their entrance won’t meet with the same fate as Flickr and YouTube; both were blocked instantly after the creation of their respective Chinese language sites. Facebook’s English-language presence in China has grown from a small number a year ago to more than 100,000 today; it is one of a dwindling number of Web 2.0 sites still accessible in mainland China without a proxy (you can count WordPress among the blocked sites). If Facebook does end up going through Chinese servers (as MySpace has done for it’s Chinese language site), it may not be blocked–but it will likely have to become complicit in all sorts of self-censorship… Blogger/Academic Rebbeca MacKinnon has posted some thoughts about this possibility on her blog.

On another note, YouTube is apparently unblocked again, after a two-week swaddling from the Net Nanny. Could it have anything to do with the conclusion of the Dalai Lama’s recent visits to the U.S. and Canada? The end of the 17th Congress? Or a simple slap for opening a Chinese language site in Taiwan before the mainland? Who knows. The nanny isn’t telling.