Samhain, New Cycle, New Moon

The veil between the worlds is porous. A time to honor the ancestors, the harvest & New Year.

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I am currently into the second year of honoring the Wheel of the Year series that focuses on the eight Celtic/Pagan Sabbats. This year digging in and diving deeper. Welcome to Samhain. Love to you all!

The Wheel

And the Wheel of the Year turns again… Cycles continue, the momentum of life is ongoing. Mabon was the last sabbat of the prior turning, a complete new revolution begins. We find ourselves arriving at the first of the eight sabbats, Samhain (pronounced “SOW in”).

Days to the ancient Celts commenced at sunset and their years started with the dark half of the year, Samhain marks this transition. I am reminded that life begins in the blackness of the womb. Sleep is what happens after a full day when the harvest is complete. A time of hibernation, refreshing our being for the light of day.

Samhain is considered the principal fire sabbat of all the four midpoint festivals that take place between the equinoxes and the solstices. This time is also considered the Witches New Year.

Samhain

The air is getting cooler. Nights longer. Leaves are falling from trees, strewn about by the whispery breezes. Beneath my feet they make a crunching sound, which I love because it is soothing and pleasant to my ears. I feel like a kid again kicking up the leaves as I walk.

All around my neighborhood the Halloween decorations are going up. Some are super creepy, others playful. I like skeletons, skulls and bones though. However, the ones in people’s yards are fake, I like to put real ones on my altar. These are bones I have found in the wild, both animal and bird. Bones represent to me a bridge between the natural world and the afterlife. While living they give structure and protection to our bodies, in death they are the only thing left when all has been stripped away.

Let’s embrace this macabre and look deep at what is beyond these outer shells. What is left when all has become undone. Death is in the air; this does not need to be a morbid thing. Impermanence and change are natural movements. I see this right now in my garden. The spring planting is now sagging, shriveling, decaying, and rotting. This is not something to fear, for death is an organic part of the cycle of life. The moon goes dark, nature hibernates in the winter, the blackness of night prevails. Samhain is when the curtain between the worlds is porous, a liminal space where life and death touch. An invitation to pay tribute to our ancestors.

Samhain is a major fire festival, where people in times of old came to celebrate the final harvest, to eat, drink and be merry! Hearth fires at home would be extinguished or be left to burn out in preparation to be lit again by a flame from the communal bonfires of Samhain. The word “bonfire” is believed to come from the phrase, “bone fire” because of the bones from animals that were added to these blazes. Again bones!

SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE

In the southern hemisphere it’s Beltane, the fertility of springtime! A celebration of the fiery aspects of life like creativity, passion, sensuality, and sexuality! Our core is this fire, which needs to be rejoiced and celebrated! A sacred marriage between our lives and the landscape. Opening to the wild side of life, joining in with Gaia as she sings about this true union we all are together.

THE MOON

WOW!!! On November 1st there is a new moon, and in the sign of Scorpio! What the f***! Okay, what an amazing placement for Samhain! The sign of Scorpio represents death and regeneration. The Dark Mother, the Crone and the mysteries! The moon is about emotion, as is the sign of Scorpio. Thus, expect intense feelings, passions and sensations around this time. Additionally, the moon’s position only augments the permeability of the veil between the worlds.

Samhain is celebrated over several days…

• October 31st, All Hallows’ Eve also known as Halloween.

• November 1st, All Saints Day (Christian observance).

• November 2nd, All Souls Day (Christian observance).

• Oct. 31st - Nov. 2nd, The Day of the Dead (el Día de los Muertos).

• Oct. 31st - Nov. 2nd, Samhain, the Celtic New Year & Festival of the Dead.

AN CAILLEACH

Artists: Middle pic - Carolyn Hillyer. Other two - Jane Brideson.

As the days of old started at dusk, so does the hag and crone of later years set in motion this new year. It is the time of the Cailleach, (pronounced "kal-yakh”). Known by many names, she is the Queen of Winter, An Cailleach Béara, Earth Mother and the Veiled One. She is the winter half of Brigid, who returns at Beltane. As she is doing now in the southern hemisphere.

Samhain is when An Cailleach rises again to roam the terrains. Bringing in winter as the wielder of life and death! The Hag who transforms the land by dropping rocks from her apron. A force of nature with thundery storms, shapeshifting the land into new formations. The dark mother, protector of cattle, deer and wolves.

It’s refreshing to look at time upside down as we do here. Our current day calendar is so far removed from the cycles of moon, changing of the seasons and the shifting of the stars and planets. As a culture we have become more focused on measuring time by tasks and obligations. Yet here, An Cailleach invites us to enter HER time!

We are placed at the liminal, an ancient threshold that enters the darkness. Are you ready? Are you prepared? Can you allow yourself to feel this transitional space, where there is nothing to hold on to? Are you willing to let go? Now is the time to enter the womb, the cave of the earth. What seeds will be planted during this period of darkness that will arise next spring? What will you discover about life and yourself along the way?

Celebrating Samhain

My Samhain altar from a prior year

There are many ways to honor Samhain, here are but a few:

• Walk in nature, especially if you can be around deciduous trees that are losing their leaves. Feel and touch into how the ground is preparing to rest…

• Create an altar for Samhain and/or for your ancestors.

• Have a bonfire! Write on a piece of paper something you want to let go of. Then offer it to the fire.

• Silent suppers. Setting a place at the dinner table for your ancestors.

• Cook with food that comes from this last harvest. Pumpkins, squashes, turnips, nuts and apples.

• Get a past life reading.

• Commune with the dead. There are several ways to do this but please be intentional and respectful. Only attempt this if you feel comfortable and protected. An alternative is to use some sort of divination method like tarot cards or pendulums.

• Honor the Darkness and the Dark Mother.

• Work with divination using Tarot or Oracle cards. Maybe even Runes or Ogham staves made from bones. (see suggested questions below)

POEM - AN CAILLEACH

Lifting the veil
reveals the crone
wrinkled skin covering
sinew and bone.

Her body is the wind
sea, snow and cold
a sovereign queen
from days of old.

This dark mother
incites concern and fear
she’s fiercely untamed
with a laugh and a sneer.

Ask her a question
if you genuinely dare
she will speak truth
through her piercing stare.

Ah, An Cailleach
mysterious and wise
a traveling shapeshifter
in an ever changing guise.

BLESSING:

In celebration of Samhain, may we honor this cycle that has brought us to this time of darkness. May we open to the Dark Mother, receiving her wisdom and guidance.
For we cannot know the light without knowing the dark.
For without death there would be no life.

Blessed Be!

Questions for you…

• What will support me during this time of winter darkness?

• What am I ready to leave behind, to surrender?

• What do I need to face, what have I been turning from?

• What guidance does the Cailleach have for me?

• What wisdom do my ancestors want to offer me?

• What seeds do I need to sow now and incubate for the coming spring?

Would love to know your thoughts and feelings. Let’s have a conversation…

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