Samhain

One of the Great Sabbats and another of the Fire Festivals, Samhain (pronounced "sow-in") is a celebration of when The Veil Between The Worlds is the thinnest. It's also considered to be the Pagan New Year (not by all, but many traditions).

In the US, we call it "All Hallow's Eve" or Hallowe'en the night before the Catholic holiday of All Soul's Day, celebrated on November 1. The early Christian church, in order to lure people away from the Old Ways, would celebrate and/overlay a holiday of their own to coincide with all of the ancient pagan festivals. All Soul's Day, or All Saint's Day, is a celebration of all the souls of the dead and departed Saints. It's also celebrated in Mexico as The Day of the Dead.

Old Pagan traditions continue to influence the holiday. Why all the ghosts, monsters, goblins and tricksters? Because, as stated above, this is the time when the Veil is the thinnest and our ability to contact the dead most opportune.

Scrying (fortune telling) and seances are are popular at this holiday. People talk to the dead, not in fear, but for guidance and inspiration. As it was a time when the veil was thinnest, some folk thought that we could pass over more easily, too. Feasts for the ancestors and other dead are common, with sweets being the enticers to lure them out. Put extra chairs at the dinner table and honor those who have passed at your meal, bringing each alive, again, with the magic of stories, laughter and love. It's easy to have an altar with pictures of all you loved and who have crossed over.

Samhain is also the third, and last, harvest celebration. Apples, squash, nuts abound. Have a glass of cider (hard cider for the parents, indeed!!!), bob for apples, eat candied apples. Apples are a symbol of the goddess in all her fertility, abundance and power (Eve knew that one). In ancient Greece, it was a symbol of resurrection and immortality. Cut one in half and look at the star that the seeds form.

This celebration also honors and recognizes that it is now time for winter. We go out in nature, enjoying our last days of warmth before the cold and dark that ultimately leads to the Winter Solstice.

Finally, it's a time to remember that we will all die some day. It's an opportunity do acceptance ritual around that and revel in the Life right before us and around us.

And with that in mind...I offer my favorite song by Loreena McKennitt. It's called "All Souls Night." I was introduced to it years ago and used to dance all around my house with it in honor of Life and living. I thought to shart the YouTube offering that has a montage of pictures from Ireland.

Art

Spirits by David Harrison

Squash Harvest from here