Samhain

The Wheel of the Year is seen to begin at Samhain. This is Celtic New Year when the veil between the worlds of life and death stand open. Samhain is a festival of the dead; when we remember those who have gone before and acknowledge the mystery of death. It is traditional on Samhain night to leave a plate of food outside the home for the souls of the dead. A candle placed in the window guides them to the feast.

The Past

Starting at the beginning of the Celtic year, around the end of October in the modern calendar, when the first hard frost whitened the grass, shrivelled any greenstuff and iced over a shallow puddle, the community began their preparations for winter. Cattle, pigs and sheep which had roamed the unfenced moors or woodlands would be brought back the farmyards or perhaps one of the great earthworks which dot the southern hilltops. It would be a great round-up and time for sorting out the stock. Some would be selected to be killed as, before the times of extensive haymaking and the production of winter feed, not all could be expected to survive through the winter months. Pigs would be salted into ham and bacon, but a great feast of those parts which could not be preserved would be eaten. The White Harvest of this time would be fat, hides and fleeces, all vital to see the people through the winter,

The Celtic Year draws to an end at Samhain, 'Summer's End', time of the Great Gathering, when all come home. It is a time of celebration and of remembering those who departed from their earthly forms. The spirits that enter open doors and manifest in the sacred bonfires' smoke are kindly ones, the old friends, grandparents, kindred from many ages, all thronging round with their wisdom, their accrued knowledge of the community and its needs. Now is the time of oracles, to see what lies in the year to come. It is a time to bid farewell to those who have died, and welcome the new-born, and even the spirits of children scarcely conceived, as yet unborn. All the family come in and share the feasting, of the best and the fattest of the beasts, the whitest bread; the sweetest honey and the lushest fruits of this short season of plenty, before winter.

Our ancestors had other reasons for feeling tension at Samhain. If the harvest had been good, decisions still had to be taken about distribution, storage and the rate at which particular foods should be eaten. Trade matters must have been considered too. Which foods could safety be bartered for other things? Which must kept? By Samhain, the doorway to winter, all this must have been decided. Had the right decisions been taken? Was everything in order? Our ancestors would have looked for answers and reassurance through divination.

The Mystery

Today, as in the past, the Goddess as Wisewoman and the God as Lord of Shadows (the Dark Lord) are guides through death's realm. The God is Lord of Night, the old Wiseman, teacher and guide on both sides of the Veil. The Goddess brings a Samhain gift of wisdom, and it may be sweet or bitter to receive, according to our circumstances and desires. As part of all this, we can consider death as an aspect of our lives. Perhaps some old plans or aspirations need to die now.

Samhain is a mischief night on which sprites are expected to play tricks on humankind on behalf of the Lord of Misrule, that aspect of the Horned One who will not let us take ourselves too seriously. The festival is about the year's death and therefore is the New Year, for death implies rebirth. But at this time, death is more tangible than rebirth. Fields lie fallow, the sap has sunk down into roots and all of nature rests. There is an atmosphere of weirdness in the autumn mists and the smoky colours of evening. This is, in fact, the Festival of the Returning Dead, as well as an acknowledgement of the end of one solar cycle. That is why it has its reputation for ghostly happenings, its bat's wings and black cloak associations.

The old year dissolves, it breaks down, at Samhain, and the result is a breakdown of all boundaries, including those between the living and the dead. It is, therefore, more possible than usual to perceive the psychic presence of those who have gone before us but who are still connected, still watching over us. The living, the dead and the unborn can meet in spirit on this night, psychically communing and exchanging information. Likewise, the nature spirits walk among us, both the kindly and the more mischievous ones.

Some of the visions and messages received at Samhain are said to be sent by the Beloved Dead, that is by family members with whom we are still joined by bonds of affection. Others may be a direct gift from the Goddess. All are to be taken seriously.

But remember, there is no justification for attempting to call the dead back. They join us freely on Samhain night, if they are able and if they wish to. Calling them back may interfere with stages of purification, rest and preparations for a new life, which all go through between incarnations. If attempts to do so should succeed they could disrupt a natural process and actually be harmful to the returning spirit. If a loving spirit should desire to come back then we can welcome them and they will be recognised. If not, we can remember them freely with love and then accept their absence.

The God and the Goddess are, at this time, happily united in the Underworld as equals, and He exhorts us as "Summer is Dead" to "Feast with Death". The Goddess is both pregnant and the Old One, the Wise hag, in this dark time when the veil between the worlds is thinnest, and knowledge and spiritual powers of magic can pass back and forth. She is always a changeable deity. She is Ruler of the Otherworld, wherein Her God/Lover rests, between His evolving incarnations. She is Persephone, Queen of the Dead and the Unborn, Bringer through the Veil of Life those to be born, carrying across the dark still waters of the River of the Night, those who have passed from the world of flesh. She is All-Knowing, All--Seeing and All-Revealing to those who dare to ask her the right questions