Post by robincragin on Oct 27, 2015 16:53:33 GMT -5
Samhain, Hallows, or “Halloween” is an annual festival of death that occurs at the conclusion of the Celtic agricultural cycle. It also marks the Celtic New Year. Samhain is a Gaelic word that means “summer’s end.” Wisely, the ancient Celts noted that endings and beginnings were united. What is an end? What is a beginning? These were the mysteries that our ancient ancestors acknowledged through the rituals and activities of Samhain.
In Old Europe, Samhain was a time in which the herds were thinned through ritualized slaughter. Only the strong and the hearty survived the harsh Northern European winters, and herdsmen believed that slaughter of the weak and feeble saved animals from the cruelty of the winter frosts. Farmers would be sure to collect their crops before Samhain. Otherwise whatever was left behind was considered untouchable and fit only for night-spirits, fairies, and otherworldly beings that could easily slip through the veils of death into our world at Samhain. Some rural folk believed that whatever remained in the fields after Samhain was cursed. It was an omen of foreboding for whoever ate food harvested after Samhain.
Lighting of hearth fires and bonfires on the highest ground near to the home was another old Samhain practice. In Scotland, the hearth fire was called Samhnagon. In James Frazer’s The Golden Bough, he describes an unusual custom associated with the bonfires. Once the last spark of the ritual bonfire became extinguished, people would run about shouting, “The cropped black sow, seize the hindmost.” What seems to be an incomprehensible statement in modern English makes some sense when one understands both the older forms of the language as well as the fact that the sow is the totem animal of Cerridwen, a Celtic crone-goddess who presides over the rites of Samhain. Essentially, the statement was one of warning, telling the folk to run and hide before the crone, the death figure, finds them.
Contemporary pagans believe that the boundary separating the world of the living and that of the “Mighty Dead” is thin at the time of Samhain. Because of this thinning of the veil, tradition holds that communication with deceased loved ones is possible at this time of the year. At Samhain, Witches make offerings and build altars to pay homage to the dead. Part of their rituals include a dumb supper, which is a meal prepared for the spirit world. The dumb supper includes setting out a plate filled with the finest foods to feed the spirits of loved ones. The food may appear to go untouched through the meal, but Witches believe that the dead eat the essence of the food. The name of the meal comes from the practice of eating mutely, in ritual silence, during the meal shared with the spirit world.
Witches traditionally associate the feast of Samhain with two specific aspects of deity: the crone (or the hag) and the Lord of Death, who is also the Lord of the Underworld. Each of these aspects of deity signifies the process of human aging, cessation of life and death itself. The crone and the Lord of Death represent the wisdom that comes with age and the mysteries of passage through to the Summerland, the Witches’ mythic place of rest and regeneration after death.
Practice: Exploring Samhain
* Take out some paper and journal about your past memories of Halloween.
* How does it feel to celebrate death?
* Is death something to celebrate? Why or why not?
* How does death touch your life in this moment?
* How did it feel to think about death today? From where do your reactions about death come?
In Old Europe, Samhain was a time in which the herds were thinned through ritualized slaughter. Only the strong and the hearty survived the harsh Northern European winters, and herdsmen believed that slaughter of the weak and feeble saved animals from the cruelty of the winter frosts. Farmers would be sure to collect their crops before Samhain. Otherwise whatever was left behind was considered untouchable and fit only for night-spirits, fairies, and otherworldly beings that could easily slip through the veils of death into our world at Samhain. Some rural folk believed that whatever remained in the fields after Samhain was cursed. It was an omen of foreboding for whoever ate food harvested after Samhain.
Lighting of hearth fires and bonfires on the highest ground near to the home was another old Samhain practice. In Scotland, the hearth fire was called Samhnagon. In James Frazer’s The Golden Bough, he describes an unusual custom associated with the bonfires. Once the last spark of the ritual bonfire became extinguished, people would run about shouting, “The cropped black sow, seize the hindmost.” What seems to be an incomprehensible statement in modern English makes some sense when one understands both the older forms of the language as well as the fact that the sow is the totem animal of Cerridwen, a Celtic crone-goddess who presides over the rites of Samhain. Essentially, the statement was one of warning, telling the folk to run and hide before the crone, the death figure, finds them.
Contemporary pagans believe that the boundary separating the world of the living and that of the “Mighty Dead” is thin at the time of Samhain. Because of this thinning of the veil, tradition holds that communication with deceased loved ones is possible at this time of the year. At Samhain, Witches make offerings and build altars to pay homage to the dead. Part of their rituals include a dumb supper, which is a meal prepared for the spirit world. The dumb supper includes setting out a plate filled with the finest foods to feed the spirits of loved ones. The food may appear to go untouched through the meal, but Witches believe that the dead eat the essence of the food. The name of the meal comes from the practice of eating mutely, in ritual silence, during the meal shared with the spirit world.
Witches traditionally associate the feast of Samhain with two specific aspects of deity: the crone (or the hag) and the Lord of Death, who is also the Lord of the Underworld. Each of these aspects of deity signifies the process of human aging, cessation of life and death itself. The crone and the Lord of Death represent the wisdom that comes with age and the mysteries of passage through to the Summerland, the Witches’ mythic place of rest and regeneration after death.
Practice: Exploring Samhain
* Take out some paper and journal about your past memories of Halloween.
* How does it feel to celebrate death?
* Is death something to celebrate? Why or why not?
* How does death touch your life in this moment?
* How did it feel to think about death today? From where do your reactions about death come?