Samhain Ceremony | Monday November 1st | 5:30pm PT, 8:30pm ET
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Samhain is our next ceremony that is on our horizon. A true in-between ancient fire festival. Samhain stands on the edge between summer and winter and this festival was thought to be held in suspended time. A ceremony within the eaves of sacred-liminal space. A time to bring the cattle in and run them through the fires to cleanse and purify prior to the winter stabling and the closing down of hunting and fighting season for the Fae.
What to bring
- An apple and a knife to cut it with
- a handful of seeds in a small dish
- single candle and half a dozen tea lights
- a handful of nuts (walnut, acorn, hazelnut
- a piece of paper and a pen to write with and a metal bowl to burn the paper in
The quarter festival fires are important not only to reset the family hearth but also a time to come into community and a larger sense of belonging and family. The incoming Autumnal turning was seen by our ancient pre-celt ancestors as a time to ask the world of ancestors and other worlds to intercede with the incoming time of the bones. These winter forces needed to be reckoned with.
The large bonfires that they lit also symbolized a form of helping support. The fires were an earthy counterpart to thee Sun. For past this boundary, lay the vulnerability of families facing a winter reflected in the dying vegetation and incoming cold. Illnesses lingered about and food was rationed. The Samhain fire now transported into the home and hearth continued to generate that agreement in the constant flame of a fire that never went out. A keeping of the sun inside for the winter.
As this was recognized as a liminal space for a few days (the veil was thin it could be said) fear of ghosts ghoulies and “bad things can happen”, created a relationship with death and Samhain. Death being so very present in the northern hemisphere winters, it was felt that the dead walked abroad. There are many stories that link Samhain as a festival of the dead. So it was important to make a big noise, celebrate and chase the shadows away by dancing in the bright firelight, drink and dress up to look more like spirits than people. In that way, you would not be kidnapped into the underworld. 6th century BCE mounds, marking the sunset at Samhain, illustrate that this festival is very old and was practiced long before the Celts arrived during the Bronze Age. This festival is ancient in the bones of Ireland and Britain. It reaches deep into our collective memory as we too prepare to face the winter shadows and to sit at the feet of the Calleach.
Join me for Samhain Ceremony. Let us have a conversation with our relatives and ask for help. Let us receive courage and good health through the flames of ancient connection. And let us dance and sing our gratitude that we can remember to receive this beautiful resource of encouragement and support.
We will also be introducing the 10 Stepping Stones on this call.
Over the 12 Days of Dreaming during the arc of 2020 into 2021, I dreamt of 10 stepping stones to help us through the river of so many things happening at once. I then have gone back into the dreaming to come into closer relationship with the stones and the river. These stones are helping steps of recognition and are connected to each other through us. More information to follow…
Blessings,
Sarah
Photo Credit: Daniel Mercadante