Welcoming the Dark of the Year with Samhain’s Blessings

I’m the hallow-tide of all souls passing,
I’m the brilliant releaser of all ache,
I’m the quickener of the fallen seed-case,
I’m the look of snow, the strike of rain.
I’m the hole of the winter twilight,
I’m the hearth-fire and the welcome bread,
I’m the curtained awning of the pillow,
I’m never-ending knowledge’s golden thread.
by Caitlín Matthews, from Tune of Samhain, Celtic Devotional: Every day Prayers and Blessings

We have come to a different turning of the Nice Spherical, and the Celtic 12 months’s finish is now upon us. As we speak, we stand within the gateway between the outdated, which is totally and ceaselessly gone and the brand new, which has not totally arrived.

It’s now that our beloved lifeless are remembered. Right here the veil thins and Thriller comes upon us, prepared or not.

There’s so little in our Western secular tradition that even remotely prepares us for the irrevocable powers of Life, Dying, and cthonic transformation, as they overturn the high fashion masks, plastic pumpkins, pointy hats, and chocolate bars.

That superficiality is being relentlessly uncovered in all its corruption and failure, and nothing will ever be the identical, regardless of how a lot Wall Road and Washington would possibly want for it to be.

We’d do effectively to be taught from the knowledge of different cultures, who take this threshold time to honor and have a good time their Ancestors.

For as soon as once more, we’re coming into the darkish half of the 12 months. What for those who, no less than momentarily, stepped away from the artifice of our tradition, and listened to the whispers of your forebears? For there are treasures on this liminal time, bittersweet as they might typically be.

What’s Samhain?

The Nice Sabbat of Samhain (pronounced SAH-wen, SAH-ween, or SOW (rhymes with cow) -wen) is the third and remaining harvest, marking Summer time’s finish.

It’s the celebration of the New 12 months in each the outdated Celtic calendar and in addition in lots of traditions of the Craft. Within the Northern Hemisphere, this marks the midpoint between Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice (though by strict astronomical reckoning that falls on Nov. 7 this 12 months (in most time zones).

Samhain is the alternative level of the 12 months from the celebrations of life and fertility of Might Day, or Beltane, which our buddies under the equator are celebrating in the present day.

A most merry Beltane to all our pricey buddies within the Southern Hemisphere!

A Witch’s View of Human Nature

As most educated folks know, neither Witches nor Samhain have something by any means to do with “devil,” who’s strictly a Christian invention. Whereas our tales have loads of tricksters and even a number of nasty villains, there isn’t any entity of supernatural evil within the beliefs or practices of Witchcraft or Paganism.

Extra tellingly, most Witches and Pagans do not consider within the fable of basic wrongness being on the coronary heart of the world, or human nature.

We particularly reject the notion of “unique sin” and the following everlasting punishment of all humanity, or that the “fall” was attributable to the inherent wickedness of Girl.

For millennia, Western civilization has been haunted and manipulated by the phobia {that a} taint of evil lurks in even essentially the most harmless of us.

Sadly, the fallout from that is that most individuals are alienated from, and deeply afraid of, the pure cycles of dwelling, growing old, and dying. And but a morbid fascination with violence, loss of life, and horror are central to widespread leisure pastimes.

For our ancestors, in addition to in cultures not dominated by the Abrahamic religions, once you get rid of the concern that there’s a stain of evil or accursedness dwelling inside each single one among us (mediated solely by the Church), then you will have a very completely different relationship to the actual fact of loss of life, in addition to the Earth Herself.

Dying might carry deep grief to these left behind, however it’s not the grotesque horror that we’ve got turned it into, in our fashionable, “enlightened” occasions.

Quite the opposite, we sense that the boundary that lies between the dwelling and the departed, and between what’s previous, current, and future has turn into skinny.

This isn’t a spooky, terrifying factor to us. Consensual actuality shifts, and different dimensions are revealed, enabling us to welcome and commune with our beloved lifeless, in addition to our Otherworldly guides and contacts.

Origins

Halloween and All Saints Day have their origin within the historic Celtic feast of Samhain. The All Saints ceremonies had initially been within the Springtime, however the Catholic church, in an try and stamp out the Pagan rites of Samhain, superimposed it to that point.

We don’t, in truth, actually know what went on at these most historic rites, because the smart Ronald Hutton reminds us.

Within the fashionable Gaelic languages, the identify of the feast means “summer season’s finish.” Within the fashionable Brythonic languages, it means “the primary day of winter.” It’s the finish of the top, the start of the start. The Celts honored the intertwining forces of existence: darkness and lightweight, evening and day, chilly and warmth, loss of life and life.

Celtic knotwork artwork represents this intertwining. The outdated ones noticed time as continuing from darkness to mild. Thus, the Celtic day started at nightfall, the start of the darkish and chilly evening, and ended the next nightfall, the top of a day of sunshine and heat.

Equally, the Celtic 12 months started with An Geamhradh (“an gyow-ragh”), the darkish Celtic winter, and ended with Am Foghar (“am fu-ghar”), the Celtic harvest. So Samhain marks the start of each An Geamhradh and the brand new Celtic 12 months.

All through historical past and throughout cultures, this can be a time for making peace with each other, and with the inevitability of loss of life.

This could have been the third and remaining harvest of the rising season, with Lughnasadh (Aug. 1) being the primary harvest of grains and Mabon (Equinox) being the ultimate harvest of vegetables and fruit. Samhain marked the blood harvest of cattle, pigs, and different animals that needed to be culled with a purpose to survive the encroaching Winter.

Thus, tales with a theme of the loss of life and the transformation cycle, in addition to rituals honoring and welcoming the spirits of our beloved lifeless Ancestors are central to our rites.

Our Magical Legacy

Whereas the revelry of Halloween may be enjoyable, it’s not Pagan. As an alternative, Halloween is a commercialized, secular occasion. It’s amusing that some conservative church buildings are attempting to “clear up” what they concern is the Pagan affect of this evening by having “Fall Harvest Festivals,” since that’s truly a lot nearer to the Pagan observances.

This evening is our most holy, reflective, and deeply sacred time.

So to my buddies who like to get together, costume up, and carouse on this evening, take pleasure in.

However for me, particularly in mild of one other 12 months of horrific violence and loss of life that registers for a second, after which is swept away as if it by no means occurred, my emotions and sensibilities right now might hardly be additional away from these actions.

As an alternative, like most different Witches, Druids, and Pagans, I will likely be in sacred area on this most non secular of nights.

Whether or not you might be dancing the Spiral Dance collectively in particular person, or observing your rites with solely the Ancestors, we’ll all be bidding welcome to our beloved departed ones by freshening their resting locations if close by, adorning our altars of their honor, getting ready their favourite meals, maybe internet hosting a dumb supper, and lighting candles to point out them the way in which.

We evaluate the outdated 12 months’s triumphs and shortcomings, and we might burn symbols or precise gadgets in our bonfires representing that which we want to launch for good.

The Begin of the Wild Hunt

This can be a evening of nice energy, once we might search knowledge by way of divination and sacred contact with the Otherworlds.

It’s a time to ponder our personal ephemeral existence on this Center World of life, and to simply accept with grace our place within the Spiral Dance of life and loss of life.

Our predecessors took Samhain fairly significantly. Any crops not harvested by today have been recognized to belong to the “Shrouded One” and left alone.

Ancestors not honored right now might be anticipated to plague the dwelling with sick luck. Thus, tonight is a crucial time to set a spot on the desk for the one that you love lifeless, and provides choices to those that have crossed over to the Summerlands.

Probably the most fierce Faery races, led by the Lord of the Faery, Finvara, King of the Useless, trip forth, starting on this evening, with the hosts of the lifeless, sweeping up all of the souls of those that have died inside the previous 12 months.

Generally referred to as The Wild Hunt, this fabled exercise continues till Xmas, so watch out for darkish, lonely locations within the evening, lest you be taken by mistake.

We Honor the Crone

On this sabbat, along with giving our honor to the Gods of the Wild Hunt and Gatherers of Souls, like Gwyn ap Nudd, we provide our devotion to the Divine Female in Her kind because the Underworld Goddess and the Outdated One, together with the Morrighan, Demeter, Hel, and Orchil.

This 12 months, as we battle the metastasis of neo-Nazi, misogynist, racist, authoritarian cruelty overspreading our imperiled planet, I implore every one among you studying this to name upon your Wisest Ones, They who guard knowledge, justice, and democracy. They could embrace the Goddesses Columbia, Justitia, and Athena.

And on today particularly, for the reason that final day of the month is at all times sacred to Her, allow us to name upon mighty Hecate, who advocates for the downtrodden and marginalized, on behalf of moms and youngsters, and is our personal Goddess of the Witches.

The Burning Instances

As well as, on today, we keep in mind all these males, ladies, and youngsters who’ve been burned, hanged, imprisoned, crushed, drowned, tortured, starved, and murdered as Witches.

The Witch hunts throughout The Inquisition and European wars of faith peaked between about 1580 and 1630, however there have been over three centuries of terror, with an estimated whole of 40,000–100,000 folks executed. Largely ladies.

However let’s be clear.

Witchcraft continues to be misunderstood and persecuted throughout the globe in the present day. In some international locations, together with so-called “fashionable” ones, suspected Witches are nonetheless routinely put to public and torturous loss of life. Alas, these persecutions are on the rise once more, for when concern and ignorance tip into the acute, scapegoats turn into targets.

However we are going to proceed to attempt for justice and understanding for all at risk. And we vow:

By no means once more the burnings! And hangings. And drownings. And torture.

The Wall of Remembrance in Salem, Massachusetts

Dates of Execution from America’s REAL Witchhunt –
(And, frankly, screw those that have not too long ago tried to trivialize this time period for his or her self-pity and ego!)

I invite you to recollect them aloud in your rites on this holy day:

• Bridget Bishop (June 10, 1692)
• Rebecca Nurse (July 19, 1692)
• Sarah Good (July 19, 1692)
• Elizabeth Howe (July 19, 1692)
• Susannah Martin (July 19, 1692)
• Sarah Wildes (July 19, 1692)
• George Burroughs (August 19, 1692)
• George Jacobs Sr. (August 19, 1692)
• Martha Service (August 19, 1692)
• John Proctor (August 19, 1692)
• John Willard (August 19, 1692)
• Martha Corey (September 22, 1692; spouse of Giles Corey)
• Mary Eastey (September 22, 1692)
• Mary Parker (September 22, 1692)
• Alice Parker (September 22, 1692)
• Ann Pudeator (September 22, 1692)
• Wilmot Redd (September 22, 1692)
• Margaret Scott (September 22, 1692)
• Samuel Wardwell Sr. (September 22, 1692)
• Giles Corey (September 19, 1692) – Pressed to loss of life, the one such execution on report in America. Final phrases, “Extra weight!”

Died in jail

• Ann Foster — convicted and died in custody in December 1692
• Mercy, toddler daughter of Sarah Good
• Sarah Osborne— died in jail (Might 10, 1692) earlier than she might be tried
• Roger Toothaker – died earlier than trial (June 16, 1692) in all probability as a result of torture or maltreatment
• Lydia Dustin – discovered not responsible however died in custody

Convicted however escaped:

A Few of the Beloved Useless of 2023

This 12 months, various true Witches, Pagans, and different non-traditional magical folks crossed the veil.

I particularly give thanks for the lifetime of one among my dearest academics and most beloved leaders in my neighborhood, the legendary Rachel Pollack, who died April 7. Rachel was one of many world’s foremost Tarot students, deck creators and practitioners in addition to a famend skilled on Jewish mysticism. She was additionally a passionate transgender activist and creator of the primary trans comedian hero; an award-winning novelist; and a gifted, sensible artist.

As well as, an enormous thanks once more this 12 months to Rebecca Crystal of the Church of All Worlds (C.A.W.), who tracks the luminaries who’ve departed our land of the dwelling. We take a second to acknowledge them and want them blessed journeys:

Jake Stratton-Kent, famous researcher, scholar, occultist and author (his books, Goetic Liturgy, Encyclopaedia Goetica, and Conjure Codex: A Compendium of Invocation, Evocation, and Conjuration I-V), Eulogy for a Necromancer (4/27/1956-1/17/2023)
Christopher James Beld, member of the Circle Sanctuary Neighborhood and volunteered at Circle Sanctuary Nature Protect. (11/6/88-1/30/2023)
Dr. Charles A. Champion – Champion’s Pharmacy and Herb Retailer is iconic within the Memphis space, in addition to throughout the various panorama of rootworkers, healers, and different practitioners within the south. (8/20/1930 – 1/21/2023)
Man Teague (Silverlocke) Cosmology Dean and Professor of Tarot and Lore at Gray College of Wizardry (1/31/1953-5/16/2023)
Joey Gelinas, smart pal, non secular adventurer, Excessive Priestess, actor, spouse, mom, and grandmother. (6/28/1947-5/30/2023)
Melinda Ann Taylor-Kelly (7/5/1971-10/6/2023) Spouse of Aidan Kelley.
Olivia Pettijohn Lengthy time member of Denton TX CUUPS, Livvy was dedicated to Brighid and to the Morrigan. She beloved poetry and was reader. She might recite “The Family tree of Brighid” and sometimes did. (1982-10/7/2023).

We would additionally want to add our prayers on behalf of the victims of struggle and battle internationally, particularly these affected by the struggle in Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas struggle, Syria, Myanmar, Yemen, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Sudan, and people caught within the ongoing violence in Haiti, Mexico, and the Sahel.

Allow us to pray that this bloodshed is quickly peacefully resolved and doesn’t unfold.

Gone and Misplaced Perpetually

As well as, we grieve for the waves of extinction now catapulting our biosphere into wreck.

In accordance with a report final 12 months by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (which is revealed each two years), there’s a mass extinction occasion underway throughout our planet. Wildlife populations have plunged practically 70 p.c in simply 50 years.

Their newest Living Planet Report warns that in the present day’s agricultural practices (monoculture) and different harmful human actions are quickly destroying pure habitats and displacing wildlife, resulting in devastating losses for biodiversity and animal populations.

The report investigated greater than 5,000 species of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and fish, spanning 32,000 completely different animal populations.

To be exact, the report discovered that animal populations have plummeted by 69 p.c since 1970.

In Africa, two thirds of animal populations have been misplaced. In Europe, there was an animal inhabitants decline of 18 p.c. In Asia, the harm is 55 p.c, and in North America, animal populations have fallen by 20 p.c.

The best losses are occurring in Latin America and all through the Caribbean; animal populations have plummeted by 94% in these areas. Tens of millions of species of crops and animals are actually on the verge of extinction.

What’s remembered lives, however extinction is ceaselessly.

And as most of you already know, my 93-year outdated father, Col. Otis W. Livingston, crossed over on Might 10 after a heroic lifetime of service to his nation. I will likely be ceaselessly grateful to all of you who stored him, and me, in your rites and prayers.

Final, among the many many, many others, these notables additionally crossed the veil this 12 months, and we might want to mark their going:

• Daniel Ellsberg
• Dianne Feinstein
• Tina Turner
• Harry Belafonte
• David Crosby
• Michael Gambon
• Tony Bennett
• Paul Reubens
• Jimmy Buffett
• Robbie Robertson
• Sinéad O’Connor
• Lisa Marley Presley
• Richard Roundtree
• Raquel Welch
• Matthew Perry

Who would possibly you add to this listing of the Beloved Useless?

Mild a candle to information your cherished ones that they might be a part of you this evening. Converse their names, and inform them of your life because you final met. Provide them refreshment. And provides because of your Ancestors, who noticed you of their goals.

Weaver, weaver weave their thread
Complete and powerful into your net;
Healer, healer, heal their ache,
In love might they return once more.

We merry meet.
And merry half.
And merry meet once more.
What’s remembered lives.

And keep in mind that Xmas is now on our horizon. The primary candle of our annual Creation Solar Wheel ceremony will likely be lit Sunday Nov. 26 (particulars coming quickly).

Blessed be.