A Celtic Festival of Fire
The festival and threshold of Samhain marks the end of the year and the beginning of another. To the celts, they believed that night precedes day, thus the darkness of yule and winter’s blanket of cold and snow is the dark that precedes the day of spring, light and creation. This is a part of the sacredness that the fire festival of Imbolc brings, that which asks us to light a candle in the window of our soul to awaken our dreams, for the planting of seeds is not far away.There is no doubt that Samhain was and is the most important ceremony of the 4 traditional Celtic festivals.
When we move through decolonizing work and release attachments to things that our culture or society have created, it is deeply rooting in what is and always has been. The Gregorian calendar is a tool that was man-made, created of the mind not of the Earth. The New Years Eve that we celebrate in North America isn’t truly the beginning of a new year, but more so a new calendar. Samhain is the acknowledged shift in a year, because it is the Earth’s final harvest and cull of what was once new growth and life from the last year’s season. This is real and rooted, this is when the threshold between death and rebirth begins.
Some call samhain the juncture between the two halves of the Wheel of the Year, acquiring the supernatural status of being suspended in time. It could be said that time stands still on this night, when that which does not belong to the old year, does not belong to the new year either. During this night, the natural order and state of things are thrown into chaos, where the earthly world of the living becomes closely entangled with the underworld of the dead, releasing ancestors, gods, faeries, and many more creatures of uncertain natures. Amidst the dangers that chaos can bring us, it can also bring good: the energy of the great mystery, miracle energy, possibilities that never were possible but are now, for one night. With the help of ancestors, healing fae, or other mystical creatures, it is possible for the sick to heal, the desolate to become abundant; anything is possible.
As I look back on my life, I can see all the tiny pin pricks of experiences that eventually broke through the barrier and revealed a deep desire to come back to the roots of who I am, and why we do things…the sacred wisdom of the Earth. This is what pulled me to studying as an Irish Priestess and what drew me to the original instructions of my Mi'kmaq roots here on Turtle Island. I recall moments in my early twenties where I felt disconnected and removed from the social rituals and festivities of NYE. Now I understand why: it’s more so a fantasy than a reality.
This Samhain, I invite you to open yourself to what may shapeshift in your mind and external world, as what is real and fantasy may collide and crash in the chaos of the thinning of the veil - a moment, an evening - suspended in time. This is a time potent with possibility, so watch your thoughts and be sure of your words: this is a time of spelling and bring to the earth what your soul deeply needs for the next year. Over this next month, allow yourself to release what is a part of this last year and call in what will be the next. You are powerful and your ancestors and helping spirits are waiting to meet you at the veil. Know that you are not alone - on earth or otherworld - we are here to welcome you into our circle. Come and sit, dear one, with us by the fire on the 30th of October, the eve of Samhain. Find our next ceremonial details under our ‘Ceremony’ tab.