Samhain

The Underlying Energies
This is the cross quarter festival of autumns end and the beginning of winter. It is the right time to connect to root energy and for internalising the creative life force. Increasing darkness and cold means we must accept that winter is fast approaching and we must adapt to this changing season. Leaves have fallen off the trees, birds have migrated, animals have gone into hibernation, frosts have come. It is a time of death and decay, death of the old, and within this, knowledge of rebirth. It is a time of forced adjustments which once accepted, reveal a new set of possibilities, a new phase, a new power to life. Like its counterpart Beltane, Samhain brings a mystical energy which we can use to explore and understand ourselves better.

This is the dark phase of the years cycle when the mystery of transformation occurs. This process involves a descent and a death of something old in preparation for something new to be reborn. The descent into the underworld or otherworld can be understood as a journey into the unconscious and spirit realms within each of us. Here we can find renewal through meditation, trance, rest, sleep and by sacrificing our outer selves for a while. The seeds of our ideas and future direction in life are incubated in our unconscious during the winter months, ready for rebirth in the spring. We can honour this cycle by being aware that each end and death of the old will bring opportunity for a new start, as each beginning holds within it an end. This endless cycle of change is necessary, bringing renewal of cells, of ourselves, our understanding and our ideas. It means there are always new opportunities to start again, to stay healthy. Many illnesses are rooted in stuck energy patterns, emotional congestion and hanging on to the past.

We have been taught to fear our inner world and to mistrust the information we may receive through insights, intuition and our connection to our own inherent wisdom. Many of our actions come from our subconscious and we may not be always be aware of these subtle patterns and conditioned responses that are such a part of us and which may silently rule our lives. We need to understand our unconscious selves and to learn to listen to our inner voice. We can use the energy of the dark time of the year to explore these inner parts of ourselves. We need to face our fear of the dark mysteries, magic and our deep unwanted feelings which we may have pushed inside and not recognised as our own. We need to turn and face what these mean to us, free the energies, the potential inherent in the experience. From this courageous journey will come transformation, a balanced perspective and rebirth in the age old tradition of Samhain.

Use this time for inner exploration, astral travel, deep meditation, contacting your deepest wisdom. Slip beyond the rational and the logical and go beyond the seen world. Use this time for collecting, sorting, memorising information and learning, so that when the time for action comes you will have assimilated new knowledge which can be used when needed. Fear is one of our greatest teachers. Turn and look at fear and the understanding this brings. Seek the truth in the darkness, look for ways to find the divine within. Out of a difficult situation comes power, hope, rebirth, inner strength, wisdom and maturity. Review and assimilate what you have learned in the active phase of the years cycle. Prepare yourself for the new year ahead. Nurture your visions, dreams, ideas and direction so that they may incubate in the dark winter months ready for when the active phase begins again.

Samhain celebrates the final harvest. With the end of the harvest, the last yields of Summer give way to the coming Winter. Samhain reminds us that all things pass away in time. Just as the leaves fade and fall from the trees, so we must allow for loss and passages in our lives. This is a time to celebrate all the aspects of our lives that are dropping away from us ... the relationships, the situations, the pain, the emotions, the old identities that once served us ... are now passing away to make room for new growth. Samhain is an ideal time for releasing old habits and conditions in our lives that are constricting our growth and progress. Honour the lessons and experiences these situations have brought you, then bring these energies to a sacred fire and bid them farewell.

For the ancient Celts, Samhain marked the end of the old year and the start of the new. More accurately, Samhain is a space between the years -- the old year is dead and the new year has not yet begun. It is a time out of time ... a space outside of the natural order. As such, it is a time when the division between dimensions or levels of reality are thinnest. This division is referred to as “the veil between the worlds”. Because intuition is heighted by this thinning of the veils, Samhain is an excellent time for reading tarot cards, scrying, dreamwork, and other forms of divination.

Samhain is also known as the Feast of the Dead. At this time, ancestors and departed friends are honoured. Memories and stories are shared and it is customary to set out extra places at supper for departed loved ones. Since the veil between the worlds is thinnest on this night, it is believed to be the best time for dead souls to make contact with the living. People sometimes use this time to commune with those on the other side. This should be done in a spirit of love for the highest good of all. Invite the luminous spirits of the ancestors to join you on this night, and offer prayers for the souls of departed loved ones for healing and blessings on their journey.

belated samhain blessings to you all!