Samhain
My favorite feast day approaches.
Samhain (pronounced Sow-wen) is the third harvest of the year. It means summer's end in Gaelic. It is the end of the Celtic year - it is the last feast on the Wheel of the Year.
On this day, the great God of the Sun dies, and leaves his widow, the Goddess Crone, to mourn him until Yule (Winter Solstice) when he will be reborn, and light will return. With the Sun God gone, nights grow longer, plants and trees die back, and all around us freezes and hardens in the chill. On Samhain night, we stand at the space between the seasons, and in the heightened magic that connects the realms of the living and the dead.
"The pagan feast of Samhain is not, and never was, associated with evil or negativity. It has always been a time to reaffirm our belief in the oneness of all spirits, and in our firm resolution that physical death is not the final act of existence."
Edain McCoy –
This is what I will be working on in this Samhain season:
https://www.theseasonalsoul.com/spiritual-significance-of-halloween
Samhain celebrates the dark and death. It is not something to be afraid of, without the dark we cannot appreciate the light and without death there is no life.
At Samhain it’s clear that our inner world is overtaking our outer. Day is turning to night as we move into the dark side of the wheel of the year. This is where we leave the outer world behind. This is where the energy turns inward, and things need to die on the outside in order to do that.
Samhain celebrates that Death.
At this time in autumn it’s very clear things have turned inward. You can see it in the trees & the gardens, and you can feel it in your spirit. We’re drawing inward & our inner lives want our attention.
This is the time of year to get comfortable with your inner life. This is where the work is for the next few months.
Make peace with yourself right now. Don’t judge anything that comes up for you. Just feel whatever you need to feel, and practice being an observer. Observe your inner life without judgement.
This dark side of the wheel of the year reminds you not to fear the darkness. There’s a lot of beauty in these dark days. Embrace it. Magic is born in the darkness.
And as you turn inward, don’t be afraid to look at your dark parts–be an observer. No judgement. What do your shadows want to show you?
What do you see if you gaze unafraid at the darkness you fight to hide? What if, instead, you wrap your arms around those parts of yourself–what if you send yourself only deep, compassionate love?
Samhain is the season of Death. This is when the outerworld dies, to make space for new life to be born.
If you are brave enough to look at the darkness, to listen it has to tell you, you discover parts of yourself you need to let go of in order to grow & evolve.
This is where we leave behind the things that we’ve outgrown. Welcome the mystery & the possibilities of the space that it creates in your life.
This is a powerful time for magic & manifestation. What new dreams will be born to replace the leaves that you’ve let go of?
Being brave enough to journey into the darkness requires really mindful nurturing & self-compassion. This is hard inner work. It requires you to be so gentle & loving & kind to yourself over the next few months.
In perfect divine timing, at Samhain we are entering the feminine/yin side of the wheel of the year.
Yin energy is restful. It’s gentle & nurturing. It’s intuitive & receptive.
This energy is really encouraging you to take deep care of yourself right now. Sleep as much as you can, don’t push yourself. Whatever self-care looks like for you, do that. Don’t judge yourself for how much you need it right now.
Allow yourself to rest, be open to just receive whatever comes to you in this space.
Other rituals can include:
For the scents of the season, you could try a Simmer Pot:
A pot of boiling water on your stove:
Add: 1 whole orange peel, sliced into strips
2 Tbsp whole clove
3 whole cinnamon sticks
1 Tbsp nutmeg
2 drops of vanilla extract
ENJOY!!!
Final words for Samhain:
The most important feast of the year. It is the end of my year. I celebrate the darkness and try to connect with those that have moved through the veil. The veil is very thin at this time. It is the best time to make contact. Learn from them, be happy for them, be happy for yourself. Grow and welcome the darkness. It is a time to let things that are negative in your life die & move onto the positive things - nurture them - make them grow....BUT to do this you have to let go of the negative - you have to go through the "death" of those things that are dragging you down (anger, grudges, thoughts of retaliation, etc).
Enjoy it - embrace the darkness & death....
I'd be interested in knowing what all that feast might include...
As in the foods we partake in or the rituals I perform?
food is my religion. I devote myself at the table.... er, altar 3 times a day.
Samhain is the final harvest feast so we are talking root veggies (carrots, parsnips and beets), potatoes, winter squash. I like to do a venison roast if I can get my hands on one, but if not I turn to pork. Apples play a big roll in bread and dessert.
sounds great... now I'm hungry...
Good, bring your appetite on Monday.
be serious, I'll bring a refrigerated truck...
That sounds lovely.
I’m mainly just trying to figure out how anyone gets the sounds “sow-wen” out of a word with an “m” in it. Or - more likely? - perhaps the sound came first and the correct question is why would anyone spell that word with an “m.”
It's Celtic. That's all you need to know. Want some real fun? Try to figure out how to pronounce words in Welsh
All has to do with the translation & their letters don't correspond with ours.
miinibaashkiminasiganibiitoosijiganibadagwiingweshiganibakwezhigan
This is the long longest word in the Ojibwe language and translates to blueberry pie.
Ojibwe is a pictorial language and this word describes it.
This literally translates to "blueberry cooked to jellied preserve that lies in layers in which the face is covered in bread".
We have two alphabets the single vowel and the double vowel. Most Ojibwe is currently taught in the double vowel system.
Boozhoo, which is a formal greeting is pronounced, boo zhau
My Ojibwe name is Animikii zaagijiwan which translates to, Thunder that flows from the River.
The double ii sounds as E as in seed and the double aa sounds out as AH as in father.
Boozhoo...
I learn so much from you. I wish I were more adept at languages. The languages of the first people have always fascinated me.
That is great info, Kavika. I love learning about different languages. Thank you for sharing with us.
Morning Kavika..
A good strong name, it suits you..
Hope the rellies are good in NSW tad wet up there and here at the moment..
Thanks, shona. The tribe is doing fine but they said to me, ''it's a bit damp, pops''. LOL
Yep as they are swilling around in six foot of water..
See they rescued a camel up there that was sloshing around..they can't swim. Didn't know that...
For some reason that reminded me. Back in my early school days we had a project around the holiday time.
We put a string on an orange so it could hang then used cloves to pierce into the rind and stuck them all over the orange, like a pin cushion.
I forget what it actually smelled like.
the Irish name Saorise is pronounced sear-sha.
Thank-you. I could never figure out how to pronounce that name
I have a toddler nephew whose name is Cillian. His little nickname is Kill or Killy because the C is hard in his name.
great actress
And here I thought it was a soft C.
Always good talking to an Irishman
She is good
I would have pronounced it sil e an
I like this time of year because it means I can get back to my sweatpants and hoodies.
What are some of the foods you cook/eat for Samhain? I think you told us this before but that was a year ago
I try to find a venison roast, but if I cannot get one I do a pork roast. For the final harvest feast we are supposed to use bounty from our last harvest....potatoes (usually mashed), squash (buttercup is my favorite), carrots, parsnips...all kinds of root veggies. I usually do some apple bread or pumpkin bread. For dessert I do an apple cobbler (I cannot make apple pie to save my life). I usually make soul cakes for snacking and make beet chips and sauté some scallops for appetizers. I do love to eat....
It all sounds delicious. Dev is on his way
damn straight, it was the squash, scallops, and cobbler that clinched it...
Plenty of room and plenty of food.
Morning Veronica..
Gulp you eat Bambi!! 🦌
Hmm well I suppose we eat Skippy...🦘
Thanks for the article rather fascinating and just love the photo at the start of the article..looks like heaven...
Everybody loves pumpkin...
Photo from neighbor.
That is so funny...
Thank you for reading. I do enjoy some venison, but since my hubby gave up deer hunting the roasts are few and far between.
Does Skippy taste like chicken?????
I have had alligator.
A new house - awesome...hope he is a polite neighbor.
Morning Trout..
Sweat pants sounds a bit gross.. in Aussie speak they are:
Tracky dacks...in case you ever roll up here for a visit...
I'll remember that!
Great article, Veronica.
Thanks for posting it.
Thank you.
Thank you for sharing this great information, Veronica. I love learning about different cultures/traditions of others, and their religious beliefs.
Your feast sounds delicious, and very healthful as well.
The world is full of very interesting things to learn if one keeps an open mind, and willing to put aside their prejudices and bigotry.
Thank you. I love to learn about the traditions and cultures of others as well. I have learned a lot from my NA friends here at NT. NA cultures have always fascinated me & when I started practicing Wicca I figured the fascination is born from the commonality of revering nature.
Enjoyed article and food sounds great
Thank you.