We are coming up on the time of the year when the veil between the human world and the spirit world thin. A great time to make connection with those who reside in the spirit world. Meditation is a good way to do that. There are several ways to meditate and everyone does it differently. You should find the best way for you. Maybe start with one of the many guided meditations which can be found on YouTube. Start short is my best advice when finding the meditation method which works best for you.
I wanted to give you a little history on Samhain as a foray into getting back to my regular blog posts. It's been a long while since I have posted on here due to unforeseen circumstances...and I'm going to leave it at that.
Samhain (pronounced Sah-ween) is a Gaelic celebration that dates back to early Celtic pagan times. It is one of the four fire festivals and marks the place between the fall equinox and winter solstice. The Celts believed during this time, the barrier between the human world and "otherworld" was easily breached by those residing on the other such as faeries and Sidhs. Therefore, they left offerings in their fields for those entities and dressed as animals and monsters so they wouldn't be kidnapped by these otherworldly entities.
As the Middle Ages approached, the celebrations became more personal. Instead of the bonfires being lit as part of a community, there were fires lit closer to the homes and farms to protect the families from faeries and witches. This is when the practice of carving and lighting turnips became popular which eventually gave way to the carving of pumpkins. My favorite story about the carved and lit turnips is the one about Stingy Jack who made a deal with the devil and was cursed to the darkness with only a carved out and lit turnip for all of eternity.
There are so many myths and legends about Samhain that have accumulated over the years. From the Second Battle of Mag Tuired which was said to have been the final conflict between the Tuatha de Danann and the evil group called the Fomor which unfolded during Samhain...to Fionn mac Cumhaill who did battle with the fire-breathing Aillen. What a rich period of myth and magick this portion of the Wheel of the Year can be attributed to having been.
As Christianity started spreading through the pagan world, leaders of the church tried to frame the celebration as a Christian holiday which was moved to May until Pope Gregory moved it back to the original time of the fire festivals in the 9th century but called it All Saints' Day on November 1 followed by All Souls' Day on November 2.
Since the 1980s there has been a return to the original pagan celebrations of Samhain due to the growing popularity of Wicca. Today, there is a mixture of old tradition and new practices which form the Samhain celebrations across the world.
No matter how you choose to celebrate Samhain or Halloween, I certainly hope you take the time to try to make contact with those on the spirit side of the veil. In times like these, we need the old wisdom to be our guiding light.
Blessed Be to all!
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