Bringing Meaning And Reverence Back Into Samhain
Bringing Meaning And Reverence Back Into Samhain / Halloween
Source Unknown
The feast of Samhain marks the onset of a darker, more introspective time of year, when access to the otherworld is easier than usual and our thoughts turn towards those who have died.
Unfortunately, Samhain has lost its meaning (as have many of the other festivals of the year.) Halloween takes the ancient sacredness of this festival with its important message that death is followed by rebirth and superimposes negative messages onto it.
Spirits, rather than the loving reminders of our dead, are portrayed as frightening and malicious beings against which we must be on our guard. Witches roam the streets and are to be feared rather than revered in our patriarchal, ageist society.
'Tricks' are the price we pay if we do not 'treat' to visiting ghosts and ghouls. They are shunned by many for their antisocial excesses. Yet nature seems to be showing us this most of all with global warming - the price we pay for not treating the natural forces of life with respect and reverence.
The true meaning of Samhain is a reverence for death, our ancestors and opening up to our inner power and our own inner wisdom. It is a powerful time with great depth and meaning if we can peel back all the commercialism, plastic costumes, artificially colored sweets and misunderstanding.
It is the perfect night to connect with the spirit of mystery and magic and to connect with our intuition. No surprise then that Halloween occurs in the sign of Scorpio; the sign associated with the death and transformation that leads to change, renewal and regeneration of life.
Samhain marked the beginning of the New Year in the Celtic calendar, and it was an especially sacred and significant time. There was a feeling that, on the eve of this feast, time belonged to neither to the Old year or the New year.
This lack of definition in time implied the blurring of the boundaries of space. In particular the boundary between this world and the next,the living and the dead, human beings and the forces of nature.
In most pagan cultures, great respect was paid to the dead, who were perceived as hungry and in need of nourishment on this night. Customs arose of providing food and fire to the souls of departed relatives.
It is believed that Samhain is a time when our deceased loved ones might try to contact us. A lovely ritual to honor this is to set up photographs of all your departed loved ones - friends, family and pets. Give thanks for everything this person bought into your life, remember the good times, write letters to them if you still miss them (it's a great ritual for children to get involved with to help with closure and acceptance) and then to decorate the area with rosemary sprigs. Rosemary is the traditional herb of remembrance.
Have a special meal of thanks, and set extra places for the spirits of those who wish to join you. The plate can be put outside when you have finished the meal as an offering to those traveling between worlds.
Other rituals involve meeting your power animal. There is a wonderful journey for this outlined in Cait johnson's "Celebrating the Great mother". It is gentle and simple enough to be done with children which gives them an empowering ally for the rest of their lives. it is also a good introduction into shamanism.
Divination is another way to celebrate this festival. Children are attracted to card decks and there are a few tarot decks designed specifically with children in mind ('The inner Child' takes its inspiration from fairy tales for example). Alternatively you can get involved with making your own runes. Choose lima beans, small stones or pieces of wood.
Contrary to being evil, these tools can help unlock the unconscious mind and give voice to inner needs, fears and concerns. They can be the catalyst for deep discussion and resolution. If you are not familiar with runes or tarot, simply choose one card to represent what you need to let go of and one that indicates what you need to birth, or bring into, your life. Focus on the card or rune and, rather than using a book to 'tell' you the answer, allow your inner wisdom to talk to you. Find the specific meaning for *you*.
The meaning behind carved pumpkins or turnips was to show the way back to loved ones who had died, inviting them to visit. Instead of faces, you can carve spirals, goddesses, your spirit animal or something that reminds you of a deceased loved one. Perhaps a flower for a Grandmother who loved roses for instance.
Create a nature table or altar with your carved lanterns, autumn leaves, soul cakes, candles, photos of deceased loved ones, a reminder of your power animal and anything else that will bring meaning and reverence to this special day. Children love setting these up and will gain great awareness and delight in the meaning of Samhain.
***
13 Ideas for Samhain
by Heather Evenstar Osterman
Let's face it; Halloween is a major commercialized holiday. So how do
you find something meaningful to pull out of all the mainstream
commercialism for your Sabbat celebrations? What do you do when most
of the people around your family don't understand the ancient
traditions they unconsciously uphold?
Take a close look at the history behind the holiday, then create new
traditions for your family to enjoy year after year. You don't have
to reject the mainstream; just teach your children why modern
practices exist.
Samhain (also known as the Festival of the Dead or All Hallows' Eve)
is a time for us to release the spirits of those who have died during
the previous year and for us to honor our ancestors. It is customary
to set an extra place at your supper table on Samhain Eve in honor of
the departed. This is not a scary time, rather a time when the veil
is thin and we can spend time with the spirits in warmth and love.
Here are some activities to try out with your family:
1. Volunteer to talk to your child's class about the origins of
Halloween and how Wiccans really celebrate Samhain.
2. Together as a family, create an altar honoring your family's
beloved dead (including pets). Use photos, mementos, keepsakes or
anything that seems right.
3. Make candleholders out of apples, turnips, gourds and small
pumpkins by hollowing out deep holes in the tops. Make sure the
candles are well-secured in the bases.
4. Put candles in the windows to guide spirit travelers on their way.
5. Eat dinner by candlelight, setting a place at the table for your
beloved dead. If your children are older, try having a Dumb Supper
where the meal is eaten in silence so the spirits are not frightened
away.
6. Bob for apples in your cauldron!
7. Carve jack-o-lanterns to protect your home from malicious spirits.
Have your children help make up a spell of protection to enforce the
scary jack-o-lantern faces.
8. Plant flower bulbs in your yard or somewhere special. Think of
this as a special promise for spring, a secret the earth will keep.
9. Take a walk and observe animals (like squirrels and geese) prepare
for winter. At home, prepare for winter in your own way.
10. Make a family tree on poster board. Let the kids draw pictures of
each of the people on your tree.
11. Snack on seeds and nuts (try toasted pumpkin and sunflower
seeds). Or try making skull-shaped popcorn balls.
12. Tell your children stories of when they where younger. Then
encourage them to make up stories of their lives in the future.
13. Why should kids have all the fun? The whole family should make
costumes and go trick-or-treating!
***
A Pumpkin Carving Tip--A Toolbox
So, Halloween is almost here and you're ready to carve your pumpkin. Where are all those nifty tools you used last year? Are they swimming in a drawer with the rest of your kitchen stuff, or are they somewhere in a box or bag at the back of a closet?
Here's a great idea from the folks at Halloween Online: a Pumpkin Carving Toolbox! Toolboxes are fairly inexpensive (I just purchased one at a discount store for about $6.00) and, depending on size, are easy to store. In your toolbox you can include pumpkin carving musts such as a prepackaged pumpkin carving kit or a do-it-yourself kit with a knife, an ice cream scoop or a pasta fork; votive candles and their holders; stickers; even that CD of spooky music that you play for the trick-or-treaters, whatever. And to distinguish your pumpkin carving toolbox from the other workaday toolboxes, add spooky stickers to the top and sides of the box. (This idea of a holiday toolbox works well at other times of the year, too. I have a small holiday greeting card plastic box that includes return address labels, pens, stickers, lists of names and addresses, cards received from the previous year, a stamp pad and a few holiday stamps.)
Source Unknown
The feast of Samhain marks the onset of a darker, more introspective time of year, when access to the otherworld is easier than usual and our thoughts turn towards those who have died.
Unfortunately, Samhain has lost its meaning (as have many of the other festivals of the year.) Halloween takes the ancient sacredness of this festival with its important message that death is followed by rebirth and superimposes negative messages onto it.
Spirits, rather than the loving reminders of our dead, are portrayed as frightening and malicious beings against which we must be on our guard. Witches roam the streets and are to be feared rather than revered in our patriarchal, ageist society.
'Tricks' are the price we pay if we do not 'treat' to visiting ghosts and ghouls. They are shunned by many for their antisocial excesses. Yet nature seems to be showing us this most of all with global warming - the price we pay for not treating the natural forces of life with respect and reverence.
The true meaning of Samhain is a reverence for death, our ancestors and opening up to our inner power and our own inner wisdom. It is a powerful time with great depth and meaning if we can peel back all the commercialism, plastic costumes, artificially colored sweets and misunderstanding.
It is the perfect night to connect with the spirit of mystery and magic and to connect with our intuition. No surprise then that Halloween occurs in the sign of Scorpio; the sign associated with the death and transformation that leads to change, renewal and regeneration of life.
Samhain marked the beginning of the New Year in the Celtic calendar, and it was an especially sacred and significant time. There was a feeling that, on the eve of this feast, time belonged to neither to the Old year or the New year.
This lack of definition in time implied the blurring of the boundaries of space. In particular the boundary between this world and the next,the living and the dead, human beings and the forces of nature.
In most pagan cultures, great respect was paid to the dead, who were perceived as hungry and in need of nourishment on this night. Customs arose of providing food and fire to the souls of departed relatives.
It is believed that Samhain is a time when our deceased loved ones might try to contact us. A lovely ritual to honor this is to set up photographs of all your departed loved ones - friends, family and pets. Give thanks for everything this person bought into your life, remember the good times, write letters to them if you still miss them (it's a great ritual for children to get involved with to help with closure and acceptance) and then to decorate the area with rosemary sprigs. Rosemary is the traditional herb of remembrance.
Have a special meal of thanks, and set extra places for the spirits of those who wish to join you. The plate can be put outside when you have finished the meal as an offering to those traveling between worlds.
Other rituals involve meeting your power animal. There is a wonderful journey for this outlined in Cait johnson's "Celebrating the Great mother". It is gentle and simple enough to be done with children which gives them an empowering ally for the rest of their lives. it is also a good introduction into shamanism.
Divination is another way to celebrate this festival. Children are attracted to card decks and there are a few tarot decks designed specifically with children in mind ('The inner Child' takes its inspiration from fairy tales for example). Alternatively you can get involved with making your own runes. Choose lima beans, small stones or pieces of wood.
Contrary to being evil, these tools can help unlock the unconscious mind and give voice to inner needs, fears and concerns. They can be the catalyst for deep discussion and resolution. If you are not familiar with runes or tarot, simply choose one card to represent what you need to let go of and one that indicates what you need to birth, or bring into, your life. Focus on the card or rune and, rather than using a book to 'tell' you the answer, allow your inner wisdom to talk to you. Find the specific meaning for *you*.
The meaning behind carved pumpkins or turnips was to show the way back to loved ones who had died, inviting them to visit. Instead of faces, you can carve spirals, goddesses, your spirit animal or something that reminds you of a deceased loved one. Perhaps a flower for a Grandmother who loved roses for instance.
Create a nature table or altar with your carved lanterns, autumn leaves, soul cakes, candles, photos of deceased loved ones, a reminder of your power animal and anything else that will bring meaning and reverence to this special day. Children love setting these up and will gain great awareness and delight in the meaning of Samhain.
***
by Heather Evenstar Osterman
Let's face it; Halloween is a major commercialized holiday. So how do
you find something meaningful to pull out of all the mainstream
commercialism for your Sabbat celebrations? What do you do when most
of the people around your family don't understand the ancient
traditions they unconsciously uphold?
Take a close look at the history behind the holiday, then create new
traditions for your family to enjoy year after year. You don't have
to reject the mainstream; just teach your children why modern
practices exist.
Samhain (also known as the Festival of the Dead or All Hallows' Eve)
is a time for us to release the spirits of those who have died during
the previous year and for us to honor our ancestors. It is customary
to set an extra place at your supper table on Samhain Eve in honor of
the departed. This is not a scary time, rather a time when the veil
is thin and we can spend time with the spirits in warmth and love.
Here are some activities to try out with your family:
1. Volunteer to talk to your child's class about the origins of
Halloween and how Wiccans really celebrate Samhain.
2. Together as a family, create an altar honoring your family's
beloved dead (including pets). Use photos, mementos, keepsakes or
anything that seems right.
3. Make candleholders out of apples, turnips, gourds and small
pumpkins by hollowing out deep holes in the tops. Make sure the
candles are well-secured in the bases.
4. Put candles in the windows to guide spirit travelers on their way.
5. Eat dinner by candlelight, setting a place at the table for your
beloved dead. If your children are older, try having a Dumb Supper
where the meal is eaten in silence so the spirits are not frightened
away.
6. Bob for apples in your cauldron!
7. Carve jack-o-lanterns to protect your home from malicious spirits.
Have your children help make up a spell of protection to enforce the
scary jack-o-lantern faces.
8. Plant flower bulbs in your yard or somewhere special. Think of
this as a special promise for spring, a secret the earth will keep.
9. Take a walk and observe animals (like squirrels and geese) prepare
for winter. At home, prepare for winter in your own way.
10. Make a family tree on poster board. Let the kids draw pictures of
each of the people on your tree.
11. Snack on seeds and nuts (try toasted pumpkin and sunflower
seeds). Or try making skull-shaped popcorn balls.
12. Tell your children stories of when they where younger. Then
encourage them to make up stories of their lives in the future.
13. Why should kids have all the fun? The whole family should make
costumes and go trick-or-treating!
***
A Pumpkin Carving Tip--A Toolbox
So, Halloween is almost here and you're ready to carve your pumpkin. Where are all those nifty tools you used last year? Are they swimming in a drawer with the rest of your kitchen stuff, or are they somewhere in a box or bag at the back of a closet?
Here's a great idea from the folks at Halloween Online: a Pumpkin Carving Toolbox! Toolboxes are fairly inexpensive (I just purchased one at a discount store for about $6.00) and, depending on size, are easy to store. In your toolbox you can include pumpkin carving musts such as a prepackaged pumpkin carving kit or a do-it-yourself kit with a knife, an ice cream scoop or a pasta fork; votive candles and their holders; stickers; even that CD of spooky music that you play for the trick-or-treaters, whatever. And to distinguish your pumpkin carving toolbox from the other workaday toolboxes, add spooky stickers to the top and sides of the box. (This idea of a holiday toolbox works well at other times of the year, too. I have a small holiday greeting card plastic box that includes return address labels, pens, stickers, lists of names and addresses, cards received from the previous year, a stamp pad and a few holiday stamps.)
***
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