Samhain
A season of magic and mystery
Samhain (Sow-win) , a Gaelic word meaning end of summer, is one of the Sabbats or cross quarter days honored between Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice. Celebrated as the last of the harvest festivals and the transition point into winter or the dark season.
In different Pagan traditions this start of winter was known as the Celtic or Witches New Year. A time when the wheel of the year comes to a close to begin again. A time of honoring the cycles of life and death.
Depending on the traditions and place of origin, Samhain can be celebrated on October 31st, All Hallows Eve or the New Moon in Scorpio known as Lunar Samhain.
New Moons are the initiators of the cycle and new beginnings, bringing forth the energy of a new year. This year Lunar Samhain falls on November 18th.
There is also Solar or Astrological Samhain when the Sun is at 15 degrees Scorpio which marks the exact midpoint between the Equinox and Solstice celebrated this year on November 6th.
Whether you decide to celebrate or tune with one of these other days or for this whole Scorpio season, we have entered into a time of the thinning of the veils. Where the space between the physical realms and spirit worlds becomes more accessible for spirit communication and connections beyond this plane.
A time to honor our ancestors, those who have recently passed away and those within our ancestral line. Remembering their stories, giving mention of them through our words and placing them on our alters. Taking space to allow them to communicate with you.
In this season we have greater access to the otherworld, connecting to our guides, teachers, allies that are not of this physical realm. Honoring our soul lineages and those who support us from the unseen worlds. Giving space during this time to commune with them and receive their messages.
As we traverse this season of magic and mystery, we are given the opportunity to do our soul work. To see the shadows and what is ready to come to the light to be seen, released and transformed.
We honor this time as a season of death and the necessary part of the cycle that it is. To honor death is to honor life and that in this evolutionary cycle we cannot have one without the other.
Allowing what is ready to die within be let go of so it too can transform and support new life to grow.
When we allow the magic of this season to be felt and welcomed we can be in the flow of nature. Nature does not question, it just is. Each flower starts as seed and becomes a bud before blossoming into a flower then wilts and dies to go back to the earth before becoming compost and pausing in dormancy before coming back in the spring as a new flower once again.
I know as I continue to deepen in with the seasons of nature and the wheel of the year, the more ease I feel in these transitions. The letting go that is necessary in this autumn season.
The slowing down and hibernation that is called for in the deep winter. As nature has become my greatest teacher, I recognize how the external natural world mirrors my internal landscape. Showing me how to ebb and flow like nature does and be in balance with my inner and outer world.
How can you honor the darkness and this time of turning inward during this potent time.
Giving space to honor those who came before and this turning of the wheel.
Some ways to attune with this season:
✨ Putting photos of your ancestors on your altar and lighting a candle and taking some space to commune with them.
✨ Creating a feast for the ancestors with others, sharing food and stories that come through your ancestral line.
✨ Dancing around a fire and releasing what is ready to die while reclaiming the parts of yourself ready to be brought into integration.
✨ Cleansing your home and body with sacred smoke herbs, crystals or holy water.
✨ Listening to your intuition to guide you to tune in with what rituals and traditions feel most resonant.
This season of the deep dark mystery is upon us. All we need to do is show up and listen and allow the magic to unfold!
Samhain blessings to you!! 🦉🔥🖤🎃
Love Lila
Playlist magic for this season of magic and mystery
Amazing art by Elin Manon
