Samhain

This beautiful image by Susan Seddon Boulet.

Although Hallmark may have indoctrinated you otherwise, this evening is actually the Southern hemisphere Hallowe'en or Samhain, as it properly and originally known.

Pagan tradition tends to pull from the Northern hemisphere but for us based on the other side of the globe, we follow the movement of the seasons and the wheel of the year as it applies to us. Samhain falls after the Autumn Equinox and before the Winter Solstice, traditionally marking the end of harvest and the descent into deep, dark Winter.

On this one night of the year, according to ancient Celtic tradition, it is easier and more possible for spirit to enter our human world and for us to see through to the Other Side. On this night for centuries past, offerings have been made around fires lit to signpost to those who have passed over the location of their kindred in this world. It is a time of remembering, of thanksgiving and of ritual and spellcasting, calling in the energies of those who have gone before.

This is the day when the veil between worlds is at its most transparent. It is a time to reach out to the ancestors on whose shoulders you stand. Tonight is the perfect time to honour those who have helped shape your life and then departed from it.

As I type this afternoon my son's morning alarm has randomly started squawking at me from the other end of the house. Of course it has... so I'll take a moment to acknowledge my maternal grandmother Nancy, another Bohemian writer who is never far away and perpetually letting me know it

Tonight light candles to let those around you in spirit know you are thinking of them.



Words c. Kerrie Basha 2014