Golden Light in Coming Darkness Oct 2020
As I write this October 2020 newsletter, I cherish and honor this transition season – harvesting what I have sown, releasing that which no longer serves me, and anticipating the New Year, which in my tradition begins October 31.
The day we call Halloween (All Hallows Eve) in western culture is called Samhain (pronounced “sow-in” my tradition, “sav-in” in others) in Gaelic and Celtic lands. It is the last of the three harvest celebrations, and the final day of the year. On this day, the Wheel of the Year spins again, and a new year is born.
Samhain offers us a time to harvest and prepare the last of the crops, to store meat for winter, and to reflect on the year past. Who have I been? What do I value in my life? What do I wish to keep, and what do I need to release? Now is the time to offer up gratitude for the gifts in my life.
Samhain invites us to rejoice in the coming new year. Even as we move closer to the darkest time of the year (the night of the Winter Solstice), we find within ourselves the smaller stirring of the seeds that will grow with the coming light. Now is the time to plan for the next cycle of the Wheel. Who do I want to become? What will I value? Where do I want to be along my path?
Hosting a Silent Samhain Dinner
I invite you to consider a lovely practice at Samhain. This is the time when the veil between worlds thins and we can most easily communicate with departed loved ones. It is, unfortunately, from this deeply sacred concept that some of the spooky aspects of modern Halloween originate.
In reality, the practice of connecting with our departed loved ones can be a gentle, joyous event. One of my favorite ways to do this is to host what, in old days, was called “a dumb supper.” (“Dumb” in this context meant “silent”.)
Here’s what you do:
Prepare a meal with foods that celebrate the season. Include a dish or two that were favorites of your departed loved ones.
Set the table with flowers, candles, and holiday decorations. Add one additional place setting and chair that will represent a place at the table for your departed loved one(s).
Bring food and drink to the table, being sure you have everything you need so that no one has to leave the room once you begin. (Remember the matches for lighting the candles!)
Create a circle of energy around the table by offering prayers or thoughts, and inviting those guests from beyond the veil who you are willing to see. Simply holding hands around the table and speaking is a lovely way to do this.
Light the candles. From this moment forward, not a word is to be spoken.
As dishes are passed around the table, each person serves him/herself, with the person nearest the empty place setting putting a spoonful of each food on the plate reserved for the departed.
Eat in silence, meditating on kind thoughts of those who have crossed the veil, and listening for their communication with you.
At the end of the meal, hold hands again, offer thanks for the visit (whether you sensed someone or not), and thanks for the time together. Extinguish the candles.
When the circle is opened, someone should take the food on the plate that was set for the departed one(s) outside for the four-legged, winged, and crawling people.
Creating a Samhain Altar
Of all the altars I create throughout the year, my Samhain altar is the most cluttered, and often the most colorful. It contains many candles, representation of the Divine Feminine and the Divine Masculine, symbols of the five elements (air, fire, water, earth, spirit), the directions (east, south, west, north, above, below, within), symbols of the season (leaves, acorns, nuts, gourds, apples), a bell for marking the passage of time and parts of the ritual, incense, essential oils for anointing candles, matches, and books from which we will offer readings.
Usually a pomegranate graces the altar, reminding us to honor Persephone, as she descends into the underworld for the winter, and her mother Demeter, as she lays waste to the land in her grief. Also on the altar are photos and precious reminders of departed loved ones.
On the evening of Samhain, the candles are lighted, prayers are said, passages from beloved books are read. We meditate, we invite our relatives to join us. We laugh and tell stories, and sometimes we cry. Sometimes we sing. There are soul-cakes and a pot of tea nearby for the “cakes and ale” part of the ritual.
At my home, we begin our Samhain ritual with supper, then finalize the creation of the altar. We then host a ritual around the altar that honors the season, our ancestors, and our commitments for the coming year.
I hope these ideas have been helpful to you as you plan your own celebration of the turning of the Wheel at Samhain!
Remember to click on the link below for your FREE monthly meditation recording! Here’s the link to the “Golden Light in Coming Darkness” MP3 meditation I’ve recorded for October.
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A Super New Moon and a Blue Full Moon in October!
Lunar language can be so confusing! I mean both scientific language about the astronomy of moon cycles, as well as astrological and spiritual descriptions about moon cycles and phases.
According to earthsky.org, the New Moon that occurs today – Friday, October 16 – is the year’s closest and largest new moon. At the moment that the Moon is New, it can’t be seen with the naked eye, although we typically depict it in drawings as a sliver of light in the sky. The Moon is new in October in the sign of Libra.
“Some call this new moon a supermoon. You won’t see this new moon, even though it’s extra close. Yet if you live along a coast, you might see its impact along the ocean shoreline in the days following new moon. Twice a month – at new moon and full moon- the gravitational pull of the moon teams up with that of the sun to usher forth higher-than-usual spring tides. Around the time of a spring tide, the difference between high tide and low tide is especially profound. With this month’s closer-than-usual new moon, we can expect even higher (and even lower) tides in some places; weather conditions and the shape of the shoreline also play a role,” says earthsky.org.
Note that the definition of “spring” tide in the above passage does not refer to the season of spring. Spring tides occur when there is a greater distance between high and low tides than usual, regardless of the season.
A second Full Moon occurs this month on October 31. A full moon happens at the instant that it’s directly opposite the sun (180 degrees from the sun in celestial longitude). This full moon moment comes on October 31, at 9:49 a.m. EST, 8:49 a.m. CST, 7:49 a.m. MDT, 6:49 a.m. PDT, 5:49 a.m. Alaskan Time and 4:49 a.m. Hawaiian Time). The Moon is full in the opposing Sun sign, thus, Aries.
This October 31 Full Moon is considered a Blue Moon. There are two definitions of a Blue Moon: a Blue Moon occurs, by one definition, when there are two full moons in a calendar month. By a second definition, a Blue Moon occurs when there are four full moons within three consecutive calendar months.
Recently, a couple of people on one of my Facebook pages told me I was wrong about the name of the Full Moon in early October. I wasn’t wrong. In beliefs, cultures, and traditions around the world, Moon names vary. How time is marked and how the moon is seen to transit the sky vary as well. For example, depending on which tradition one follows, this month’s earlier Full Moon could have been called Hunter’s Moon, Harvest Moon, Blood Moon, or one of many other names.
Despite name confusion, know that the New Moon on October 16 is the harbinger of your opportunity to make changes in your life as you spin toward the new year, and the Full Moon on October 31 affords you space in which to offer gratitude for the gifts in your life, and to begin a new year in a new way!
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JUST ONE MORE THING BEFORE YOU GO:
I wrote in September’s newsletter that I pledge to spend more time laughing and playing and offering up gratitude for the gifts in my life. I’ve been able, thus far, to keep that promise.
On the night of the full moon, October 1, I watched her rise from the sea with most of my family around me. We spent that glorious week together in a lovely house on the sound, laughing at the antics of a five-year-old and accepting each day as it came.
There were days of sunshine, with light and dolphins playing on the water around our boat as we trolled the marshes. There were days of a Nor-east’er, when the wind howled and the rain lashed. And always, there was a sense of love and respect and kindness for each other and the magical world around us.
My wish for you, as the days grow shorter and the nights longer, is that you, too, have moments of kindness, of reflection, of laughter, and of love. I wish you deep and abiding connection to the world around you. Together, we can make a better world. In deep gratitude.
Thank you!
