blessed samhain to all

[niyad]

Celebrating Samhain



As October turns to November, thousands of Witches, Wiccans, Druids, and other Pagans across America, Canada, Europe, and elsewhere observe the sacred time of Samhain. Samhain is a festival of the Dead. Meaning "Summer's End" and pronounced saah-win or saa-ween, Samhain is a celebration of the end of the harvest and the start of the coldest half of the year. For many practitioners, myself included, Samhain also is the beginning of the spiritual new year.




Originating in ancient Europe as a Celtic Fire festival, Samhain is now celebrated worldwide. The timing of contemporary Samhain celebrations varies according to spiritual tradition and geography. Many of us celebrate Samhain over the course of several days and nights, and these extended observances usually include a series of solo rites as well as ceremonies, feasts, and gatherings with family, friends, and spiritual community. In the northern hemisphere, many Pagans celebrate Samhain from sundown on October 31 through November 1. Others hold Samhain celebrations on the nearest weekend or on the Full or New Moon closest to this time. Some Pagans observe Samhain a bit later, or near November 6, to coincide more closely with the astronomical midpoint between Fall Equinox and Winter Solstice. Most Pagans in the southern hemisphere time their Samhain observances to coincide with the middle of their Autumn in late April and early May, rather than at the traditional European time of the holiday.

Samhain also has been known by other names. Some Celtic Wiccans and Druids call it Calan Gaeaf, Calan Gwaf, Kala-Goanv, or Nos Galan Gaeof. In Welsh, it is Nos Cyn Calan Gaual. It also is known as Oie Houney. A medieval book of tales, the Yellow Book of Lecan, reports that common folk called it the "Feast of Mongfind," the legendary Witch-Queen who married a King of Tara in old Ireland. In the ancient Coligny Calendar, an engraved bronze dating from the first century C.E.and dug up in 1897 in France, Samhain is called Trinouxtion Samonii, or "Three Nights of the End of Summer." Variant spellings of Samhain include Samain, Samuin, and Samhuinn.

With the growth and spread of Christianity as the dominant religion throughout Europe, Samhain time took on Christian names and guises. All Saints' Day or All Hallows on November 1 commemorated Christian saints and martyrs. All Souls' Day on November 2 was a remembrance for all souls of the dead. With the coming of Christian Spaniards to Mexico, the indigenous customs of honoring the dead at this time of year mixed with Roman Catholicism and gave birth to the Day of the Dead, Dia de los Muertos, in early November. Samhain shares the ancient spiritual practice of remembering and paying respects to the Dead with these related religious holidays of Christianity.

Halloween, short for All Hallow's Eve, is celebrated on and around October 31. Although occurring at the same time of year and having roots in end-of-harvest celebrations of the ancient past, Halloween and Samhain are not the same, but two separate holidays that differ considerably in focus and practice. In contemporary America and elsewhere, Halloween is a secular folk holiday. Like its cousin, Thanksgiving, it is widely and publicly celebrated in homes, schools, and communities, large and small, by people of many paths, ethnic heritages, and worldviews. Furthermore, Halloween has evolved to be both a family-oriented children's holiday as well as an occasion for those of all ages to creatively express themselves and engage in play in the realm of make-believe and fantasy through costumes, trick-or-treating, storytelling, play-acting, pranks, cathartic scary place visits, and parties.

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https://www.circlesanctuary.org/index.php/celebrating-the-seasons/celebrating-samhain

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SAMHAIN MEANING



Tonight we celebrate the Grand Sabbat of Samhain which was the Celtic New Year. Samhain marks the final harvest, the coming winter, the death of the sun. To our ancestors, particularly those living in harsher climates, this was a frightening time. Food had to be stored to last through the cold months ahead. Often the weak would not survive. An especially bleak winter could mean the end of the community itself. Even the sun appeared to leave the sky.

Samhain then, was a very important festival because it offered hope. It meant the harvest had been successful and sufficient supplies had been stocked for the winter. Fires were lit in honour of the sun which our ancestors hoped would be reborn again at Yule. And they thought of those who had gone before- those who had died in the preparation of the food, or the hunt, or those who had died in past winters. Maintaining this connection is, and has always been, a very important affirmation of life itself.

Just as our ancestors did long ago, we remember and honour the dead because they are a part of ourselves. All those we have ever known, including our beloved pets, live on in our mannerisms, turns of speech, values and practices. They are a part of our personality that distinguishes us from others. No one else had the same combination of parents, relatives, friends and teachers. The traits and memories that we maintain of those who have gone before are a form of immortality for them.

So we pause and we look back and we give thanks for those who have made us what we are today. We hope that someday we too will be remembered, because we know that "They who are remembered, live on."

In tonight’s ritual we will be “Sharing cakes and ale”, well not actually ale, but what we will be drinking contains waters from the WHITE & RED WELLS OF GLASTONBURY.

http://spheresoflight.com.au/index.php?page=rit_may12

[wendylaroux]

1. Awesome!!

Same to you

that last pic is amazing!

[niyad]

2. it is, indeed.

[Siwsan]

3. I have a lovely bottle of mead, for what looks to be a rainy night

I will drink a toast to all of the family members I lost this year and give thanks I had them in my life, for as long as I did.

Then I will probably dig into the supply of 'spirit bribes' that I bought since, given the weather forecast, I doubt I'll have many costumed visitors, tonight. None the less, the jack-o-lanterns are primed and ready for illumination, just in case.

[niyad]

4. sounds like a lovely way to spend our new year.

[w0nderer]

17. Fellow Mead drinker!

If home made, pretty please post recipe, i'm collecting mead recipe

[Siwsan]

19. I think my brother has some recipes

I'll check when I see him, probably tomorrow.

This is a bottled mead that my niece bought for me, under the guise of it being a 'de-stressing tonic'. Works for me!

[w0nderer]

20. de-stressing tonic

i like that, i may print some labels like that LOL


enjoy

i'd love to hear his recepies (specially since the only ones i've heard are swe and danish ones) (i DID try one at an SCA in Georgia...nice bite but he went way heavy on mugwort...bitter)

enjoy and or keep safe this samhain/start of 'wild hunt'

[restorefreedom]

5. blessings to all for the new year

to our ancestors, we remember
to our fellow creatures, living and dead, peace
to the earth, thank you

may we all be safe and strong in the coming year

[niyad]

6. so beautiful. thank you for posting on this holy day.

[restorefreedom]

7. sometimes in this fast paced world,

many forget the importance of observances and rememberance. i find they help keep me sane.

namaste

[erronis]

11. And this time of year seems much better for "new year" - hunkering down and hoping

Here in western "civilization" we got stuck with some old roman emperors who needed 12 months and the end of the year to be December (tenth month?) - right in the middle of snow, ice, slush.

[restorefreedom]

15. and nothing to do with harvest

or the rhythm of nature

not surprised though...high govt officials thinking they have control of time and space is nothing new

[Tipperary]

8. I love this!

I am stealing all these pictures!

[niyad]

9. please do.

and click here for lots more:

https://www.google.com/search?q=samhain+pictures&biw=1090&bih=663&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0CDEQ7AlqFQoTCMGQ--ie7cgCFQdkJgodIgEIjA

[SoapBox]

10. K & R!

[laundry_queen]

12. Beautiful. Thank you.

My favorite time of year. There is something so mysterious and holy about it.

And we remember those who have gone before us so that they will live on.

[AgingAmerican]

13. Ghouls night out!

[Spitfire of ATJ]

14. It was traditionally a time when families spent more time together since the weather turned cold....

It's no wonder it's associated with horror.

[w0nderer]

16. Toasts with mead, breaks bread and gives salt

Happy Vetrnætr (and start of 'the wild hunt') take heed during the dark times

[guillaumeb]

18. Recommended. An excellent history lesson.

When we were in England, we visited many places. I found the same sense of spirituality at Stonehenge and Glastonbury as I felt at Salisbury Cathedral.

[smirkymonkey]

21. Sounds like a cool holiday!

Cheers!