Samhain

(photobucket)

Samhain is a very important date in the Wiccan calendar as it marks the Feast of the Dead. Many Wiccans also celebrate it as the old Celtic New Year, rather than the Yule festival.

Last year we lost two family members, one long expected, and one very shocking suicide, both were around this time of year, so I will be thinking of them a lot.

Samhain has been celebrated for centuries and has its origin in Pagan Celtic traditions. It was the time of year when the veils between this world and the Otherworld were believed to be at their thinnest: when the spirits of the dead could most easily meet with the living once again. Later, the festival was adopted by Christians, they celebrated it as All Hallows' Eve, followed by All Saints Day, though it still kept elements of remembering and honouring the dead.

To most modern Wiccans, while death is still the central theme of the festival this does not mean it is a morbid event, death is not a thing to be feared. Old age is valued for its wisdom and dying is accepted as a part of life as necessary and welcome as birth. Wiccans, like people of other faiths, always honour and show respect for their dead, this is particularly marked at Samhain. Loved ones who have recently died are remembered and their spirits often invited to join the living in the celebratory feast.

Death also symbolises endings and Samhain is therefore not only a time for reflecting on mortality, but also on the passing of relationships, jobs and other significant changes in life. A time for taking stock of the past and coming to terms with it, in order to move on and look forward to the future.

I'm still trying to learn about Wicca, I feel drawn to it somehow, I won't be able to truly celebrate this year as I'm working, but I should be able to find sometime for a little quiet meditation.