Samhain - 31st October

Samhain – pronounced sow-een, or Halloween

Samhain, also known as Halloween is the end of summer and the beginning of winter. It is the time of Hecate, of the Crone and the powers of the dark feminine principle. It is the most important festival Sabbat of the witches’ year.

It is also the Celtic New Year. Traditionally the Celts wore white to welcome the first day of winter and increasing darkness.

Three times a year, the Goddess changes herself. In the spring she is the Maiden, a symbol of new life. In the summer she is the Mother, a mature woman with a family to take care of. Samhain is the end of the season of the Grain Mother as she becomes the Crone and the Sun King is sacrificed back into the land. He becomes a death God and a shaman, able to travel to the inner realms. With the darker nights and longer periods of time spent indoors, it is a time of learning and re-evaluation.

Practically speaking, it is a good time to buy a new broom and sweep your house clean. As well as being good for the house, it is also therapeutic for the mind, clearing the mind of unwanted thoughts and negativity and allowing room in the thoughts for new learning.

Do you like this time of the year? Does it make you want to draw up your chair to the fire and study something new? Do you spent time staring into the embers of your fire and dreaming of the past or maybe the future?

I will be returning to this subject during this period of time.

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