Samhain / Oidhche Shamhna
Entering the Dark
Tri-chasag / Triskelion / Triple Spiral
Welcome to the New Year and the official opening of the dark side in the Northern hemisphere.
Be not afraid. This is the time of facing our shadows and defeating “demons” and telling stories around the fire.
I turn to Muireann to teach me about the Ancient Ancestral celebrations. We’re reconstructing them through direct wisdom and connection to the land - so they are based in ancient Celtic wisdom, but transformed to be of use to us in modern times, with modern ways, on Turtle Island. This means that every Celtic tradition in North America begins with the land, and we cannot create relationship with the land without respect and honour to the Indigenous first accord. The relationship between Indigenous peoples and the land is the template of human/land relationship on Turtle Island. We grow roots on Turtle Island only through the Indigenous first accord.
In Celtic tradition, Samhain is celebrating the harvest New Year. We have put away the final harvest of gourds and root vegetables and can feel good about the work we have put into the world that will sustain ourselves and our community for the coming season. There was no grocery store for our Ancestors and this celebration marked whether we had good fortune to live with ease during the winter, or whether the darkness would take more from our community and kin - including the animals of the land. Not enough harvested meant that we needed to hunt more and hope that that animal world would be kind.
The “dark” of the forest, inside and out.
This celebration acknowledges that we are entering into the darkest time of the year. From now until the Grianstad a’ Gheamhraidh, the nights get longer and the days shorter until the sun stops.
This is symbolic for the Celtic culture of people who live within a field of mythological meaning.
Samhain is not only the opening of the door, or the thinning of the veil to the “dead” and our Ancestors, it is the beginning of the year where we look into our own darkness and go deep into ourselves and face our shadows. It is an acknowledgement of death as an ever present partner of life. This is the mythological time of reflection and the harvest of Anam. We reflect on the year and face the parts of ourselves we are reluctant to acknowledge. We face the parts of Being in form that are hard to accept.
Trapped in our homes in the cold and inclement, we are stuck with ourselves and our minds. Samhain encourages you to go exploring and hold with love whatever you uncover.
Every previously denied darkness when accepted as it is, without judgement or resistance - offers us access to the power of Being. This is why the dark figures of Halloween are so deliciously delightful. They represent a cartoon version of the truth of Samhain.
This is the time of monster hunting. Where the monsters are ourselves and the demons are our shadow beliefs and the hero is ourselves and the rescued maiden is ourselves and the reward is the wholeness of ourselves accepted as we are, in love.
Muireann came to me during Dumb Supper. I asked for a Celtic Ancestor who would teach me about my roots.
Ask for what you want. Ask for what you need. Ask to know what you want and what you need.
Remember the importance of grounding your new understanding into your body by sharing, by writing notes, by making art or recording audio or video… do something that joins the new wisdom into your body… or it will fly away.
The Practice
The Dopamine Hit:
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Look specifically for existing mythological stories about Autumn in from the Indigenous People of the land where you are currently living.
In North America look into the Anishinaaabe Autumn stories and the Ojibwe Season Pedagogy. (These are just possible starting positions. The Ancestors will direct you to the stories you need. Trust your feelings.)
Land is the first Teacher. Celts were the Indigenous peoples of their own lands and hold the land as sacred Teacher in the same way.
Indigenous peoples hold the first stories of entering the dark time of year where you live.
Look up what comparative mythology writers like Joseph Campbell or Barbara Walker and see what they have shared about “the dark” in your neck of the woods.
What do these stories tell you about remaining in contact and resonance with the land/body/self as we enter the “dark times” together?
How will you care for the land and the animals and your loved ones and yourself in the dark times of winter?
Please don’t be scared of the dark. Everything needs rest and a time of fallow introspection. The sun cannot shine all the time or we would be burned and crispy. Invite this time into your life with warm welcome of time to commune with the Unseen.
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Go in respect and reciprocity with the land directly around you and ask for Them to give you an existing story that is for you in this time of reflection.
Be silent. Be present. Be open to what is being given to you.
Ask for a book, a movie, a song, a play, a TV show, a story of some sort… that represents the “dark forest” that is waiting for your attention right now.
Feel the resonance in your body when the one for you “clicks”. Trust that you know what feels right for you.
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Create your own personal story + mythology of self in relationship with the land and the community tha support you on this journey into the dark, into yourself.
Reach out to the land around you - touch a tree and ask for guidance in creating your own personal story of the “dark forest”.
Entering into your personal dark forest is entering into aspects of yourself that were previously unknown.
Write down what you are given - images, ideas, thoughts, feelings… record all the different sensations you receive regarding your own personal “dark forest” story.
This is sacred collaboration between you and the Land as the First Teacher. The Land speaks to you from the perspective of your place in the fabric of the Earth. This is big magick.
Please remember to give gratitude and reciprocity to the Land in whatever way feels good and right and loving to you.
Ground yourself. Ground into your body and integrate your wisdom into your physical self. This kind of receiving has a tendency to whirl around in our minds where it isn’t much help.
This wisdom… especially Land wisdom, needs to root itself into our bodies and into the ground.
My Samhain Story.
I share my experience with one of the Samhain exercises and how it connects to my journey and the wisdom it has offered.