Samhain

This is a pagan cross quarter festival of autumn`s end and the beginning of winter. It is the right time to connect energy and for internalising the creative life force. Increasing darkness and cold means we must all accept that winter is fast approaching and we must adjust to the changing seasons. Leaves have fallen from the deciduous tress, birds have migrated, certain animals have gone into hibernation(hazel dormice,hedgehogs and our seventeen species of bats), The first frosts have come. It is time of death and decay all around us, Death of the old, and within us , knowledge of re-birth at the spring equinox.It is a time of forced adjustments which, once accepted, reveal a new set of possibilities, a new phase and a new power of life. Like its counterpart beltain, Samhain brings a mystical energy at a magical time which we can use to explore and understand ourselves better. This is the dark phase of the year`s cycle when the mystery of transformation occurs. The process involves a descent and a death of something old in preparation for something new to be re-born. The descent into the underworld or otherworld can be understood as a journey into the unconscious and the spirit realms within each of us. Here we can find renewal through meditation, trance,rest,sleep,and by sacrificing our outer selves for a while. The seeds of our ideas and future direction in life are incubated in our unconscious during the winter months, along with all the roots of the trees and seeds of all of our plants are getting ready for re-birth at the spring equinox. We can honour the cycle by being aware that each end and death of the old will bring opportunity for a new start,as each beginning holds within it an end. The endless cycle of change is necessary, bringing renewal of cells, of ourselves,our understanding and our ideas. It means there are always new opportunities to start again and to stay healthy. Many illnesses are rooted in stuck energy patterns, emotional congestion and hanging onto the past. We have been taught to fear our inner world and to mistrust the information we may receive through insights,intuition, and our connection to our own inherent inner wisdom. Many of our actions come from our subconscious and we may not always be aware of these subtle patterns and conditioned responses that are such a part of us and which may silently rule our lives. We need to understand our unconscious selves, and to learn to listen to our inner voice. We can use the energy of the dark time of the year to explore these inner parts of ourselves. We need to face our fear of the dark mysteries, magic and our deep unwanted feelings which we may have pushed inside and not recognised as our own. We need to turn and face what these mean to us, free the energies, the potential inherent in the experience. From this courageous journey for all of within nature will come transformation, a balanced perspective and re-birth in the age-old tradition of samhain. Look for ways to find the divine within all of us at this period of rest and regeneration before re-birth.