Today the world could be celebrating Samhain, but celebrate Halloween. This is the festival of lights, the night of the Transition into the coming dark season. It is taking place today, on the night of October 31st to November 1st.
Summarize your life road, let go of the past, apologize, send your thanks and give gifts, pay off all your debts if have any - now is the best time to do all of this.
Samhain is the time when the Gates opens and the cold starts blowing from there. God will die and descend after the Goddess into the Lower World, leaving winter to us. Difficult days awaits us ahead. The darkest of the year. Time without time...
Feast of Death, Day of the Dead. Sometimes it is also called the end of the harvest day. In fact, this is not entirely true: the main crop has already been harvested, and by Samhain there is little left that can still be harvested in the fall. Late berries. Nuts. Some herbs. The latest vegetables that can lie on the beds for a long time - they just include the pumpkin, which is often both a symbol of Samhain and a symbol of All Saints' Day.
At the same time, cattle are slaughtered, which it makes no sense to save for the next year, in order to make stocks of meat for the winter. Fishermen with the last catch return to the shore - the time of storms comes, and the ice tightens the waters.
Has it ever seemed strange to you why "Sll Saints' Day" collects so many completely unholy characters? In other words, all evil. Yes, precisely because it was originally the Day of Death! Nature (and her Goddess) in this annual cycle is already a decrepit old woman. She descends into the Realm of the Dead to spend the winter there and be born (or return to earth as Persephone) in the spring. God falls asleep in the arms of the Goddess and, dying, leaves this World, leaving us in Silence.
It is believed that it was at this time that the passage between the world of the living and the world of the dead opens, so evil spirits climb out.
And, of course, this is the time when blood is shed on the ground - livestock is being slaughtered.
Ancient people tried not to kill just like that - they paid honors, asked for forgiveness and thanked animals for giving life to people in the cold at the cost of their lives. That is why another symbol of Samhain is the horns cut from the bulls. In ancient times, they guessed on the insides of animals, which means that the element of mysticism is fully present.
Samhain is also a kind of summing up. After all, among the ancient northern peoples, winter was a terrible time. Not everyone could survive it. The weak, the sick, the elderly, children, the poor, as well as the lazy ones who did not have time to stock up for the winter - all of them could wait for the arrival of Mr. Death. (In many ancient and modern European languages Death is masculine).
However, even for the young and healthy, winter was a serious threat. Surviving the winter at that time was equal to winning.
Therefore, on this day, they wondered about the future and remembered the past, summed up the results and tried to appease the dark forces. And sometimes not to appease - sometimes to scare or confuse.
So that evil spirits make a mistake and do not take a person with them, what should be done? Pretend to be evil! Why one evil spirit would need another? No need. So you have to dress up as skeletons, dead people, spirits and, of course, witches. And still need to light fires! Torches, bonfires, candles.
The colors of Samhain are also associated with torches and fire - fiery, brown, black. The fire on the altar in Samhain is a tribute of respect and remembrance to the gods. Memory of the Sun.
This is your hearth, which must be protected all winter, which will attract good and scare away bad. Not only evil spirits, but also the thoughts of enemies, envy, anger, illness, bad mood.
It is very important these days to take stock, to let go of the past.
Repayment of debts, apologies and gratitude, as well as gifts, are sure to take place. Keep in mind! If a person does not return a debt (even monetary, even mental), then it is on Samhain that you can ask the Spirits for a return. And Spirits will demand in a way that many never dreamed of!
If someone is offended, Spirits can ask for retribution and, if the request is fair or if the Spirits like the gifts of the petitioner, they will come to the offender. The Spirits themselves will decide what someone deserves.
So think about whether you are dragging your debts in the dark, whether you should ask for forgiveness or try to correct your sins in advance...
Besides, we clean the house, throw out the rubbish, clean the hearth, the altar. We commemorate God and the Goddess, we focus, we thank, we ask for strength to survive the winter. Be sure to sweep out of the house all traces of the past, and with it all the garbage from our soul, heart and mind. We mourn ourselves and yearn for loneliness.
But the sadness often ends in fun. So we are preparing a feast for the evening. Forget about diets: the more satisfying we are in Samhain, the calmer the winter. We fry fish and meat (lamb, pork and beef), bake bread (oatmeal and ginger). Milk, butter, sour cream, cheese, late apples and berries, nuts, pumpkin, beets (and other root crops), mushrooms, pies are put on the Samhain table. “Oracles” are baked into bread - a nut, an acorn, a coin. Whoever gets it will be happy and rich.
They pour mead and drink till get drunk - after all, after Samhain, you need to conserve supplies, you won’t drink or eat like that again. That's where from in Christianity came the tradition of Lent, associated exclusively with natural rhythms.
Let's not forget to treat the Spirits! Otherwise, they will go to other worlds hungry and offended, which will not have a good effect on us. Put meat, bread, a glass of mead on the table all night. You can also bring gifts through the fire - burn a piece of bread, and then take the ashes to the ground.
One can turn to the Spirits who came to us in the Dark Time. To appease them, to ask for help, to find answers to questions.
On Samhain, it is customary to treat anyone who, by a whim of fate, happened to be nearby, it is not customary to refuse the one who asks. Cutlery is placed on the table for those who left you last year.
By the end of the night, the lights are extinguished and persist until Yule, when the Sun is born again. People are entering a period of Timelessness, a difficult time, a black sorcery, when everything darkest awakens in everyone. They will try to hide from evil, to protect themselves and their home.
And may Winter be merciful to all of us!
Have an easy transition, my friends!
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Thank you for reading. You are always welcome to check my posts.
All photos are taken by me in local Halloween festival.
"Do what is right, mot what is easy nor what is popular" - R. T. BENNETH.
