Post by Icarus on Feb 1, 2007 9:30:40 GMT -5
www.sinfin.net
By: Glyn Williams (Permission to post given specifically for this article from the author)
Samhain
Major Festival
Traditional Date: All Saints' Day (Hallowmas), November 1st.
Astrological Date: Sun 15° Scorpio
See also: Calendar of Festivals
Meditation
These meditations on the Solar Festivals are intended to be performed on or near the appropriate date. Please see the Calendar for more details.
This meditation comes with a warning. It is simply this: if you do not feel absolutely comfortable with the idea of doing it, then don't do it!
Actually, there is no particular danger associated with the exercise given here, any more than there is with any of the other meditations. The problem, if there is one, is that this exercise intimately concerns death, and many people are afraid of death. Fear can leave you more vulnerable to negative influences that you would be otherwise. Such influences surround us all the time. Even walking past someone in the street who happens to be in a bad temper can impact upon us negatively: we do not feel as good after such an encounter as we did before. We all have our own ways of protecting ourselves from being excessively affected by negative influences. Proper preparation before meditation is one of these.
For this reason, you may wish to take special care over your usual preparations for this exercise. You may wish to use any little extra means of protection from negative influences that you may have learned. Above all, if you feel at all uncomfortable at any time, stop. But do bear in mind that this is supposed to be a happy time, a time of celebration, so that in reality you should feel good about it, sit back and enjoy it!
This is a particularly good exercise to conduct together with a small group of friends. Share some food and drink with them after the meditation.
As with all the traditional Solar Festivals, the early Christian Church was quite happy for the mid-Autumn Festival to continue to be celebrated, provided it was given an appropriately Christian slant. This, for the time remarkably tolerant, technique of assimilation was hugely successful in the case of Easter and Christmas, somewhat less so in the case of most of the other Festivals, but rather unsuccessful in the case of Halloween; because, for reasons that will be explained shortly, this particular festival obstinately continued to be celebrated in a Pagan way.
The Pagan celebration of Samhain has its origins in a much older religious tradition, one that is continued today by followers of the Hindu and Sikh faiths who mark this time of year with Diwali, the Festival of Lights. It is interesting to compare the Diwali themes of fire and light with the traditional bonfire celebrations of Europe that take place around this season. At one time, such celebrations were always held on Halloween itself, but they have gradually moved away from this precise date; for example, in England in the 17th century, the celebrations were moved to November 5th ("Bonfire Night"), to mark the successful foiling of a plot to burn down the Houses of Parliament. Some have seen this as yet another attempt on the part of the established Church to put an end to the Pagan celebration of Halloween, which again raises the interesting question of just why the date was so important in the Pagan tradition.
In northern Europe at least, the lighting of bonfires at this season of year is perfectly natural. Just as Michaelmas, or Mabon, marks the end of the grain harvest, so Halloween marks the end of the fruit and vegetable harvest; everything that is perishable needs to be stored inside now, to protect it from frost, rain and, later on, snow. All is safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin, in words of a famous hymn by the 19th century clergyman Henry Alford. It is no coincidence that October is the traditional time for Harvest Festivals in Church.
Meanwhile, out in the fields, there is the remaining debris of the harvest to be cleared, a year's growth of hedgerow to cut back, and of course the drifts of brown leaf litter that are such a characteristic feature of autumn in our temperate climes. All this must be disposed of, hence the bonfires. Of course, the fires themselves are welcome, too, the communal bonfire in the field as much as the family fire in the hearth, for the warmth and protection that they give to us as the weather begins to turn unpleasantly cold.
And then there are the animals. The sheep and the cattle can not be left out in the bare, cold fields. Those that are to be kept over the winter have already been brought into the barns; the others will have been slaughtered to provide meat for the cold, dark days ahead when fresh food in in short supply. This meat will need cooking or drying to preserve it for the months to come. This, in turn, will call for more fires.
Traditionally, too, the hunters of wild animals and birds for food would be out in force at this time of year. In the Pagan lunar calendar, the full moon of the month of October is known as the Hunter's Moon. After the end of the breeding season, and before the severe winter weather that would kill off many of these creatures anyway, large numbers of hare, deer, wild boar and various game birds were taken for the pot, once again for the purposes of supplementing what might otherwise be a rather meagre winter diet.
With all this death around, it is not surprising that people's thoughts turned to human death, and Samhain is a celebration of death. To many people today it seems odd to speak of celebrating death, yet for our ancestors it was not seen as the end of an individual life, but simply as the passing of that life through the veil of darkness that separates our world from the world of spirit beyond, where it would enjoy life renewed.
A important feature of the Solar Festivals in Pagan tradition is that it was supposed that at this time the veil separating us from the world of spirit is thinner than at other times. The veil is said to be especially thin at the time of the Major Festivals of Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh and Samhain, and of these at its thinnest of all for the mid-Autumn Festival of Samhain. It should be no surprise, then, that it is commonly believed that at Samhain, while not leaving our own world, we might nevertheless see glimpses of the spirit world beyond, and perhaps even meet with souls who have already passed into that realm.
Following an ages old tradition, in this exercise we shall invite the dead into our midst. It is important that they should only come if they want to come. The dead have their own lives to lead (metaphorically speaking!) and they should not be compelled to turn up just because we want them to. Instead, we shall invite them to a party and leave the door open so that they can come and go as they please.
Is contacting the dead in this way offensive to Christian tradition? I would suggest not; the Church Festival chosen to take over the role of Samhain in the calendar is All Saints' Day (also called Hallowmas, from which comes Halloween for the preceding evening; remember that traditionally, all the Festivals commence at sunset on the preceding day). This is the day on which you can pray for all those Saints who do not have special days of their own; and indeed pray to them for their intercession with God. What is more, the following day, November 2nd, is designated All Souls' Day, when prayer may be offered for anyone who is departed from this life. If this does not constitute inviting the dead to party with us, then I don't know what does!
There remains, then, that one little puzzle of why the Church has always been a bit "anti" Halloween. Among the ancient Pagan community were many who embraced the Church and were happy to adapt their old Festivals to the new guise required of them by the "new" religion. There were others perhaps who barely tolerated it, but didn't make too much fuss and kept quiet about it, so they lived more or less quietly alongside the Church, and were more or less tolerated in return. But there were others who were not having any of it. Among these were a relatively high profile but rather loosely organised group of workers of natural magic known as witches. Some of these did very questionable things, which led to more than a little notoriety. The stigma persists to this day, and that is why all but the most forthright of modern practitioners of natural magic tend to avoid the term "witch" and refer to themselves instead as "followers of Wicca" or some such expression. It stands to reason, then, that if Halloween is inextricably associated with witches, and the witch image is associated in people's minds with the darker aspects of magic, then the Church would indeed be keen to suppress its celebration.
But why is Halloween particularly, more than any other time of the year, associated with witches and witchcraft? The answer is simple. Because of all the things we have just talked about, the natural death of growing things, the harvesting of the bounty of the land, the killing of those animals needed to sustain human life through the winter and, not least, the dark, cold days that are to come, the energies of the Earth at Samhain are entering a low state of flux, and they will remain so until Yule when the days start to lengthen and new life, though still hidden, begins to make its presence felt. During this period of six or seven weeks, because of this lull in energy, the kind of natural magic practised by the witches will be less effective. In fact, it is an unwritten law that witches shall not, except in cases of dire need, use magic at all during this period, so that what little energy is in the Earth may be conserved. So far so good, but one consequence of this is that Halloween becomes a focus of intense magical activity. Apart from doing any last minute spells that have been left undone during the summer, there is also a temptation to indulge in a kind of magical orgy prior to the long prohibition. It is rather like the good Christian, looking forward to a fast during Lent, indulging in a huge gastronomic blowout on Mardi Gras. And that is why Halloween is particularly associated with witches. But it is also why the celebration of this particular Festival often has a party atmosphere about it. Join in the fun, why don't you?
Samhain: Prepare yourself for meditation in the usual way. Ensure that your mind, and the space you occupy, are clear of any negative or unpleasant influences. Sit comfortably and relaxed. Close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths to cleanse your body and mind of everyday cares and concerns.
You are sitting at a table, with other people, in the communal meeting hall of a large village. The tables are loaded with delicious food and drink of all kinds. The hall is warm with the heat from a fire in the centre of the room.
An elderly, distinguished looking man rises and says a few words to to the assembled company. Then everybody starts eating, drinking, and chatting happily to one another. The elderly man moves to the door and opens it. It is dark outside, and a little chill, autumn air wafts into the hall, but the cold is kept at bay by the roaring fire.
The man speaks again. "On this night, the night of the dead, we invite you who have passed beyond the veil to join us in our celebration. Come of your own free will, and be of good cheer, for you will find comfort and friendship here."
Repeat these words silently in your own head. "On this night, the night of the dead, we invite you who have passed beyond the veil to join us in our celebration. Come of your own free will, and be of good cheer, for you will find comfort and friendship here."
The man returns to his place and sits down. He joins in the party with everybody else.
[Pause for four or five minutes; silence or quiet music]
Look around the hall. Is there anyone here who was not present at the start of the feast? Go up to them, make their acquaintance, get to know them. See what they have to say.
[Pause for ten to fifteen minutes; silence or quiet music]
The time has now passed in which the dead might communicate with us, and they must now leave our party. One by one, the spirits of our visitors move slowly back out through the open door of the hall, until only those souls who were present at the beginning of the party remain.
And now, you must return yourself to objective reality, in the place and the time where you started your meditation. Put your consciousness in the centre of your head, just behind your eyes; and when you are ready, open your eyes.
It is particularly appropriate to take some food and drink following this meditation. Then take a few hours, or a few days, to absorb its significance. It is suggested that you should perform this meditation as close as possible to Halloween, and that you do not repeat it on a frequent basis; one or two occasions each year should be sufficient.
By: Glyn Williams (Permission to post given specifically for this article from the author)
Samhain
Major Festival
Traditional Date: All Saints' Day (Hallowmas), November 1st.
Astrological Date: Sun 15° Scorpio
See also: Calendar of Festivals
Meditation
These meditations on the Solar Festivals are intended to be performed on or near the appropriate date. Please see the Calendar for more details.
This meditation comes with a warning. It is simply this: if you do not feel absolutely comfortable with the idea of doing it, then don't do it!
Actually, there is no particular danger associated with the exercise given here, any more than there is with any of the other meditations. The problem, if there is one, is that this exercise intimately concerns death, and many people are afraid of death. Fear can leave you more vulnerable to negative influences that you would be otherwise. Such influences surround us all the time. Even walking past someone in the street who happens to be in a bad temper can impact upon us negatively: we do not feel as good after such an encounter as we did before. We all have our own ways of protecting ourselves from being excessively affected by negative influences. Proper preparation before meditation is one of these.
For this reason, you may wish to take special care over your usual preparations for this exercise. You may wish to use any little extra means of protection from negative influences that you may have learned. Above all, if you feel at all uncomfortable at any time, stop. But do bear in mind that this is supposed to be a happy time, a time of celebration, so that in reality you should feel good about it, sit back and enjoy it!
This is a particularly good exercise to conduct together with a small group of friends. Share some food and drink with them after the meditation.
As with all the traditional Solar Festivals, the early Christian Church was quite happy for the mid-Autumn Festival to continue to be celebrated, provided it was given an appropriately Christian slant. This, for the time remarkably tolerant, technique of assimilation was hugely successful in the case of Easter and Christmas, somewhat less so in the case of most of the other Festivals, but rather unsuccessful in the case of Halloween; because, for reasons that will be explained shortly, this particular festival obstinately continued to be celebrated in a Pagan way.
The Pagan celebration of Samhain has its origins in a much older religious tradition, one that is continued today by followers of the Hindu and Sikh faiths who mark this time of year with Diwali, the Festival of Lights. It is interesting to compare the Diwali themes of fire and light with the traditional bonfire celebrations of Europe that take place around this season. At one time, such celebrations were always held on Halloween itself, but they have gradually moved away from this precise date; for example, in England in the 17th century, the celebrations were moved to November 5th ("Bonfire Night"), to mark the successful foiling of a plot to burn down the Houses of Parliament. Some have seen this as yet another attempt on the part of the established Church to put an end to the Pagan celebration of Halloween, which again raises the interesting question of just why the date was so important in the Pagan tradition.
In northern Europe at least, the lighting of bonfires at this season of year is perfectly natural. Just as Michaelmas, or Mabon, marks the end of the grain harvest, so Halloween marks the end of the fruit and vegetable harvest; everything that is perishable needs to be stored inside now, to protect it from frost, rain and, later on, snow. All is safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin, in words of a famous hymn by the 19th century clergyman Henry Alford. It is no coincidence that October is the traditional time for Harvest Festivals in Church.
Meanwhile, out in the fields, there is the remaining debris of the harvest to be cleared, a year's growth of hedgerow to cut back, and of course the drifts of brown leaf litter that are such a characteristic feature of autumn in our temperate climes. All this must be disposed of, hence the bonfires. Of course, the fires themselves are welcome, too, the communal bonfire in the field as much as the family fire in the hearth, for the warmth and protection that they give to us as the weather begins to turn unpleasantly cold.
And then there are the animals. The sheep and the cattle can not be left out in the bare, cold fields. Those that are to be kept over the winter have already been brought into the barns; the others will have been slaughtered to provide meat for the cold, dark days ahead when fresh food in in short supply. This meat will need cooking or drying to preserve it for the months to come. This, in turn, will call for more fires.
Traditionally, too, the hunters of wild animals and birds for food would be out in force at this time of year. In the Pagan lunar calendar, the full moon of the month of October is known as the Hunter's Moon. After the end of the breeding season, and before the severe winter weather that would kill off many of these creatures anyway, large numbers of hare, deer, wild boar and various game birds were taken for the pot, once again for the purposes of supplementing what might otherwise be a rather meagre winter diet.
With all this death around, it is not surprising that people's thoughts turned to human death, and Samhain is a celebration of death. To many people today it seems odd to speak of celebrating death, yet for our ancestors it was not seen as the end of an individual life, but simply as the passing of that life through the veil of darkness that separates our world from the world of spirit beyond, where it would enjoy life renewed.
A important feature of the Solar Festivals in Pagan tradition is that it was supposed that at this time the veil separating us from the world of spirit is thinner than at other times. The veil is said to be especially thin at the time of the Major Festivals of Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh and Samhain, and of these at its thinnest of all for the mid-Autumn Festival of Samhain. It should be no surprise, then, that it is commonly believed that at Samhain, while not leaving our own world, we might nevertheless see glimpses of the spirit world beyond, and perhaps even meet with souls who have already passed into that realm.
Following an ages old tradition, in this exercise we shall invite the dead into our midst. It is important that they should only come if they want to come. The dead have their own lives to lead (metaphorically speaking!) and they should not be compelled to turn up just because we want them to. Instead, we shall invite them to a party and leave the door open so that they can come and go as they please.
Is contacting the dead in this way offensive to Christian tradition? I would suggest not; the Church Festival chosen to take over the role of Samhain in the calendar is All Saints' Day (also called Hallowmas, from which comes Halloween for the preceding evening; remember that traditionally, all the Festivals commence at sunset on the preceding day). This is the day on which you can pray for all those Saints who do not have special days of their own; and indeed pray to them for their intercession with God. What is more, the following day, November 2nd, is designated All Souls' Day, when prayer may be offered for anyone who is departed from this life. If this does not constitute inviting the dead to party with us, then I don't know what does!
There remains, then, that one little puzzle of why the Church has always been a bit "anti" Halloween. Among the ancient Pagan community were many who embraced the Church and were happy to adapt their old Festivals to the new guise required of them by the "new" religion. There were others perhaps who barely tolerated it, but didn't make too much fuss and kept quiet about it, so they lived more or less quietly alongside the Church, and were more or less tolerated in return. But there were others who were not having any of it. Among these were a relatively high profile but rather loosely organised group of workers of natural magic known as witches. Some of these did very questionable things, which led to more than a little notoriety. The stigma persists to this day, and that is why all but the most forthright of modern practitioners of natural magic tend to avoid the term "witch" and refer to themselves instead as "followers of Wicca" or some such expression. It stands to reason, then, that if Halloween is inextricably associated with witches, and the witch image is associated in people's minds with the darker aspects of magic, then the Church would indeed be keen to suppress its celebration.
But why is Halloween particularly, more than any other time of the year, associated with witches and witchcraft? The answer is simple. Because of all the things we have just talked about, the natural death of growing things, the harvesting of the bounty of the land, the killing of those animals needed to sustain human life through the winter and, not least, the dark, cold days that are to come, the energies of the Earth at Samhain are entering a low state of flux, and they will remain so until Yule when the days start to lengthen and new life, though still hidden, begins to make its presence felt. During this period of six or seven weeks, because of this lull in energy, the kind of natural magic practised by the witches will be less effective. In fact, it is an unwritten law that witches shall not, except in cases of dire need, use magic at all during this period, so that what little energy is in the Earth may be conserved. So far so good, but one consequence of this is that Halloween becomes a focus of intense magical activity. Apart from doing any last minute spells that have been left undone during the summer, there is also a temptation to indulge in a kind of magical orgy prior to the long prohibition. It is rather like the good Christian, looking forward to a fast during Lent, indulging in a huge gastronomic blowout on Mardi Gras. And that is why Halloween is particularly associated with witches. But it is also why the celebration of this particular Festival often has a party atmosphere about it. Join in the fun, why don't you?
Samhain: Prepare yourself for meditation in the usual way. Ensure that your mind, and the space you occupy, are clear of any negative or unpleasant influences. Sit comfortably and relaxed. Close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths to cleanse your body and mind of everyday cares and concerns.
You are sitting at a table, with other people, in the communal meeting hall of a large village. The tables are loaded with delicious food and drink of all kinds. The hall is warm with the heat from a fire in the centre of the room.
An elderly, distinguished looking man rises and says a few words to to the assembled company. Then everybody starts eating, drinking, and chatting happily to one another. The elderly man moves to the door and opens it. It is dark outside, and a little chill, autumn air wafts into the hall, but the cold is kept at bay by the roaring fire.
The man speaks again. "On this night, the night of the dead, we invite you who have passed beyond the veil to join us in our celebration. Come of your own free will, and be of good cheer, for you will find comfort and friendship here."
Repeat these words silently in your own head. "On this night, the night of the dead, we invite you who have passed beyond the veil to join us in our celebration. Come of your own free will, and be of good cheer, for you will find comfort and friendship here."
The man returns to his place and sits down. He joins in the party with everybody else.
[Pause for four or five minutes; silence or quiet music]
Look around the hall. Is there anyone here who was not present at the start of the feast? Go up to them, make their acquaintance, get to know them. See what they have to say.
[Pause for ten to fifteen minutes; silence or quiet music]
The time has now passed in which the dead might communicate with us, and they must now leave our party. One by one, the spirits of our visitors move slowly back out through the open door of the hall, until only those souls who were present at the beginning of the party remain.
And now, you must return yourself to objective reality, in the place and the time where you started your meditation. Put your consciousness in the centre of your head, just behind your eyes; and when you are ready, open your eyes.
It is particularly appropriate to take some food and drink following this meditation. Then take a few hours, or a few days, to absorb its significance. It is suggested that you should perform this meditation as close as possible to Halloween, and that you do not repeat it on a frequent basis; one or two occasions each year should be sufficient.