Samhain

Samhain (pronounced SOW-IN or SAH- vin, Halloween)
October 31
Theme: New Year; Honoring the Ancestors; Letting Go
Type: Seasonal Holiday ~ Final Harvest Holiday
Samhain celebrates the final harvest. With the end of the harvest, the last yields of Summer give way to the coming Winter. Samhain reminds us that all things pass away in time. Just as the leaves fade and fall from the trees, so we must allow for loss and passages in our lives. This is a time to celebrate all the aspects of our lives that are dropping away from us ... the relationships, the situations, the pain, the emotions, the old identities that once served us ... are now passing away to make room for new growth. Samhain is an ideal time for releasing old habits and conditions in our lives that are constricting our growth and progress. Honor the lessons and experiences these situations have brought you, then bring these energies to a sacred fire and bid them farewell.

For the ancient Celts, Samhain marked the end of the old year and the start of the new. More accurately, Samhain is a space between the years -- the old year is dead and the new year has not yet begun. It is a time out of time ... a space outside of the natural order. As such, it is a time when the division between dimensions or levels of reality are thinnest. This division is referred to as “the veil between the worlds”. Because intuition is heighted by this thinning of the veils, Samhain is an excellent time for reading tarot cards, scrying, dreamwork, and other forms of divination.

Samhain is also known as the Feast of the Dead. At this time, ancestors and departed friends are honored. Memories and stories are shared and it is customary to set out extra places at supper for departed loved ones. Since the veil between the worlds is thinnest on this night, it is believed to be the best time for dead souls to make contact with the living. People sometimes use this time to commune with those on the other side. This should be done in a spirit of love for the highest good of all. Invite the luminous spirits of the ancestors to join you on this night, and offer prayers for the souls of departed loved ones for healing and blessings on their journey
http://www.healinghappens.com/wheel.htm

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