Samhain/Halloween/Hallowmas
Welcome to the season of the Witch! It’s the one time of year when everyone else gets as witchy as I feel year-round. Scorpio is the sign of transformation, of death and rebirth. It’s no coincidence that Halloween, or Samhain, falls during this time.
Samhain (pronounced SOW-een) is an ancient Celtic Fire Festival that marks the halfway point of Autumn and represents the peak of the season’s energy, and the decent into Winter. The name comes from the Irish “summer’s end”. In most of the northern hemisphere it marks the end of the growing season, and the dying off of vegetation.
We fear death, yet we ourselves are constantly dying and being reborn on a cellular level.
Recognizing the cyclic pattern of life allows us to see the shedding and dying off as an opportunity for new growth. As women we experience this every cycle. Monthly bleeding is sometimes referred to as the “small death”. And just like the Moon we are reborn each month.
Much Like Dia de los Muertos, it is traditional to honor your ancestors and anyone you may have lost in the past year. Many cultures celebrate and honor their ancestors during this time of year when it’s believed that the veil is thin between us and the spiritual plane. Regardless of what you believe, the energy of death is all around us. So if you only acknowledge it once a year, this would be the time.
Samhain is also known as the Witch’s New Year. Many people treat it like January 1st, writing resolutions and setting intentions for the year to come. Personally, I see the Winter Solstice as the new year because it marks the shift from days getting shorter into days getting longer (more on that later). However, being that I am a Scorpio Rising, I experience my own personal new year at this time.
With all the energy of letting go, there’s no denying it’s a good time to clear things out for a fresh start.
And of course, what Fire Festival would be complete without burning something?! A few years ago I was at birthday party for a friend who was having a purging fire, meaning you could bring something you wanted to throw into it. It happened to be October (although he’s a Libra not Scorpio). I had a box of stuff from my toxic ex that was still stuffed in my closet. I brought it out and burned anything that was flammable. Days later I received a message from said ex about how he had been thinking of me the when his car suddenly blew up. He asked if I had hexed him! Now, when I was with this guy I was not in my power and had never even hinted at my inner Witch. So why he said that I have no idea, but damn I felt powerful in that moment. To harness the transmutation and cleansing energy of fire, you don’t have to go that extreme. Keep it simple, write a list of things you are ready to let go of and burn it in a fire safe way.