Sharing celebrations of Samhain with our children

The old world has been celebrating the wheel of the year since the beginning of times. Seasonal tides call to the changes of rhythm of daily life from harvesting and growing, preparing for the cold and celebrating with the Sun. 

Communing with Nature and deities has kept us connected to the sacredness of everyday tasks and shows us how we are a part of this cycle of the Sun as we too grow through a journey of releasing, cleansing, hibernating, blooming and fruiting. 

You may have heard of the Wheel of the year, based on wiccan holidays that celebrate turns of the Sun with a celtic impression. But as a non-Wiccan pagan let me share with you that these holidays do not represent all. Each culture has its own stories and rituals connected with the turning of the seasons… attuned to the realm of the Earth where they reside and the history or stories of the ancestors they are seeded from. Without over complicating or appropriating cultures and old world religions I feel the importance needs to ground back into what resonates with you.  

Samhain (Pronounced Sow-ween) is a Celtic sabbat that falls on the cross quarter day between the Autumn Equinox, also known as Mabon or Winter finding and the Winter Solstice known as Yule. Samhain is the final harvest and calls to the beginning of winter, the cold, the dark. Also related to the Norse festival of Winter Nights where the animals who would not make it through the winter would be sacrificed in Dísablót, where blót means blessing, providing a feast or meat for curing for the winter’s supply. 

In the Northern Hemisphere this aligns with October 31st, the now well commercialised Halloween that has traditions that stem back to pagan ritualistic roots. As the dark encroaches, the Human shall retreat indoors for the roads are handed over to the spirits walking the roads home to the Summerlands… With old world practices of lighting the way with a candle in a turnip or pumpkin carved and leaving out offerings for their journey. Dressing in masks to avoid recognition as simply human if you happen to be out after dark… 

In the Southern Hemisphere this Sabbat is traditionally marked on the 30th of April until the 1st of May although the astrological date happens to be May 5th this year. 

Here in Australia, we are commemorating our ancestors with ANZAC day, a tradition that not only remembers those fallen in the battle of Gallipoli but creates awareness of all the soldiers who have sacrificed for their love of family, freedom for country and a way to prove their worth of courage. The collective energy is brewing to acknowledge our ancestors passed, the sacrifices made, the challenges faced and how we too can recall the strength to journey through any dark trials that arise again. 

It is said that the veil is thin now at this cross quarter day, just like it is on Beltane, but now as we welcome the dark we are closer to the spirit realm as we can open to the whispers of our ancestors as they make their journey towards the Summerlands.

This is a beautiful time to ceremonially connect with your ancestors passed, your loved ones on the other side of the veil are not as far away as you fear. They can hear you, they are sending you encouragement and a loving touch… even if you are not consciously aware. Through connecting with the love of our ancestors we can show our children that the spirits from the other realm are not to be feared, death is a natural part of our cycle and is not the end. 

I like to think of the realm of the spirits as the Summerlands, within my practice there is no hell or devil, everyone is accepted despite their torments and pains. This is a place of peace, of resting where there is only light and trees that bear fruits. A place of the unborn souls and those returning for where there is death there is new beginnings.   

This gateway to the dark is a time when divination and mediumship are heightened for you to communicate with those passed, venture on ancestral lineage healings and work with the strength of your ancestry. 

We can guide our children to bridge these connections by telling stories of loved ones passed, talking about where our lineage has come from, drawing pictures of our beloved dead. They might like to collect images and photos and make a family tree to show where your roots have stemmed from or simply adorn an ancestral altar with mementos from the past along with symbols of the natural season like your garden harvest, herbs, flowers and leaves. You may like to cook up a feast of old family recipes, and hold a meal where you make a plate for loved ones who have left this realm in their honour. 

Creating Earth Rhythms with our families is a practice that evolves and shifts and helps you find comfort within your connection to inner self, helps your child feel at home within their gifts and the realms that interact with all of us. You can create a ritual as intricate or as simplistic as you feel called to do, the beautiful thing about working within these Earth Rhythms is that we can adapt them based on the lands on which you live and the ancestral connections and stories that resonate with you! 

I share the stories of Baba Yaga and Grandfather Deer with my children and the story of the Goddess who now, after the grief of losing to the underworld at Autumn Equinox she is now the Crone who holds the wisdom of pain and loss. She shows us that letting go is a part of life and prepares us for the long night of going within, referring to the period of waiting for the light within the Winters Dark. 

I feel this also ties to the Goddess’ final stretch of growing a baby within her womb, those last moments that ask us to surrender, surrender, surrender even more. And then, just as it feels like the dark is getting too much, a new life is born so we hold on hope through this stretch. 

This teaches us the act of patience and that this too shall pass, we draw on the strength and love that surrounds us and we can continue through the dark, nurturing our roots and we will soon bloom again. 

If you want more of this I am holding a complimentary Ritual Circle over in my community of Magical Mothers on Tuesday the 27th of April, join here

Also… If you would like to work with me in a private mentorship journey I’d love to be your guide.