Blessed Samhain

Today - well, tonight starting at sunset and going through tomorrow's sunset - is Samhain, the traditional end of the harvest and beginning of winter. It was a time to gather around bonfires, do divination for the next year, and have the final Great Festival before the start of leaner times. The harvest has now been gathered and put aside for the winter and early spring months. It's time to hope that what was processed and stored will be enough food for all until the next growing season. 

Black cats and pumpkin jack-o-lanterns are traditional Halloween items
in the USA. Turnips are the thing in the UK, along with bonfires. It's the
season for witches, divination, and meetings around bonfires. Take care,
it is the season of the witch! 

Divination was often practiced on this doorway day. I call days like this "doorway days" because they are major transitional days between one aspect and another. In the roll of the year, Samhain is a major holiday. In the day-to-day of today, a time when the passing of the seasons means more looking forward to winter sports than it does gathering together for survival, it's a time to go door-to-door and beg for candy. How the mighty have fallen! 

Samhain and Beltane are the two major holidays in the Celtic calendar -
bookends of the world, feasts featuring flame and the remembrance of
those who have passed and those who still may come. Blessed Be! 

There will be covens gathering together tonight to celebrate the shift of the seasons, but there will also be lots of little kiddies going door to door in hope of treats (or celebrating at various hosted events at shopping centers, churches, and schools). For many kids, Halloween will have been an on-going blitz of chocolate and sugar for almost a week now. I pity the poor parental units (and hope that they have also gotten to share in the chocolatey, gooey, goodness). 

Halloween celebrates those who have passed before us. They mark the
road that all of us will tread upon in days to come. Distribute your
candy, but remember those who stood behind you as well. Both
sides make up Samhain. 

I have my bowl of candy by the door and I will happily pass them out to those who ring my doorbell before 9:00 pm. After that, the candy distribution machine resides that in this house reverts once again to operate specifically for those of us living here. Have a safe All Hallows Eve and a good Tuesday. I'll be back tomorrow.