Samhain 2020

As we in the northern hemisphere cross the threshold of autumn into winter, I am reminded of what a powerful time of year this is. As the ancient Celts referred to it, Samhain (a Gaelic word pronounced "sow-win") or what's now called Halloween - was a time of honouring the dead. Not just ancestors who've crossed over, but the parts of our lives that are readying to die.

Painted Wheel of the Year at the Museum of Witchcraft, Boscastle, Cornwall

Samhain was understood as a liminal time, when spirits and ancestors from the Otherworld could more easily enter this one. The ancients would hold great gatherings to mark the end of harvest season, and the entrance into the darker, leaner half of the year.

The souls of the dead were said to seek hospitality in their old homes, so the living would set places at the feasting table for them with offerings of their dead kin's favourite meals and drinks. Sacred bonfires would then be lit for releasing and cleansing rituals.

This is the time to take stock of all that you've received throughout the year, but it's also a time to review what needs to be relinquished. The Samhain bonfires were symbolic of the transmutation process of nature's seasons.

Traditionally certain kinds of wood were burned in a "sympathetic magic" with the season, symbolising the necessary sacrifice of those things in our lives that inhibit the power of growth. In the same way that old leaves fall and decay to nourish the soil, it is time to consider what must be sloughed off in order for you to thrive.

It can't be understated how difficult these sacrifices can be. You may be asked to give up a cherished way of life, an identity that no longer serves you, a home that no longer nurtures who you've become. And the thought of stepping into the unknown can be terrifying, even if it's exactly what you wished for.

The temptation is to stay in the old comforts but nothing in nature remains stagnant. To feel truly alive, you must listen for the call to attrition and loosen your grip on the old way without knowing what will grow in its place.

There is a profound connection between honouring your ancestors and following the call to change. If you think of your life as the fruit of a long surviving tree, you are an expression of a dream once seeded by your ancestors. The privilege and responsibility now falls to your life to keep that expression alive, even if it means releasing inherited fears, so that one day you can sow your own heritage seeds forward.

Rather than a single calling we have to discover, I think of purpose as something rather ordinary. It's a way of living life in response to this always changing need for braver expression. What are the conditions that will best serve your unopened seeds? How can your soil be tended to nourish your well-being? What must be weeded out or sloughed off to clear the way for the new sprouts?” - Toko-pa Turner