The Phoenix

*Before reading this, please read my previous post, as it directly pertains to this one...*  Okay, now that you've done that...  (you have done that, haven't you?)

It's always a lot to pack up the kids, the dogs, all the stuff that belongs to all of us, and to go to the mountains. But it's always worth it. And this weekend was certainly no exception. We went for a specific purpose this weekend... to celebrate our holiday, Samhain.


We got in late friday night, visited with my mom for a short while, then went to bed. When we woke up in the morning it had snowed. That's so early in the year for our area! Lilly was in HEAVEN! She's been asking for snow for a month now. It really was only a light dusting, it lasted for a couple of hours before melting into a beautiful fall day... but lilly got her snow.

Saturday was the day we celebrated Samhain, and since I always help put it all together (when I'm able to be there) I left to pitch in my help where needed fairly early in the day.  There are always things to be done before people start to gather for a sabbat.  There's food prep, cleaning of the circle (which is the place where we hold our service), repairing anything that needs to be repaired, and preparation of the actual content of the ceremony.  So, for a sabbat that begins at 5:00, helpers start showing up around noon.  It also gives me time to visit with some of my friends that I don't see very often.  This is good for the soul, in and of itself. 

Samhain (pronounced 'sow-en', the 'ow' is said like you would say in the word 'ouch') is the celtic new year.  It is a time for reflecting on the cycle of death and rebirth.  The plants are dying and shedding their seeds that lie dormant until spring.  The animals are beginning to hibernate.  The nights are getting noticeably longer.  It is the final harvest time of the year.  Literally, this time of the year is indicative of the 'end'.  But as we all know, with any ending comes a new beginning.  So, while we mourn our losses, we also celebrate what is to come.  It is also appropriate that we think of our loved ones who have left this life and moved on to the next stage of their journey.  Several other world religions and traditions have this time set apart to honor their dead as well. I don't know much about them.  I do know that Christians have All Saint's Day and Mexico celebrates the Day of the Dead.  Other traditions use this time to mark a significant ending of something that leads into a beginning of another.  For example, Jews mark this time as the end of the Torah, and afterwards start with the beginning of Genesis.  Hindus celebrate Dewali, it is a time to do away with the old and welcome in the new. 

Samhain, as many people know, is where halloween gets its roots.  Many people would dress in costumes that symbolized what they wanted to do with their lives in the upcoming year.  It has always been a way to visualize what you want to come to fruition.  This is also a time that we believe the veil between the living and the dead is the thinnest.  Lights were lit in windows to help the lost souls find their way to the 'summerlands', the place where the soul goes to stay before being reborn again.  But, not everyone is a good soul, so other lights were put in pumpkins with ugly faces carved in them and set out on the doorstep to scare evil spirits away.  It is also a great time to talk to you ancestors and honor them.  For me, I always remember my father and my child that I miscarried. 

So that's what this weekend revolved around.  Once everything was prepared and ready to go, we began.  This particular year focused on two things:  our Heritage Ritual and the Wiping of the Tears ceremony. In the heritage ritual, you focus on the traits that your ancestors had... good and bad.  For the bad traits, the aim is to let go of those and leave them in the past.  Your ancestors are a part of who you are, but they do not define you.  For the good traits, the goal is to hold on to those.  They help you to be a better person. 

The Wiping of the Tears ceremony is pretty much what it sounds like.  It is a time for those who have lost someone in the past year to gather and mourn their losses.  It simply gives that person a safe space and time to cry and grieve and say goodbye.  No questions are asked nor advice given.  Those few people are simply given the space, love and support from everyone else to grieve.  It's such an important thing to be able to do, and so many people never just take that time out of life to admit how much they miss someone.  It really is overwhelming to be in the midst of all of the emotion that comes forth.  I have been at the center of the circle, grieving and thankful for those who surrounded me.  Therefore, I think it's important to give that love and support back. 

Really, that's the 'meat and potatoes' of what Samhain is to me.  It's a  time to grieve the loss of my loved ones, as well as celebrate their lives.  It's a time to get rid of the old, outdated things in my life that I do not need anymore and focus on replacing it with new useful things.  And of course, as with all our sabbats, it's about community and love.  After any sabbat, we always have a very large pot luck feast to laugh and be merry... and celebrate each other.  It always feeds my soul to be part of something such as our Samhain festival. 

I am starting this week with fresh feeling and a bit of a spring in my step.  And I am thankful for all those wonderful people that I am so incredibly lucky to have in my life.  I love my family and friends.  I am blessed to have such role models in my life.  Thank you to all of you for everything you do for me, and the love you show me.  I only hope that I am able to reciprocate.  Notably, I would like to take time out to honor my parents.  These two people have helped to shape me into the person I am.  I hope to be a good representation of the amazing people that they have been.  Nowhere will you find anyone with bigger hearts than my parents.  They are the embodiment of kind, loving, caring, patient, gentle people.  To my mom, I love you so very much, and I cherish our time together.  To my dad, I miss you very much and think of you often.  I hope you are well, wherever you are.  I love both of you infinitely. 

That's about it for today!  I hope you all can shed off the crap that is holding you down, rise from those ashes and be like the phoenix that is reborn into greatness. 
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