The Warmth of Darkness
I love this time of year! I may be a child of April but my favorite time of year begins in Virgo season, late August into my favorite, September, that ‘back to school’ brightness which leads into autumn, with the leaves changing colors, the pulling on of snuggly sweaters, getting the fireplace fired up and the cider (with whiskey 😊) warmed.
Sure, the waning light of the season doesn’t thrill me, but its attendant invitation to go within does.
And Halloween/Samhain/The Witches New Year marks that threshold.
For so many reasons, I love Halloween, or Samhain (pronounced sow-wen) as it is called in pagan traditions.
I came of age in a time when I was free to go roaming the neighborhood, alone or with friends, to trick or treat without being accompanied by an adult, without fear of tricks. I’d don my costume and grab my pillowcase, filling it 2 to 3 times with treats. Halloween was fun, and spooky, and pulsating with freedom and possibility.
As I got older, I became fascinated by the costumes of the adults, an abundance of hot nurses, sexy witches and brawny cowboys. Yes, the veil was thin, and the time was ripe to invite the spirits in to play with our identities.
And I loved the otherworldliness of the holiday. While I didn’t have a mentor to turn to in this way in my young life, I naturally connected to the magical threshold that is at the heart of Halloween. Samhain is considered to be The Witches New Year, a turning point, a threshold between seasons, a liminal space between the spirit world and the living, between the past and the future, and between the world that is and the world that could be.
Nature now begins her descent to the Underworld. And it is time for us to join her, mirroring this inward journey, to plant our seeds alongside those of Mother Earth, to rest in the womb of the darkness of winter, the rich soil of our creative wisdom, ready to emerge again in spring, having been nourished by compost of the decay and death of autumn.
Questions for this Halloween:
- What can I drop, like a colorful leaf, that no longer serves me, or expands me, or makes me happy? Something that could be composted to nourish something new that wants to be birthed within me?
- Which ancestors can I call upon while the veil is thin for encouragement and insight? Who may have a message for me? And how can my choices serve my ancestors and lineage? How can I honor my ancestors?
- What seeds shall I plant this season, what ideas and visions need some time in the warmth of the darkness, the rich soil of my creative wisdom?
Cheers to magic, mystery, and the warmth of darkness.
#TheEdgeofEveryday
Find me at:
@SandraBargman
