Samhain

Brittle, bleached corn stalks stand like forgotten sentries in the garden while the alders send faded yellow leaves to make a carpet on the path through the woods. All the trees are quickly shedding the glorious raiment of red and gold they have worn the past few weeks, their newly naked branches outlined against the sky. The rains have returned, the days grow shorter, the nights colder, and long V-shaped lines of geese honk their way south.It's time to gather nuts, apples, quince and other last gifts from the natural world and tuck everything away in cold, dark hollows. Samhain has arrived, marking the turning of the year.

Samhain [pronounced SOW-in (Ireland), SOW-een (Wales) or SAV-en (Scotland) is the ancient Celtic celebration marking the end of Summer, and the beginning of Winter and the New Year. There is much evidence to suggest that the Celtic ways of marking the year and relationship to the earth were learned in Faerie and, although probably no longer an exact representation, are as close as we can come to the rituals and ways of the Otherworld. Holidays ("holy days") in Faerie begin at sunset, in the "going within" part of the circle, so Samhain, whichin modern times is observed on November 1, begins the night before - what we celebrate as Halloween. [It is said that the "old" date for marking Samhain, the one used in Faerie, is when the sun reaches 15 degrees Scorpio.]

What has, in the mortal world, been converted into a time of costume parties, witches, black cats, bats, and overdoses of candy for kids, is quite different in its Faerie origins. There, Samhain is the final harvest festival of the year, marking the time to shift focus from nurturing life above the ground to dreaming with the sentience within and below. It's time to travel the root roads, nurture seeds, have long chats with earthworms and dream with the bears, the frogs, and other hibernating creatures.

Any transition is inherently a time of power because "reality" is not as firmly anchored during the shift. Dawn and dusk are seen as "between" times, neither day nor night, the crack between the worlds. And so the change of seasons, being a much larger transition, carries even greater potential power. During Samhain, the veil between this world and the realm of spirits grows thin enough for those who have passed through it to the other side to return and visit and, it is said, the doors to the Faerie Realm are opened to those who seek them.

The Witch in the Wood

So this Halloween (Hallowed Eve), carve a turnip or a pumpkin, put it in your window with a light to welcome the spirits. Set a place at the table for your ancestors who want to visit; leave food outside your door for other spirits so that they might bless your home for the coming year. Leave an apple on your bedroom windowsill for Father Deer so he will take you to the boatman who rows you across the lake to the island where you and your loved ones who have crossed over can meet again. Make a bonfire outside, throw into it everything you want to clean out of your life from the year passed; in the morning, bring coals inside to start your "hearth fire" for the new year. If you have no where to make a fire, turn off all the lights in the house, light a candle and use the flame to burn (carefully!) small scraps of paper on which you've written what you want to dispose of. In the morning, light a candle to welcome the new year and keep you warm through the coming Winter. With the veil between the worlds so thin, it's a great night for divination, so take out runes or tarot cards. As you or your children walk the streets in costumes, remember that the real spirits and the Fae are walking with you.

For Winter Holidays

Life swirls quickly from Samhain to Mid-Winter, Winter Solstice, Yule, Christmas, and whatever gift giving celebrations we mortals create to bring warmth and light to Winter's cold and dark. We have two suggestions for those of you who want to get an early start on the season:

Through Faerie Doors
The 2008 Fairy Woodland Calendar to keep you in touch with Fairy magic throughout the year

And the Fairy WinterTree Castle
to encourage the Fairies to move into the midst of your celebrations.

As your footsteps crackle through the last fallen leaves, we at Fairy Woodland wish you a healthy transition from Summer's end to the renewal of the new year. And on the eve of Samhain, when the spirits and denizens from many realms roam free, we wish you the Bright Blessings of Faerie to surround and shield your home and bless your hearth.

Bright Blessings from all of us at Fairy Woodland:
Bridget Wolfe
John Crawford
Karen McCrae
Dusty Hicks
Sierra Sperling