samhain
Sun 11.29.20
The spring and autumn equinoxes, the summer and winter solstices, the 8 witches’ sabbats are:
Yule (winter solstice, the shortest day and the longest night of the year,)
Imbolc, (the halfway point of the winter season)
Ostara (vernal equinox, the first day of spring)
Beltane, (the midpoint between spring and summer,)
Litha (summer solstice, the first day of summer)
Lammas, (the midpoint between summer and autumn,)
Mabon (fall equinox, where night and day are equal lengths,) and
Samhain which has just past and occurs at time of harvest. These are the true holidays we celebrate.
They’ve been given religious names, political significance, but what is really being celebrated is our earthling affinity to our beneficent planet.
I’ve always considered Samhain or Thanksgiving, a real turning of the wheel, as witches say. It’s a time of unwinding, celebrating what’s been accomplished, gathered onto oneself, with coffers replenished in the spiritual, material and psychological planes. Winter or Yule, like the food eaten at that time of year, hold the plans simmering on the back burner that will in time surface. I believe this process, this turning of the wheel is instinctual. No matter the political or religious significance, the geographical location given, these holidays always fall on high points of the earth’s seasons. The body reacts to them of its own accord and tugs at the mind to follow.
I work every day of the week, so I find these holidays delightful, breakfast in bed, the long and lazy candlelit bath, the minute examination of the body, the nails, the toes, the hair. What to wear on this auspicious day? Something elegant, but comfortable. Then it’s on to the kitchen. The big meals don’t work anymore, ugh! Better to focus on delicacies, a Bordeaux, some Roquefort cheese, crusted salmon with lemon aioli, and coffee gelato for dessert.
What have I accomplished this year? I have challenged myself to an assertion of my rights in the court system. I have learned how to present a case at the state level, doing well in some areas, lacking in others, but still standing. I move now onto to winter, Yule, and the federal level.
