Happy Samhain 2009

Tonight is Samhain for us in the southern hemisphere. Samhain is a powerful night on the pagan calendar, when the veil that separates the world of the living from the spirit world is said to be thinnest (the same is true at Beltane, on the opposite side of the calendar).

Tonight we will light old pumpkin head (or Mr Soon-to-be-pumpkin-pie), to light the way for any lost souls that may be roaming the streets.

Although not considered a true pagan tradition, the bright orange glow of the menacing face and the flickering shadows of the candle light are perfect for this time of darkness. Umm... I think ours looks more comical than menacing...

Here is one interesting rendition of the Jack-o-lantern legend, from About.com:

Originating from Irish folklore, the Jack-o-lantern was used as a light for the lost soul of Jack, a notorious trickster, stuck between worlds. Jack is said to have tricked the devil into a truck of a tree and by carving an image of a cross in the tree's trunk, he trapped the devil there. His pranks denied him access to Heaven, and having angered the devil also to Hell, so Jack was a lost soul, trapped between worlds. As a consolation, the devil gave him a sole ember to light his way through the darkness between worlds.

Originally in Ireland turnips were carved out and candles placed inside as lanterns lit to help guide Jack’s lost spirit back home. Hence the term: Jack-o-lanterns. Later, when immigrants came to the new world, pumpkins were more readily available, and so the carved pumpkins carrying a lit candle served the same function.

Happy Samhain to all!

Observing Pagan Sabbats in the Southern Hemisphere

To me, the Pagan sabbats or festivals are about three things:

1) Observing and celebrating the changes taking place in nature, and recognising the cyclical nature of the seasons and life in general.

2) Reflecting on various aspects of my life and life in general. Because humans are part of the natural order, to a degree the changing seasons are reflected in our inner lives or psyche (or rather can be if we choose to live in tune with nature). Different times of the year prompt reflection on different aspects of life.

3) Engaging in activities to mark the occasion.

I think the greatest challenge in celebrating the sabbats in the southern hemisphere is that our culture is so dominated by the northern hemisphere that festivals such as Halloween, when they have been imported, are publicly celebrated on the same date as in the Northern Hemisphere (Oct 31), which is seasonally inappropriate for us and removes a lot of the original meaning of the occasion.

The same occurs with the Christianised festivals of Easter and Christmas. While I do observe Christmas in December etc, I mentally hold these celebrations in a separate category from my seasonal observations, and they are done more in the spirit of celebrating family life rather than as an occasion to reflect on the underlying seasonal/cyclical issues.

So What is Samhain Actually About?

Nature aspects:
Samhain marks the passage into the "dead" of winter. Summer greenery is diminishing and the leaves turn and begin to fall. We also experience the first frosts of winter.

Psychological aspects:
Samhain is the festival of celebrating and remembering the dead, of honouring our ancestors. It is also a time to recognise and reflect on the certainty of death and the fact of decay, old age and eventual demise. It is associated with the Crone aspect of the goddess who is revered for her wisdom and experience. Many pagans also believe in the continuous nature of existence - that life is a constant cycle of death and rebirth, so Samhain is still a celebration, not a bleak event!

Samhain is also the pagan "new year" as it marks the death of one year and the rebirth of the next.

A lot of the popular imagery of Halloween such as ghosts and monsters are related to human fears about darkness and our relationship with death.

How Will I Celebrate Samhain?
I will bake a pumpkin pie or an apple pie (or probably both!)
I will carve a jack o lantern (cos they are so damn cute)
I will take the time to reflect on all the stuff outlined above (though this is done over the course of a couple of weeks around Samhain rather than just on one set day)
I will put up a couple of seasonal decorations around the house, such as those in my last couple of posts.
I will get outside and spend some time in nature to feel the seasons turning
And that's it!

Disclaimer:
I have been a pagan in my heart for as long as I can remember, however I do not and never have belonged to any pagan groups, so these are solely my own personal musings.

Image from: http://media.photobucket.com/image/samhain/hennafoot/samhain.jpg?o=44

Samhain Redwork

I always get so excited by the myriad of crafting opportunities presented by Samhain (Halloween, for us in the Southern Hemisphere this rightly falls on 30th April). I love all the imagery associated with it - the ghosties, witches, pumpkings, black cats, bats, spiders. Nothing too scary though!

While browsing on the net a couple of months ago I saw some examples of Redwork, and found the use of a single colour, particularly the strong blood red, very striking (and apt for Samhain).

Redwork is a style of embroidery which became popular in the 1800s with the introduction of a colourfast red thread from Turkey. Prior to that, threads had not been colourfast in the wash and could not be used to decorate every day items. You can find more info on redwork and some free patterns at Redwork.info.

There are so many shades of red embroidery floss available. I chose DMC304 which is quite a dark red. I didn't use a pattern, instead I traced a child's "colour in" picture from the internet directly onto my embroidery cloth. This was my first attempt at an embroidery of this size, I have done one other small one of a bird on DS9mths sun hat.