{"id":702,"date":"2010-10-26T17:16:24","date_gmt":"2010-10-26T17:16:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/apagansblog\/2010\/10\/preparing-for-samhain.html"},"modified":"2010-10-26T17:16:24","modified_gmt":"2010-10-26T17:16:24","slug":"preparing-for-samhain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/apagansblog\/2010\/10\/preparing-for-samhain.html","title":{"rendered":"Preparing for Samhain"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

I’ve been busy polishing our ritual
\nscript for Samhain (pronounced “Sow-win”), which we will celebrate the 30th<\/sup>.  <\/span>I hope every other Pagan reader of this
\nblog will have an opportunity to observe and celebrate this time as well.  <\/span>I think it is one of our two most
\nimportant Sabbats.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\n<\/p>\n

Wicca celebrates and honors the
\nSacred in all its manifestation throughout life, for it is the Divine as it
\nmanifests in the world that serves as our “sacred text.” We focus on the
\nmeaning within <\/i>phenomena as<\/span>
\nsymbols<\/i> of a larger context toward which
\nthey point.  <\/span>Life is a cycle, and
\nwe see it symbolized throughout the course of a year here in temperate
\nzones.  <\/span>On the equator we would
\nneed different symbolism to bring this insight alive, a sign that variety is
\nitself Sacred. Along with the Sacredness of variety, I believe our world’s
\nother most fundamental teaching about the Sacred is its eternal linkage of life
\nand death.  <\/span>Everything that lives,
\ndies.<\/span><\/p>\n

Samhain is when we honor death, as
\nsix months previously we honored life at Beltane.  <\/span>Then light was rapidly increasing, each day longer than the
\none before.  <\/span>Now night is becoming
\ndominant, each night longer than the one before.  <\/span><\/p>\n

In NeoPagan and Celtic traditions
\nSamhain is the last day of the year, as sundown is the end of the day and the
\nbeginning of the next.  <\/span>For Wiccans
\nsuch as myself, the time between Samhain and Yule is the time when death is the
\ndimension of Spirit most present at least symbolically.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Here in Sonoma County both our main
\naltar and our ancestor altar will be decorated with marigolds, and the central
\ncandles will be atop a wonderful Mexican ceramic skull, for we are blessed with
\nthe near coincidence of Samhain and Day of the Dead<\/a>.  <\/span>These two celebrations are particularly harmonious for both
\nhonor those who have passed on. Both connect with that part of existence we
\nusually most avoid.  <\/span>And Day of the
\nDead is celebratory towards those who have passed, helping us connect with our
\nancestors, something far less prevalent in NeoPaganism than in indigenous traditions.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Day of the Dead is indigenous to
\nAmerica, particularly Mexico.  Its roots are thousands of years old.   Its celebration has moved north as Mexican people have come here to
\nwork and to live, in the process enriching our own appreciation of this time.  <\/span>To me its is fitting that we integrate
\ntheir wisdom and beauty into our practice.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve been busy polishing our ritual script for Samhain (pronounced “Sow-win”), which we will celebrate the 30th.  I hope every other Pagan reader of this blog will have an opportunity to observe and celebrate this time as well.  I think it is one of our two most important Sabbats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,105],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pagan-holidays-and-sabbats","category-pagan-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\nPreparing for Samhain - A Pagan's Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/apagansblog\/2010\/10\/preparing-for-samhain.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Preparing for Samhain - 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