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Lesson #39

Samhain: The Great Sabbat

The Powers of Samhain

In the magick that is life, Samhain is the disappearing act, and suspended breath, waiting to see what's next.

There are 3 primary Energies of this season...

Crossing Between the Worlds

Honouring those who dwell in the Summerlands

Descending to the Underworld — Winter, the realm of Death

1. The Veil Between The Worlds Thins

Samhain is a day outside of time, as the New Year is in many traditions. At Samhain the veil between the world of the living and the world of the dead is at its thinnest.¹

¹ Something that is also experienced at Beltaine, preceding/during menstruation, and at deaths and births.

This is not mere doctrine, not just an idea — it is something you can actually experience for yourself.

Being the pivot point between life and death, the Gateway to the Spirit Realm, at Samhain it's easy to step back and forth between the worlds. Other times of year you need to journey just to get to the Gate, but now it's right in front of you, and takes very little effort.

Because the veil is thin, we can access the spiritual realm easily. Communication with our beloved dead² — and with the Divine — is easiest to accomplish at this time of year.

² This can be just about anyone on the Other Side that you feel affection for... friends, family members, animal friends, loved ones, ancestors — even mentors, role models, and heros of yours — who have passed out of this Earthly life.

³ As with any such journeying, in the early journeys it's difficult to know how much you're "making up" in your imagination, and how much is real.

We could debate whether it makes any difference, but instead I'll just say that with practice, the journeys become more real and less imaginal, and you will gain confidence in what you experience that is real.

Spirits can temporarily cross from one side to the other and back again. They may come across to visit with us in the night if we're open to it, or in our dreams.

At the same time, the spirits of those who want to take birth in the coming year can cross over to this world, ready for their new bodies.

This is what Wiccans mean when we say that at Samhain (and to a lesser degree, at Beltaine: the Gateway of Birth back into life), the Veil Between The Worlds is thin.

In the same way, it's common at Samhain for Wiccans to journey through visualisation to the mythical Isle of Apples in the Sea of Mists, to visit with a loved one on the other side of The Veil.

The Isle of Apples (otherwise known as Avalon) is like the lobby in the Other World, where we can Call those who've passed on to come and chat with us again.³

Witches also make use of this potent time of easy transition between the ordinary world and the supernatural world, by accessing "supernatural" information via divination and working magick.

2. Honouring our Beloved Dead

There is some evidence the Celts believed that Samhain is when all the souls of those who'd died that year would leave the Earth for the afterlife, so at Samhain they would mourn and celebrate those lost lives in a mass memorial.

Modern Wiccans also honour those who've passed in the year, as well as all our beloved dead.

And it's a time to honour our ancestors, those who came before us, and who have given us life and so much more.

Everything we have now in our world was given to us by our ancestors — houses and electricity and hot/cold running water and roads and schools and technology — all these things were thought up and built and paid for largely by those who preceded us, and we reap the benefit... just as we will, we hope, leave behind a better world for those who follow us.

So this is a perfect time to give thanks to our ancestors for their many gifts to us. Modern Wicca, at least in North America, has taken much from the Mexican tradition called Day of the Dead.

These traditions come from our beliefs and experiences...

	That although they're not physical anymore, our loved ones still live... on other, completely wonderful planes of existence
	That they are near us, even though we can't usually see or hear them
	That they can hear our thoughts, when we're thinking of them, especially in this season⁴
	And that they come close to us when the veil between the worlds becomes very thin

⁴ I personally know this to be true, because there's a lot of communication Across The Veil in my family.

This all means that death is not a reason for mourning, but — when we're not submerged in our own feelings of loss — a reason for celebration.

In the rituals I've been to, there are often tears as we share stories of our loved ones. But after that, we sing and feast and make merry. We try to be happy, because even if we can't sense them clearly, we're with our loved ones again!

How happy our loved ones must feel when we make time to honour them and share a celebration with them!

In any case, through our devotion to their memories, our loved ones live on in our hearts and minds, and we are enriched with our remembrance of them.

3. Descent to the Underworld

This Third Harvest represents a major turning point in the year and the Energy cycle — from life to death — the “death” that is Winter, and the “death” of the green living ones, and the very real (especially to our ancestors) risk of human death from starvation and illness.

In ritual terms, to honour this profound process, Wiccans sometimes take a symbolic Descent to the Underworld, following the myth of Inanna's descent to the world of the dead.

This is an ancient myth of the Goddess Inanna, who went into the realm of the dead to bring back her beloved. It's rich with symbolism and Power, and has been the basis of many a Wiccan Samhain ritual.

This descent is symbolic of the Journey Within...

	Facing your fears and gaining strength from them,
	Clarifying what is important to you,
	Choosing what to carry forward and what to let die,
	Discovering who you really are, underneath the masks and illusions of the ego,
	Connecting with the Mysteries of the Divine.

⁵ For this reason, and in the interests of time, we won't go into detail on this here. You’ll find this in the follow-up to this course, in the continuation of your Wiccan training.

Caution: A Descent to the Underworld can be a very potent practice, and as such it's not without it's risks.

It's suitable only for advanced practitioners.⁵ For beginners, I wouldn't recommend doing this without a very experienced Guide.

Continue with Samhain: The Great Sabbat , part 4:

Deeper Powers of Samhain

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