Samhain, the last of the harvests (Nuts and the last of the Apples)and heralds an end to the agricultural year and so the wheel turns!
As Samhain approaches, lets take our minds back to the time of our ancestors. They would have met Samhain with a feeling of trepidation, for the winter would be soon upon them. They would be worried that the stores might not be filled with enough food to feed the tribe throughout the cold winter. Their minds might be brought back to the harvest? Was it a good or or poor harvest that year? Will there be enough fodder to feed the animals during the long dark days? The herds and flocks would be brought down from the high pasture and the size of the yield would of course determine how many animals they would have to slaughter so the rest can survive. The meat would be salted and stored along with fruit and vegetable preserves. Winter for our ancestors was a very frightening time because it could mean the difference between life and death, so they would be seeking answers from the wise-men and women of the tribe as to how bad and how long the winter might be. Samhain is a time when the Earth is drawing all life back into her depths to protect the tiny seedlings and shoots from the cold and frost, all trees look bare and seem dead and the outlook must have looked very bleak to our ancestors. It is so different for us modern folk, we can pop along to the supermarket to get our provisions if we run short of anything, life is so much easier for us.
Samhain for us, is a time of remembering loved ones that have journeyed on into Tir nan Og (The Land Of The Ever Young) It is also a time of reflection, How was the year for you? Is there something you would like to change in your life? Is there something you would like to rid yourself of? Anything negative in your life can be got rid of by writing it onto a piece of paper and putting it into the fire on the evening of 31st Oct or 1st Nov when the veil is at its thinnest.
Happy Samhain to all!! x/|\x
No comments:
Post a Comment