Samhain: When the Summer Goes to Its Rest

Explore the ancient Gaelic winter festival of Samhain and its influence on Halloween. This was a time when this world and the Otherworld intersected, and supernatural beings of all kinds roamed the earth. What was the religious significance of the beginning of winter to the ancients, and how can we learn from their wisdom?

Transcript

Light is fading. The cold creeps back into the world. In October the solar solar god of many names begins to fall into shadow, like a sinking ship, and all around it darkness floods in like the deep waters of the sea. As the Earth Goddess, bestows the last boon of the harvest, so that her children might be sustained through the dearth of winter, before the plants wither, and another cycle concludes. The great thought made form has gone away, no longer breathing life into the world.  Estranged from this holy union, the Earth goddess becomes the dark mother, who in the designs of her mystery, taketh as she gives. Yet it is obvious to any that live upon the earth that life will return once more. And so in Irish myth, the pagan festival of Samhain, meaning summer’s end, observed on October 31st, was perhaps most aptly described by the heroine Emer as “when the summer goes to its rest.”

In Gaelic Irish mythology, we see the onset of winter expressed in both the deities of the sun and the earth. Tailtiu (Tol-choo), goddess of the harvest, helped the people work the land and taught them to farm. As a result of her monumental efforts, she died of exhaustion. The God Lugh, the god of the sun, and foster son of Tailtiu, mourning her death, established the harvest festival in her honor. Lugh’s wife, Eriu, was the queen of the forest, and together they ruled in perpetual summer. But he too, would meet his demise, at the hand of the dark Fomorian prince Elatha, who drove a spear through him during his only vulnerable state, exiting a bath, with one foot on a cauldron and the other on a ram. The cauldron and the ram are symbols of the summer and winter solstice, as the sun is in the astrological house of Cancer during the summer solstice, and Capricorn during the winter solstice. Having one foot on each signifies the sun’s temporal position between these two astrological houses during the fall equinox, this being when the solar god is slain, as the nights begin to grow longer than the days. Elatha elopes with the earth goddess Eiru, symbolizing the forces of darkness gaining control over the earth for the next half of the year. Lugh’s son Cul Cullean, who could be interpreted as a human incarnation of Lugh himself, is later born through immaculate conception in winter, symbolizing the rebirth of the sun as the days begin to grow longer after the winter solstice.

In autumn, as things that grow in nature begin to wither and die, naturally human turn their attention towards contemplations of death and what lies beyond the transience of mortality. When earthly life faded, people felt that the physical world was brought closer to that of spirit. To the ancient Celts, passage between this world and the Otherworld became possible during this time, and thus it was an auspicious time for interaction between human beings and the gods, fairies, and monsters of the Otherworld. This is indicated from the number of Celtic tales which take place on Samhain, in which the characters of the story are approached and confronted by a variety of otherworldly beings. The final battle between the Tuatha de Danaan and the Fomorians, in which the Fomorians were defeated and purged from Ireland, took place on Samhain. The Tuatha, as discussed in a previous episode on the origin of fairies, were the gods of pre-Celtic, Gaelic Ireland, a group to which the deities described earlier belong. Many of them and/ or their attributes were incorporated into the Celtic-Irish religion. Another peculiar aspect of this metaphysical shift believed to take place on Samhain was that the laws of the universe seemed to be temporarily suspended. Mortals could wield supernatural abilities that they otherwise could not.   The mythical character  Oenghus mac Oc would transform himself into a swan on Samhain, in an attempt to woo the daughter of one of the Tuatha De Danaan.  The apparant barrier between worlds that seemingly became thin or penetrable is often termed the veil, which refers to the bridal veil of the Egyptian goddess Isis, wife of the solar Osiris, the world virgin mother, nature personified, behind which the secrets of the mysteries of creation were kept. The alleged words inscribed on her effigy at the temple in the city of Sais read, “I am all that has been and shall be. And no mortal man has ever lifted my mantle.” She represented supreme (wisdom) and understanding, holding the keys to the secrets of the universe, and the expression of the masculine spiritual principle of divine thought, through physical manifestation. A parallel can be drawn here to the Celtic goddess Caillech, the word from which the name for the Celtic Goddess of winter, Cailleach, was derived, means “veiled” one. She was said to have saved Lugh as an infant. She rules in partnership with Brigid, the goddess of Spring, assuming her rule on Samhain until Beltane, May 1st. By some interpretations, these are two aspects of the same Earth deity.  

 At the end of the harvest season, halfway between the fall equinox and winter solstice, was the festival of Samhain, wherein the the gods were propitiated for good fortune in the coming months of darkness. It marked the beginning of what they saw as the dark half of the year. In addition to the four solar holidays, seen in various forms among Indo-European traditions, which marked the mid point of the seasons, there were also four which came in between them, which marked the change of season, of which Samhain was one. 
The Samhain tradition probably predates even the Celts, going back to the original inhabitants of Ireland. The mound of hostages, located on the Hill of Tara, dates back five thousand years, roughly three thousand years before the Celtic people arrived in Ireland. This site is astronomically aligned with the sun on October 31st, whose morning rays shine directly into the main chamber. Evidence of a pre Celtic Irish culture can be seen in many of the mound sites around Ireland. These were most likely used for worship and or internment of important people. Many of these ancient sites, not only in Ireland, but worldwide, are aligned with solar cycles, so that the rays of the rising and or setting sun are cast onto key features of the structures during solstices and equinoxes, a testament to the astronomical and architectural prowess of the ancients.

While we know that Samhain was indeed a major Irish pagan festival which was celebrated well into the early Medieval period, it seems not to have been the case for surrounding countries which presumably also saw Celtic migrations, apart from Scottish (particularly areas of Irish migration), Wales, and the Isle of Man. This diminishes the possibility of Samhain being a broadly Celtic festival. In fact, recent scholarship has begun to question the idea that there was a mass westward migration of Celtic peoples at all, and even the use of the term Celtic itself as it relates to a homogenous, widespread ancient European culture. If there was such a migration, they may have assimilated or blended more so than overwritten the indigenous cultures. Therefore, while the Celts probably had some form of fall festival, Samhain seems to be indigenously Irish, as further evidenced by the Hill of Ward, but that does not mean there were not similar observances outside of Ireland and its neighbors. For instance, we do know that Scandinavia had their own beginning of winter festival from October 11-17, that also involved a feast and sacrifice.

During Samhain, the burial mounds were thought to serve as portals to the Otherworld. These areas were likely considered to naturally be places of spiritual potency before being built upon and were chosen for for this reason. Efforts were often made by ancient people to aid the dead in their journey to the afterlife, so choosing such an area for burial would be logical. Places of elevation were often seen as being closer to the spirit world. As we explored in a previous episode, they were also said to be the abode of the aos si, the people of the mounds, or bright folk. In the tale of Fin Macool, he travels to a fairy fort where many men had vanished after seeking the queen of the hill. There he witnesses a doorway open up in the mound, and a glowing fire within it. 

For the Celts, and many agrarian cultures, religion was intimately connected with the seasons and cycles of growth.
In Autumn, northern peoples had to produce and store large stockpiles of food in order to survive the winter. The crops were harvested and a portion of the livestock was slaughtered, especially the weakest of the herd, to provide more food, and to reduce the strain on their stores of grain. This is what it is to thin the herd. The anglo Saxons fittingly referred to November as blood month. Offering some of this precious crop and animal supply would have been a fitting sacrifice as something of great value. As many harvest deities were thought to have sacrificed themselves for humanity so that they could eat and survive, it was important to reciprocate, the exchange of life for life, as it seemed to be woven into the fabric of nature, and therefore somehow fundamentally necessary. This would’ve been especially evident in Fall when the gods seemingly sacrificed much of their own creation. 

Flush from the harvest, there would be a great feast to mark the occassion. Samhain was no doubt a momentous occassion and a sight to behold. Despite the dark undertones of the season, Samhain was a jubilant affair, seemingly in an act of passionate defiance against the foreboding gloom of the coming winter. By its commencement, the time for war and trade had come to an end, the harvest had been completed, and so it was an ideal time for kings to gather their tribes for a grand assembly. These gatherings were a common setting for Celtic myths. according to a 12th century manuscript, the feis of the Ulaid, an ancient Irish kingdom ,  lasted “the three days before Samhain and the three days after Samhain and Samhain itself. They would gather at Mag Muirthemne during  these seven days there would be nothing but meetings and games and amusements and entertainments and eating and feasting,”Serglige Con Culaind. There was also said to be much boasting and brawling. This much of the nature of Samhain is known, having been described in several accounts. It was also believed that the fairies, as human being’s supernatural counterparts, also held their own festivities and games during this time, feasting upon nuts at the mounds of Bru na Boinne.

Samhain has a reputation of having a celebratory, wild nature, more so than religious. In fact all of the records we have recall scenes of revelry rather than piety. While there was likely a religious component as well, this is less understood based on the historical literature. Whether or not this means Samhain was a less important festival from a spiritual standpoint than others, is unclear. Sources that describe in detail other pagan festivals like Beltane, are peculiarly lacking in any descriptions of Samhain rites. Nonetheless, the great fairs at which many would gather were notorious among the early Christians. For those who labored on farms, Samhain was at the end of the work season, when farmers, herders, maids, and servants received their bi-annual wages and returned home after a long stint of isolation and toil. And so many people were looking to let loose and indulge themselves, knowing that months of confinement indoors were approaching. 3-7 days of wild festivities would ensue. On a deeper level, the belief in the temporary suspension of natural law seems to thematically coincide with the anonymity of mask wearing, temporarily assuming a new identity, and giving human beings a comfortable outlet through which they can express their hidden desires. Maybe, just as the veil between worlds thinned on Samhain, so too did the veil between the conscious and subconscious mind allowing the daimons of our shadows to roam free in conscious mind. Bacchanalian rites can be a method of quieting the conscious mind and allowing access to the subconscious, which in occult circles is often believed to be the link to the divine. This theme may be aptly represented in werewolf lore, a creature prominently featured in the gallery of Halloween spooks. This, along with the vampire, became a popular literary device in Victorian culture as a symbol which could be seen as a malignant expression of the shadow due to sexual repression. Furthermore, indulging sexual urges, what is normally seen as part of the lower animal self, which in many spiritual schools was antithetical to the higher spiritual self which transcended out of the animal man through discipline and higher modalities of living, paradoxically, in some cases, there was likely a belief that sometimes these carnal acts were a way to elevate the spirit, as it brought the participant into a state of ecstasy and reestablished his or her’s connection to nature, which in many pagan agrarian belief systems was recognized as divine.

From the sparse documentation and archeological evidence, attempts have been made to reconstruct the ritualistic nature of Samhain. It has been theorized that a prominent or even central rite was the burning of the sacred bon fire. Evidence of large-scale burning was discovered at Tlachta, or the Hill of Ward, in Ireland. This site is a short distance to Tara, and is thought to be connected, as these fires would’ve been visible from Tara. Sacrificial offerings such as slaughtered livestock were thrown into these fires. In the ancient world, immolation was commonly believed to be a means by which spirit consumed something that was given. The demiurge, or being that created the universe, was sometimes described as a flame, notably in the Hermetic as well as Abrahamic religions. The term bon fire is thought to be etymologically derived from the term bone fire, likely due to this practice. While the evidence for the bon fire ritual is actually sporadic and localized, it does seem to have had its place among the various pagan rituals of the British Isles. But attempts to define Samhain as a fire festival have been criticized due to the lack of any references to it in the ancient myths.

Another, and perhaps the primary function of Samhain rituals like the bon fire, was to ward against evil. Evidence for this comes to us in the records of rural folk traditions from the late middle ages and into the 19th century documented by clerical scribes. These practices were possibly relics of ancient paganism. By this time, they were in decline, and their accounts were recorded in the context of prohibition by religious authorities. The first mention of bon fires in the historical record comes from a 1589 prohibition by the Stirling clergy of Hallowmas Fires. It in these traditions that we see an acknowledgment of supernatural threats thought to be in play on Samhain, in the form of creatures coming forth from the void, and humans who might exploit Samhain’s magical potency to wield destructive magic. and a need to guard against them. In Wales there was the concept of of Ysbrydnos, a night in which spirits roamed the land, haunting churchyards, farms, and crossroads, the most dangerous being on the eve of October 31st. In Ireland it was referred to was Oiche Shamhna, or Goblin Night. In the Norse Shetland Isles it was Hallowmas, a time when trolls came out of the wilderness to steal cattle and crops. In Lancashire England, there was the practice of witch lating to warn of an attack, where people would walk the foothills of the Pennines at night holding candles. If one were to go out, it would mean that a witch was nearby. It is unclear whether the belief in and preoccupation with the dangers of Samhain is an accurate depiction of the original Samhain zeitgeist, a later product of Christian paranoia, or some mix of both. Whatever the case may be, it is evident that the belief that late October was a particularly numinous time, for better or for worse, is authentically ancient and widespread.

 The ritual function of the bon fire was manifold, just as the meaning of its symbolism. A symbol is by design, an expression of a complex principle, such that words fall short in defining it. Spiritual principles are also felt to, by their transcendent nature, be beyond words and thus intellectual apprehension, which is why symbols have always been used in religion and the occult. A ritual was observed at Corgarff wherein people would throw torches onto the fire and recite the words “Brave bonefire, burn a, keep the fairies away.” . The night has traditionally been associated with evil. This is why the color black, and creatures of the night, like toads, bats, and cats, were cast in the role of witch’s familiars in the imaginations of medieval inquisitors. On a physical level, the association of the night with evil may be traced back to man’s early days living in the wilderness, as many predators that posed dangers to humans moved under the cover of darkness, and on a metaphysical level, as the night is connected to dreams and the mystery of the subconscious, and thus, the supernatural. It is the embodiment of the unknown. Having a source of light gave people the ability to detect possible threats, and a general sense of comfort. In the rituals at Corgaff, people would also lie down next to the fire so that the smoke would pour over them. The warding as well as purifying properties of smoke is a ubiquitous belief seen in rituals across cultures through the burning of sacred herbs and incense. A belief in this purification can be seen in the Samhain fire rite where if a person runs across the coals, it was thought to bring good luck, as blessings are believed to be bestowed upon the spiritually pure.

As a light in the darkness and source of heat in the bitter cold of winter, the power of fire is self-evident and was transformative for humanity. A broader function of the fire rites may have been to counter the darkness of winter, being kept lit throughout the night, perpetually burning, like the sun, symbolic of its eternal nature, like the eternal nature of spirit. As the embodiment of the pure divine source, all house fires would be extinguished and relit with the flame of the bon fire to cleanse the home and connect the plurality to the divine source of all, what the Greek philosophers termed the monad.

Aside from fire, there were several other and perhaps more widely used magical devices used on Samhain for protection.  There was much cause for precaution, as evil spirits were believed to attack and even possess people during Samhain. It was thought that at this time they would roam the land looking for new bodies to inhabit for the coming year. One folk tale warned of a spirit in the form of a great black sow, which would stalk the attendees of the bon fire and attack the last person to leave. Because of this threat, traveling alone was generally avoided, and if it had to be done, the traveler would carry charms such as a hazel stick or black shafted knife to repel any attacks. At home, charms would also be placed in the doorways to keep out unwanted spectral guests. Another method of defense was the use of disguise. People would dress up in costumes to resemble evil spirits, deceiving any would-be supernatural assailants into passing them over as one of their own. This could’ve also been believed to intimidate them by posing as a more powerful spirit. Our modern custom of dressing up on Halloween is possibly a vestige of this ancient practice. Also as a tactic of deception, pranking was used to confuse malicious spirits. Recall the earlier example in the fairy episode of boiling egg shells in water to get the changeling to reveal its true identity. It seems this was a form of fighting fire with fire, as supernatural entities, particularly the fairies, were known for their deceit.

The concept of the ward may be at the root of many of our contemporary Halloween traditions.  Trick or treating is possibly an echo of ancient peoples methods of dealing with intrusive spirits through pranking or sacrificial appeasement. A legend regarding the Fomorians, the supernatural race who ruled Ireland before the Tuatha De Danaan, states that they would demand tribute of food, and even children, every Samhain, taking them back to their island kingdom. If this tribute was not paid, people would suffer attacks and misfortune wrought by the Fomorians.

What was once done in a serious manner is now acted out by children for mere entertainment. It is clear that if these traditions can indeed be traced back to antiquity, the original meaning and intent behind them has been lost. There is debate over whether many of our modern holiday traditions are actually derived from ancient paganism, but even though we cannot identify a clear line of historical transmission, or may discover a much more recent genesis, it does not necessarily mean there is no connection. Much of the old ways have indeed been lost completely, but maybe they continue to resurface out of the collective unconscious, and an inherent need within human nature to express the inner mystic, to connect with, and honor the transcendent, even if we are not consciously aware of it. The fact that Halloween has become one of the most popular holidays in America, and in a way is celebrated in much the same way as our ancestors did, may be a testament to this.

While Samhain could be a harbinger of wickedness, it could also be that of positivity and spiritual reunion, as all spirits, good and bad, could come to interact with the living. This was a time to venerate and commune with the spirits of the ancestors. It has been debated among scholars the extent to which Samhain was actually a festival of the dead, but the cemetery containing a large quantity of human remains unearthed at the Hill of Ward, which is undoubtedly connected to Samhain, seems to lend credibility to this idea, initially posited by anthropologist Sir James Frazer. There was a belief that the souls of the departed would return home on Samhain, and so preparations would be made to welcome them, such as setting them a place at the dinner table. The belief that the dead return to the world of the living at this time of year is not limited to Ireland, but can be seen worldwide, notably in the Mexican Dia de Muertos, or Day of the Dead.

Another disputed theory, put forth by professor John Rhys, was that Samhain was the Celtic new year, although the evidence for this is scant. In fact it is difficult to know with any degree of certainty exactly what the ancient Celts believed, or how they expressed those beliefs. The only written records come from the Romans and medieval Christian scribes, both of which likely had biases and reason to skew or even rewrite history to gain advantage against their religious and political advsersaries. There is also skepticism towards the degree of political centralization in his descriptions of ancient Ireland, as it is thought to have been balkanized into many tribes. However, archaeological discoveries continue to be made which verify some of these accounts. For instance, the 17th century Irish priest Jeffery Keating, whose historical accounts had been considered unreliable, appears to have more credibility in light of the discoveries at the Hill of Ward. It was his account that stated that on Samhain the great bon fire was lit at Tlachta, and torches from it were carried back to every home. 

Another component of Samhain worthy of study was its association with magic. As the veil thinned, magical energies were thought to increase, becoming more accessible to  even the least mystical human beings, lending extra power to any spell work that might be performed. In particular, Samhain folk magic seemed to center on divination. The idea behind divination is that spirits could manipulate material objects to communicate, signify answers to questions and give prophecy. A person would manipulate an object that introduced an element of chance, giving an entity an opportunity to direct the outcome, and the result would be recorded and interpreted as a message from beyond. One example of this during Samhain was to place objects such as stones and nuts into the fire and observe the fire’s effect on them. The burn pattern on a stone or the way in which a nut popped provided information about the querents life. This was commonly done to predict the birth of an important person, what one might achieve in their life, and who they might marry. On Samhain, as it was believed, the laws of time and space became less defined; past, present, and future began to bleed together, making predictions of future events more auspicious. The fact that many of these divinations were concerned with the prospect of new beginnings was one piece of evidence that Rys used in suggesting Samhain was the Celtic new year.

Divination is a part of a long and rich history of human beings connecting with the supernatural to receive wisdom and insight, as well as be granted with miraculous powers. The Greeks had one of the most renown prophecy traditions in the world. In the case of the oracles, a physical medium for communication was bypassed, and spirits would speak directly through the channeler while in a deep trance, sometimes considered to be a form of temporary possession, in that the spirit would assume control over the vessel of the body to interact with those in the material world. It was believed that the god Appollo himself would speak through the oracle of Delphi. The oracle would induce a trance state through the inhalation of intoxicating fumes naturally emanating from the crevices of the sacred cave. In this case, the interaction was instigated rather than warded against, as the entity was believed to be a benevolent deity. Unlike the practices described earlier, this was not done by the average person, but rather by select initiated and trained practitioners. These were often seen as chosen individuals through divine providence, who were blessed with innate mystical abilities beyond that of the average person. The virtue and value of the oracular tradition is well attested to, and its influence in shaping Greek culture was significant. James Gardner wrote, “Its responses revealed many a tyrant and foretold his fate. Through its means many an unhappy being was saved from destruction and many perplexed mortal guided in the right way. It encouraged useful institutions, and promoted the progress of useful discoveries. Its moral influence was on the side of virtue, and its political influence in favor of the advancement of civil liberty.”

We see a similar tradition in the Celtic Awenyddion soothsayers of Wales recorded in the 12th century. A similar practice can be seen in the trance possession of Vodun and Afro-Caribbean religions. It is said that “the trance of the Anwendyddion was so deep that it appeared to be a kind of possession, from which they had to be violently roused to awaken.” 

The harnessing of magical powers through the invocation of spirits could’ve been another function for the donning of costumes during Samhain. Similar practices were carried out by the Siberian shamans and Native American medicine men. By wearing the skin of an animal, the practitioner channeled and embodied its essence. Animals were beings of great spiritual import in many cultures, due to their purity of mind and purpose, as well as their harmonious relationship to nature, in contrast to the corruptibility of humans and their propensity to go astray from the natural flow of life. This divine status was expressed in the myriad chimeric deities depicted with animal features, notably in the Egyptian pantheon, but also seen in the Celtic horned god Cernunnos, whose image was embossed on an ancient silver cauldron unearthed in Denmark. The Native Americans had the animal totems. Echoes of animal reverence can even be seen in the image of the stable in which the newborn Christ lay in the manger. 

In the Siberian and Native American traditions we a methodological variation from the more passive channeling of the oracle in the concept of the soul flight, in which the person’s soul leaves their body, traveling to an etheric realm to commune with and receive aid from their spirit guides. Fin Macool, who was mentioned earlier, could be seen as a shamanic figure, living on the margins of society, raised in the wilderness by two mysterious druid mentors and trained as an adept seer, later embarking on many journeys to the Otherworld. Shamanic practices are the oldest known form of spirituality, primarily seen among hunter-gatherer societies who had a more direct connection to the wild. While the Celts developed into a pastoral society, they still retained their primitive nature and were in many ways anachronistic, seen as uncivilized in the eyes of the Romans. Therefore it is not a stretch to imagine such a practice surviving within Celtic culture into the common era. Whether it was to travel to the spirit world or come under direct influence of a spirit, the goal was the same, in establishing a connection with the divine for the benefit of the tribe, to provide healing and/or knowledge. 

In some cases, this channeling of the animal spirit was taken quite literally, and person was believed to actually transform, or shapeshift into a nonhuman form. This usually had dark connotations, as exemplified in the Native American skinwalker. The Norse had a similar belief in shapeshifters, which may have its roots in the notorious berserker. This was an exceptional warrior who trained fanatically to become fearless and ruthless in combat. Beserkers were known to inexplicably come under a spell of ferocity that impelled them to commit acts of extreme and reckless violence, during which time they seemingly lost all restraint and any semblance of humanity. Wearing the pelts of wolves and bears, they would become as wild as the beasts whose skin they wore. In some cases, the transformation was physical. These were known as the hamrammer.

In regards to shapeshifting, Baring Gould writes, “In Norway it was said that certain men were not of one skin, an idea which had its roots in paganism. The full form of this strange superstition was, that men could take upon them other bodies, and the natures of those beings whose bodies they assumed.  The second adopted shape was the hamr, and the expression made use of to designate the transition from one body to another. By this transfiguration extraordinary powers wer acquired, the natural strength of the individual was doubled, or quadrupled; he acquired the strength of the beast in whose body he traveled, in addition to his own. 

“The manner in which the change was effected varied.  At times, the dress of skin was cast over the body, and at once the transformation was complete. At others, the human body was deserted, and the soul entered the second form, leaving the first body in a cataleptic state, to all appearance dead. The second hamr was either borrowed or created for the purpose. There was eyt a third manner of producing this effect. It was by incantation., but then the form of the individual remained unaltered, though the eyes of the beholders were charmed so that they could only perceived him under the selected form.”

Taking into account the pagan festival of Samhain and lore surrounding it, we can no doubt see its connection the popular characters of Halloween. The werewolf is derived from the practice of shapeshifting. Zombies and vampires are derived from the belief in the dead returning to the world of the living. While the ancients certainly believed in evil spirits, monsters and sorcerers, we must consider the role of religious reactionism along the line of transmission from ancient beliefs to their modern descendants, which carry largely negative connotations. This is no more evident in the image of the evil, broom riding witch, which was part of a propaganda campaign against those who still practiced the old ways. Witches were thought to be women because they were often renown healers and skilled herbalists, and so it was thought this power could also be used to harm. What was simply a group of people trying to preserve their own traditions, was branded as an active conspiracy against the church, with covens of witches gathering on the witch’s Sabbath on Samhain, engaging in various acts of blasphemy with the devil himself. Of course, this had no basis in reality, and was purely an invention of the inquisition as described in the hammer of witches, a text which became the legal framework for the persecution and execution of thousands of innocent people, so brutally unethical and draconian that it was eventually eschewed by the very authorities for which it was written. 

Halloween, while it may go by a Christian name for a solemn holiday for the veneration of saints and prayer for purgatorial souls, certainly retains the spirit of our pagan past in the way it is popularly celebrated. What we have today is a peculiar embrace of these archetypes that were meant so frighten us and evoke revulsion, not as a thing to fear, but to celebrate and delight in, as our ancestors might have, seeing the darkness as necessary, a part of us, a balancing force in the cycle of nature and ourselves. In the dog days of summer, there can be a sense of stagnation, and relief comes as the cool autumn air washes over us, evoking feelings of change and deep contemplation. The cycles of the earth are connected to our own spiritual cycles, as within so without. When all the leaves are stripped away, we are left with the true core of who we are, and a chance to realign with ourselves and the cosmos. There is a need to do this continually just as the earth passes through the cycle yearly.

Sometimes a spiritual death is necessary, as the old cannot accommodate the new. The phoenix burns before rising from the ashes. In the pursuit of gnosis, sometimes the truth cannot be conceived of within the framework of the current paradigm, and so old presuppositions must be shattered. Thoughts and behavior become engrained, so they must be forcefully banished. It is a severing of attachments that hold one back from embodying the new self. This is why many religious rites of passage involve traumatic hazing, a symbolic death and rebirth, so that the initiate can transcend the confinements of his old self like a snake that must shed its skin. The druid initiate was buried alive in a coffin, and in the final degree, was stranded at sea in a small boat.

Upon the barren fields cleared of crops is a great emptiness, full of potential for the coming year, and even on the darkest days, the promise of rebirth of the world. In the hermetic tradition, the law of rhythm states that the universe is like a pendulum, that everything in existence is involved in a cosmic dance, swinging back and forth, rising and falling like the tide. Everything is in a cycle of coming and going, and for everything that comes something must go. There is a profound acceptance of the inherent virtue and necessity of this law that we might take comfort in, when we connect deeply with nature, and flow with the seasons.