Samhain was conducted by our Priest Nebulosus
“I have news for you; the stag bells, winter snows, summer has gone.
Wind high and cold, the sun low, short its course, the sea running high.
Deep red and bracken, its shape is lost; the wild goose has raised its accustomed cry.
Cold has seized the birds’ wings; season of ice, this is my news.”
(“The Coming of Winter,” Irish, author unknown, 9th century)
In ancient Ireland, Samhain was, among many things, a fire festival. Two bonfires would be built side by side, and the people would walk between the fires as a ritual of purification. Their cattle and other livestock would be driven between the fires as well. These sacred fires also helped to keep any wandering evil spirits at bay
Samhain is a time outside of time, when the veil between the realms of the living and the dead have been lifted. Normal laws are suspended, and spirits from the other world can seek entry into ours. The doors are opened, the thresholds are about to be crossed. Samhain is a night for divination, and for communicating with the dead, in a space where the past, present and future intermingle. As our forebears did, as we do now, and as our descendants will do in the time to come, we gather here on the Feast of Samhain, the End and Beginning of the Sacred Year, the Time of Turning when the Darkness begins. This is the Last Harvest. The fields lie empty, sinking into Winter’s Sleep, and we acknowledge all the bounty that we have reaped from our labors. Samhain is a time to honor the gods and our ancestors, to show gratitude for all we have received. Tonight, we offer tribute to the Morrigan, the Great Raven Queen of Battle and Sorcery; the shapeshifting goddess of Phantoms, she of many names. We offer tribute to ancient Cernunnos, the horned god, who stands at the end of all things, and at the beginning of all that is new; He who is the spark of life and he who extinguishes all. And, in this Season of Death, we especially honor our Beloved Dead as the ancients did, and we seek the Seed that will wait in the Womb of Winter. As Samhain approaches, so does the time of the New Moon, intensifying the energies of transformation and ancestral connections.
