Samhain

Hi and Merry Meet,
As I said yesterday this is my first Samhain. I am very excited about this turn of the wheel because I love the idea of welcome home the spirits of loved ones that have passed on. In Japan, I celebrated O-ban with friends and for them it has a similar meaning. In Japan, they also feel that the veil between the spirit world and our earthly one is also thin on this night... they just celebrate it in August.


In Japan, families go out and tidy up graves and prepare feast of foods that spirit loved ones liked. The light fireworks to help them find their way home for the night. So, I want to spend part of the day tidying up my yard as the graves of my loved ones are not close to where I live now. I think that by just raking up the leaves and making my home look presentable I can achieve the same goal. As long I focus on my loved ones while I'm doing this, I think they will feel the love even if I can't go to where their earthly bodies were laid to rest.


I do plan on making chocolate chip cookies from scratch as they were my grandfather's favorite and I really want his spirit to find his way to my house for a short visit. I'll also put out a bowl of water for my dog that crossed over a long time ago. I feel it is important they they know I remember them. I know that they are happy as they send me messages a lot, but I want them to see my message to them.


As for my feelings on the God and Goddess myth for this holiday I feel that this is a celebration of life and love. I'm celebrating the the God is going into the Earth to rule the shadowy side of life. While, the Goddess is morning her loss, she is still ruling over the living. Grief is just as much as part of life as joy. I don't feel that the God dies, just takes on his next form as ruler of the underworld. For me, it is like the Goddess appearing in her three different forms. I think the God is like that as well. He is born as a child, he is a man, and then in his wise old years he rules the underworld.

I've been using my meditation times to also think about what my spiritual resolutions are. The main one that I want to focus on is working on centering myself in times of stress and connecting with the Divine anytime I feel my emotions getting out of hand. I think that by working on that I will learn to be calm and relaxed even under fire. It is something that I want to change about myself. I have a tendency to get worked up and run myself into the ground worrying and stressing about the wrong things. If I can learn to relax, center, and ground myself I think my emotions will come into the balance that I am striving for.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Samhain!
Blessed be,
Autumn