High Day: Samhain (DP Entry)

The prime directive of this blog is to document our ADF Dedicant Program work.  Obviously, it has grown into more than that, but still.  Since we started, Michael completed, submitted and had approved his DP documentation and I have procrastinated at great length about getting mine written at all.

My commitment for November is to focus on getting a good chunk of this done, so there should be a lot of posts coming, and some of them won't be particularly seasonal as it includes a requirement for essays about of the eight High Days, so bear with me on that.

The actual submission requirements include a pretty rigorous word count limitation, and while 'extremely brief' makes absolutely good sense as a submission policy (both to avoid having the reviewer go insane from reading it all, and because if you can't explain what you know in a reasonably short bit of verbiage, extra padding is not likely to help), it's not really my voice to spit out thought in just a few words - so I'm just going to say it here the way I do and then do some ruthless editing to submit.

Here then, is my draft essay for Samhain.  The requirement is:  Short essays on each of the eight ADF High Days including a discussion of the meaning of each feast. (125-375 words each)

High Day: Samhain

Samhain (generally pronounced SOW-en) is an Irish word for an ancient Gaelic period of feasting which is also found in the Irish word for "November" - it did not denote simply a day but a longer time of year as Winter approached.  Traditionally, this was the time when livestock were brought in from their summer pastures and herds were culled.  It was a matter of economic and actual survival that those animals that were fed and cared for over Winter were only those few most likely to grow next year's herd, while the majority of the herd was put to use as food for the coming months.  This then, was the meat harvest, the last of the three periods of harvest before the long, lean period of the dark season of the year, and it was a period of feasting and plenty. 

Additionally, Samhain occurs at the liminal period of the year when Summer gives way to Winter and is regarded as a time when the veil between the worlds is thin. Spirits of the dead and the fae could easily cross  the veil and wander the earth, and for this reason, many Samhain customs involve protection magic and staying close to home and others involve honoring and welcoming the spirits. Many of these customs are alive and well in modern Halloween celebrations, from disguises and jack-o-lanterns to welcoming strange visitors and offering a treat to avoid a trick.  Because communicating with the dead is easier when the veil is thin, this also is a time that is regarded as favorable for divination.

There are many holidays in other cultures around this time of year that are also related to similar themes. 

For example, the ancient Greek celebration of the Thesmophoria occurs sometime around October to November (depending on the lunar calendar) and was a women's ritual that centered around a re-enactment of the story of Persephone and Demeter.  When Persephone was abducted into the Underworld, her mother's response in her grief and anger hurled the world into a season of cold and death where nothing would grow.

Other examples include the Norse celebration of Winternights, focused on honoring the Ancestors, and celebrating abundance before the coming of the cold months, and the Mexican custom of Day of the Dead, which combines elements of Catholic Spanish customs and Native American ancestor worship by feasting with their family ancestors in cemeteries and depicting them as happy skeletons continuing to lead normal lives.

Pope Gregory IV, in 835, moved All Saints Day (All Hallows Day) from May 12 to Nov. 1, quite likely to line it up with popular pre-Christian customs already in place.  However, since so much of our lore was written in the Christian era, it is difficult to pinpoint which customs were practiced in spite of Christian influence, and which because of them.

http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/grecoromanmyth1/a/aa102400a.htm
https://www.adf.org/rituals/celtic/samhain/background.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samhain

Tarot Traditions

Previous Blog Hop Entry: The Celtic Lenomand Oracle

Arwen's Tarot Blog Hop Master List

Next Blog Hop Entry: The Seer's Cave

The Tarot Blog Hop, which posts a subject each High Day for participants to write about is focusing on traditions in Tarot.  The question is, "What traditions are important to you in how you read Tarot?"

At first, I wasn't sure how to answer - I don't have a lot of strong traditions that I think about that much, but I suppose there are a few habits I have:

I shuffle at least seven times, cut the deck into thirds, then shuffle again until if feels right, cut into thirds again and read.  Why?  I don't know - Tradition! (shouted in a triumphant Tevye voice)

I read reversals if  the back of the card is designed in a way that doesn't let me see that it's reversed.  If the design has a clear upright position, I do not use reversals for that deck.

When I do use reversals, I tend to either treat them as 'don't' or 'not' whatever the card is about, or as an indicator that the card's meaning pertains more to internal attitudes or reactions than to external actions or events.

I handle the negative aspects of  the cards in context to the reading and through intuition, rather than treating a reversal as a negative.

I do not think any card is strictly positive or strictly negative.

I believe it is impossible for me to own too many decks. (hah - we went to a friend's house for dinner this weekend, and I somehow left with $60 worth of decks I had no idea she was trying to sell)

I like working with spreads - a well conceived spread is like a musical composition, and they delight me.  But most of the time, when I read, it is simply a conversation, where I will ask my first question, lay a card or two, which will lead to my next question, a couple more cards, and so on until I feel the discussion is finished.

And that leads to what I am seeing as a budding tradition for me.  Because it begs the question of just who am I speaking with?  And I've always been fine with answering that either by regarding the cards as a window into my own subconscious - the place without words that is able to express itself using symbols as a bridge to my conscious self.  And often, I do think that's exactly what's happening, and that is a good and useful thing when reading for myself.

But when I'm reading for others, there is often a strong sense that what I am seeing is not coming from me - and I don't identify as psychic, so I haven't known what that is all about exactly.  Many readers have answered that question for themselves, but I haven't.

Except that in working within ADF Druidry, I am learning about the role of Seer in ritual, and at least then - when we are approaching the Kindred - be they Shining Ones (gods and goddesses), or Ancestors, or Nature Spirits, we take Omens through any of a number of divinatory methods, and Tarot can be one of them.

When I read as a part of a ritual at home - and I do each Friday, and am going to start doing so every day, specifically to address the Kindred - there is an entirely different feel to my readings from those I do that are self-conversation, or reading for someone else without trying to figure out how or why it works.

They are both very clear, and also often very foreign to the way I'd think about something otherwise.  And it truly has a much more sense of sacred communication for me.  I am hoping that when I complete my Dedicant's work (and that is a long way off), I will be able to work deeper with ADF's Seer training program - this has opened up something really deep within me and put my old love (Tarot) into a new-to-me context, and I am awed and excited by that.  I have so much yet to learn.

Previous Blog Hop Entry: The Celtic Lenomand Oracle

Arwen's Tarot Blog Hop Master List

Next Blog Hop Entry: The Seer's Cave

Ostara at Cedarlight Grove, 2013

Ignore those bare trees - it's time for Spring!

As Michael is getting close to wrapping up his Dedicant's Program work, I am just beginning mine, so I'll be posting about our High Days for the next year or so.

Last night, Michael and I attended this year's Ostara celebration at Cedarlight Grove.  While we may have been hailing the start of Spring, the weather was grey, cold - low 40s - and damp from passing rain showers.

This actually seemed fitting, as one of the deities of the occasion was Graine ("GRAHN-yeh"), a Celtic goddess who is the Winter Sun..the 'little' sun that gives us light but not much warmth, and who presides over the dormant and quiet part of the year that leads to spring's blooms.

I knew nothing of her, nor all that much of the other deities - the Celtic pantheon is something of a mystery to me (and I was a little disappointed that Ostara didn't involve, well, Ostara and the Germanic hearth culture from whence most of our current spring customs come - but it was interesting enough that I got over it).  Our deities of the occasion were:

Bardic Inspiration: Brigid
Gatekeeper: Dagda
Dieties of  the Occasion:
Graine - the Winter Sun
Sadv - the Dancing Deer
Aengus - son of Boann and Dagda, associated with poetry and romantic love

Many attendees shared poems and artwork as sacrifices, while Aurora took on the part of Sadv and did a dance for us.  Michael made an offering of homemade vanilla extract, and also made his oath to the Grove.  I made a silent offering of thanks to Brigid with incense, for healing and an accompanying upsurge of creative energy I've been experiencing since Imbolc.

Ashley took the omens by scrying. She used an iron cauldron of water that had been heating over  the Fire and cracked an egg into it, to read the shapes.  Some of the egg splashed over onto her scribe, leaving egg in her hair and a hummingbird shaped splash on her shirt.

The omen (paraphrased - it was hard to hear and I recorded what I could):  "If you look too closely at tragedy, tragedy is all you will see.  Calamities are like volcanoes, bringing pressure.  Listen to your guides, and you will see these volcanoes are fire bubbling up from below to heat your cauldrons and effect change.  Meow."

Yes...meow.  The first shape she saw was a cat.  No idea what that's about, but I'd be on the look out for cats adopting the Grove. hah!

(Here is the actual Omen Q&A:

Omen Question: We seek the wisdom of the Ancient Ones. What say the Ancient Ones?

Omen as Read: If you look too closely at tragedy, tragedy is all you can see; it clouds your vision. Calamity, like a volcano, can result from too much pressure. Change your perspective - your guides are with you, magic is with you, and the volcano is only fire coming up through the Earth, through your cauldrons, to affect change. Meow.)

All in all, it was a chilly, fun night that seemed to be full of energy - for me it was less about the Deities than the Folk.  I never know from High Day to High Day which aspect will grab me - this time it was the community of people I've come to care about very much.