Day 12 Listen- Samhain

Samhain, is the time of year when the veil is the thinnest between the living and the non living, between us and those who have come before, and those who have yet to come, if there is in fact a difference. It is a time to honour our ancestors, past and future. We give thanks to the generations of shoulders we have stood upon, and prepare our own to be mounted by those who will take what we have done, learned, and dreamed, and decide for themselves where to go with it all.



Halloween as we culturally know it, the eve of the Holy, has become a festival of costumes and candy. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Halloween; an unrivalled festival of community and fun where without any emails or newsletters everyone knows just what to do. As soon as the sun goes down the festivities begin, all the kids (and those adults lucky enough to have kids) must do is walk out their front door, go find someone else's and sing “Trick or Treat!”. My kids sing other songs too, ones learned from me, from school, from friends. They spend hours traipsing from door to door and, every year it seems, announce to me at the end of the night that “Halloween is the best day of the year!” Yes I do love Halloween, but it doesn’t really resemble Samhain any more.

Usually we celebrate Samhain on November 1st, which technically is still a holy day, until the sun goes down. (Pagan festivals run sun down to sun down). I have to tell you though, things are not looking good. I am feverish again, shaky and uber tired. I admit, I ate some candy, terrible for the immune system. I have a feeling tomorrow I will pay the price. If I am sick, there will be no official celebration of the ancestors this year.Ugh.

“How do you honour your ancestors?” is the question in 12 days journal #202