On October 31st, we will officially enter into the dark half of the year. The Celts ― an ancient people that spread across Europe most associated with modern-day Scotland, England, Wales, and Ireland ― celebrated their “new year”, Samhain, on this eve. Literally translating in Gaelic to “Summer’s End”, Samhain marks the time when the sun ― or, the Son of the Goddess ― dies and rests in peace until his rebirth during the Winter Solstice. The seeds of the harvest lie dormant and hidden deep within the earth. The leaves on the trees shrivel, the dark nights grow longer, and the earth freezes and falls into a somber slumber. What’s more, Samhain was also the night when the veil between this world and the Otherworld was lifted, allowing humans to reunite with their lost loved ones and ancestors.

So, this Samhain, in honor of all that this sacred Sabbat represents and aims to teach us, I challenge you to embrace endings in as many ways possible. Instead of seeing Death and the ending of relationships, careers, things, definitions of Self, etc. as losses, seek to view them as a process of purification. Think of their removal and cleansing as the same process that the Phoenix must endure when it bursts into flames, burns to ashes, and is reborn anew.

~Cheyenne Zarate

somewhere in between light and dark….

inquiry for today~ what rituals will you create in transition?

sense the deep

Live as if you were to die tomorrow.

Learn as if you were to live forever.

~Mahatma Gandhi