Samhain is a Celtic festival celebrated from sunset on 31 October to sunset on 1 November, marking the beginning of winter and the darkest time of the year. The Celts divided the year into two sides: the light and the dark. Samhain appeared to be the most important, for it represented the beginning of the new cycle, when the seed of light is stirred in the darkness below the ground, fertilising the womb and laying foundations for all growth.
Before recent cultures prevailed, the regenerative and renewing power of darkness and death was widely understood. For ancient people life was circular rather than linear, and darkness and death, far from being the end of the journey, were considered the energising and beginning point of everything. Upon them depended the initiation of each cycle, just like the seed buried underground in darkness, is the activator of the tree, leaves, fruits and flowers that follow.
This was reflected in commencing each day at dusk rather than dawn, and in their new year starting with the festival of Samhain on 31 October, with the Celtic saying “from death and darkness springs life and light”.
The power of Samhain and the dark season, which is exemplified by the astrological sign of Scorpio, is based on the awareness of the continuity of life through death, the sliding from one universe to the other, the liberation from human arbitrary slavery and the re-union with our multidimensional self.
The Scorpio cycle offers increased opportunities for letting go of secret and grieving stories that continue to affect our personal and collective environment. The first step here is being transparent. This involves facing the issue, honestly acknowledging it, moving beyond denials. It is the first decisive step in any healing enterprise. It is a most courageous and decisive enterprise for it does not provide the perception that healing is actually taking place. And this is the challenge.
Healing is indeed copiously occurring, yet at a level which is beyond our perception, which lies in the mystery school of life. Scorpio is the custodian of the mysteries of what we truly are beyond the identification with the physical body. This identification inescapably expires through death, yet the awareness of death for Scorpio is at work at all times since it abides right at the threshold of the multidimensional gateway.
For many of us the time has come for allowing part of these mysteries to fully ground in our consciousness.
Samhain shona duit, Howna Gwitch – Merry Samhain to You!
© Franco Santoro