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Samhain
Samhain is the time when the veil between this world and the otherworld is at it’s thinnest. It is the time of the ancestors. It is the ‘Celtic’ New Year. At this ritual we recognize and celebrate the reality that the death of the old is a necessary part of birth, regeneration and creation. The God ‘Herne the Hunter’ takes on his aspect of the Guardian of the Gates of Death and the Leader of the ‘Wild Hunt’, the season of violent weather, storms and tempests. The Goddess ‘Cerridwen’, 'Hecate', 'the Morrigan' takes on her aspect of the Crone, the ‘Old Wise Woman’, ‘Keeper of the Cauldron of Wisdom’. At this time she can pass with ease between the worlds because she has made the effort to gain the knowledge of both worlds and beyond.
It is the time when we celebrate our ancestors and invite them to join us and share their wisdom with us and join in our feasting and ceremony. A time and for those of the Celtic tradition the only time when the dead can return easily to visit.
For women it is a time to consider the ‘happy home’ to make it a place of peace, harmony, warmth and comfort to sustain the family throughout the winter ahead. A time to re-new the altar in the home and perhaps make complimentary altars in other special rooms of the house, an altar to love in the bedroom maybe or health and well being in the kitchen.
The Deities
God – Herne the Hunter
A blend of the Saxon Woden and the Celtic Cernunnos, Herne shows the attributes of both. He is a forest and hunting deity and leads the ‘Wild Hunt’ during the winter months. The oak is his sacred tree and the stag his animal.
Goddesses – Cerridwen
She is a goddess of inspiration, the moon, death and the grain. She is the Keeper of the ‘Cauldron of Inspiration’, which bestows great knowledge on whoever drinks from it. She is a shapeshifter and the mother of Taliesin.
Hecate
Originally a Thracian deity, later a Greek Goddess of the Moon, wisdom, enchantment and crossroads. She is a threefold goddess and statues of her looking in three directions at once were set up to avert evil coming from any side. She also granted victory, protected children, and ruled wandering ghosts.
The Morrigan
Morrigan means ‘Phantom Queen’ and this Celtic goddess appears in triple form throughout Celtic culture. The Goddess considered to be the origin of the image of the ‘Washer at the Ford’ is a death Goddess whose main characteristic is her impersonality. Her other forms are Nemhain and Badhbh meaning ‘Frenzy’ and ‘Crow or Raven.’.
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