Samhain in a Week: Samhain New Moon in Scorpio

This actually happened last night, but for posterity, I thought I’d let y’all know about it, even a bit late. Next year’s Samhain New Moon is on 13 November, and will be in Libra.

In ancient Pagan traditions, the New Moon directly preceding Samhain was known as – you guessed it! – the Samhain New Moon. Each new moon brings a new aspect of our lives as it is reborn, and this year is especially poignant considering its positioning: It’s a new moon in a sign known for change and transformation directly before the Sabbat that heralds in a new year. A powerful Moon, indeed!

For most Americans and other Westerners, the idea of death is one full of fear and trepidation. I won’t lie by saying that I’m not one of these people, but in my quest to find peace in all things in life, so I’m also trying to find the same peace in the end that we all reach. After all, death is simply the other face to life, and the idea of the New Moon is to witness its falling away to darkness (death) and coming back to the light (life).

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This Scorpio New Moon, we firmly enter the land of Death: The dying of bad habits, addictions, fears, betrayals, and other negative energies that have consumed our lives over the past year. The Scorpio is a melder of worlds and a deep thinker, an energy intense with feelings of moving forward and bringing new ideas to fruition. When combined with the New Moon, it is a time of introspection and poking around the darkest corners of one’s mind, to seek ways of improving life both for herself and those around her.

And of course, throw this moon in right before Samhain, and it becomes a powerhouse! Those proddings into every aspect of life as things are dying around us, only to be reborn again, gives us additional strength and emotional backbone to conquer our deepest fears, battle our toughest addictions, and bring forth a life of love and contentment as never known before. It’s one of the most difficult to overcome, but knowing that we have the universe on our side is definitely a confidence booster!



I don’t know about any of you, but I’m a rather hardcore sun Scorpio. I’ve been noticing things around me making changes, from the subtle to the blatant, and people changing at about the same rates. This is absolutely a very potent time for some looking inward. I know I’ll be tackling some of my own demons this Samhain as I’m surrounded by the history of Salem, and if you’re battling your own this Sabbat, my most sincere blessings to you and a very happy New Year... as we know it will be. :)

Samhain in a Week: A History of Samhain

Welcome to TCC’s [Insert Pagan Holiday] in a Week series! It’s been a while since I’ve done this, so I kind of feel like I’m throwing y’all into it, but hey, that’s one way to get a party going, isn’t it! Samhain is in less than a week, and I’ve got much to share with you before the Witches’ New Year: Lots of folklore, history, correspondences, and ritual. Since it’s also Matt’s and my first wedding anniversary this year, I’m sure there will be a super-sappy post the day of, too. ;)

Anyway, so there’s your intro, and here’s your history!

Long before our traditional Halloween, rife with costumes and candy and fears about apples with razor blades in them (seriously, what is this world coming to), there was a time-honored holiday called Samhain. Pronounced “sow-en” or “sow-ween”, Samhain is a Celtic or Old Irish festival that honors the dead and marks the end of the harvest.

Bonfires play a large part in Samhain celebrations, where one central fire was used to light the homes of other villagers in the area, and people and livestock would walk between the bonfires as a ritual for purification. They were also used to cast the bones of cattle, which were slaughtered to feed people through the winter, upon the flames.

In an attempt to placate or even copy the evil spirits that may have roamed around on this night and those surrounding Samhain, many cultures wore costumes, masks, veils, and other disguises. Guisers, or people in disguise, would go door to door in these costumes and carrying turnips carved out with faces and lit inside with a candle, offering entertainment in return for food or coins. Sound familiar? During the mass immigration of the Irish and Scottish, they brought over such customs that would turn into the Halloween we celebrate today.

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Pope Gregory III’s papacy is credited with the implementation of the feast of All Saints on 1 November, though there is testimony that says 1 November was already associated with Great Britain as early as the 8th century. Further, the Roman Catholic festival of All Saints is believed to have been introduced in the 7th century, though it was celebrated on 13 May between the 7th and 8th centuries.

Why am I mentioning the feast of All Saints in a history of Samhain, though? When Louis the Pious formally installed this feast on 1 November, and when it started to become a point of celebration for all other early Christian groups, the belief is that it was moved from its original date on 13 May (or on 20 April by the early medieval church in Ireland) to 1 November to directly correlate with Samhain, therefore transforming the practice of honoring the dead as a Pagan practice to a Christian one that honors saints that have died and have no specific date of celebration. They would even dress in angel and other costumes to help guide the spirits to heaven.

As one would imagine, the act of appropriating certain days of worship and certain customs was a very powerful conversion tool throughout the centuries! Easter/Ostara is another great example of how Pagan holidays and observances were extricated to create a Christian one, in an attempt to convert.



Neopagans today celebrate Samhain in many forms, from elaborate rituals to honor the dead to celebrating in a manner as close to the old Celtic ways described above and elsewhere as possible.

Celtic Reconstructionist Pagans typically celebrate Samhain either on the date on the first frost or when the last of the harvest is in and the ground is dry enough for a bonfire. Historical accuracy is of utmost importance for Samhain, much like other holidays, and the celebrations are as close to accurate as possible. As they believe the veil between the world is at its thinnest and spirits pass freely between the worlds, ancestors and those who have passed are especially honored and are celebrated with food, song, poetry, and dance. Many leave a candle in the window to guide spirits along their ways as they traipse through this world, and divination is incredibly common.

As one of the highest of the four greater Sabbats and commonly referred to as the Witches’ New Year, Samhain is celebrated in highest regard by Wiccans at sundown on 31 October. Rituals and celebrations involve paying respects to ancestors, family members, spiritual elders, friends, pets, and other loved ones who have died. Spirits of the departed are sometimes invited to attend the festivities.



And of course, there are current, non-religious and non-spiritual traditions! From costumes to candy to children running around making general mischief, it's interesting to see how a holiday that many regard as "evil" and "from the devil" actually comes from a place of honor, worship, and yes... even a bit of revelry.

Take My V-Card, Then!: Taking a Stand Against Militant Vegans

It came to my attention recently, through Colleen at Cheap Wine and Cookies, that the author of the best-selling book and website The Happy Herbivore said that she's "not 'vegan' anymore". In a terrible turn of events, a conversation about honey turned into a bashing of epic proportions, where vegans vilified Lindsay's and her sister's stances on honey: "You shouldn't be calling yourself vegan whilst partaking of honey. Epic fail" (emphasis mine), and that her sister eating honey for her health is merely an "excuse", "no different than omnivores and their 'excuses'".

You all remember when I went on a month-long vegan experiment, during which I experienced some amazing health benefits and discovered that eating vegan isn't as difficult as I thought it would be. I did err a couple times (actually, involving honey, go figure! Damn that honey wheat bread!), but it overall wasn't that bad. It's actually something I've been considering doing again, this time for a longer haul, because of the benefits.

However, even if I wanted to go to an entirely animal-free diet, I don't think I'd ever call myself vegan. My problem isn't entirely with the label -- after all, if you're going to apply one to yourself, they may as well have meaning. My problem is with those who apply that label to themselves... then make others who use the title and either slip up or have a different philosophy as to what "counts" and what "doesn't" as "not good enough" or "not a real [whatever]."

Or calling these differences in philosophy an "epic fail."

I actually find it hilarious that, as inclusive as diehard vegans claim vegetarianism is, vegans have damn near tried their best to make veganism exclusive to the point where it's impossible to get everything "right", haven't they? A diet that promotes good health, good food, and good intentions should be readily available to everyone, not a super seekrit and speshul "membership" that requires strict adherence or you're not "good enough".

This is not to say that all vegans feel this way. I have actually had excellent, informative discourse with vegans who are incredibly open to the attempts that people make to better themselves and live more compassionately; to them, a person taking any step in the right direction is a step for the entire world, and they're to be praised for that effort.

I'm talking about the vegans who take pride in beating the will out of people to even want to make those right steps, the ones who find it in themselves to be so compassionate to all animals but their own species. It never failed to surprise me, the way they spend their time attacking those who are trying to make those steps rather than educating those who are the furthest things from vegan into making better dietary and lifestyle choices.

There's nothing wrong with trying to guide people down a better path; I mean, I've seen this change in my own husband. While he's no vegan (ha!), he has made great strides to eat more compassionately, consider what he eats before actually doing so, and even eating vegetarian with me on a fairly regular basis.

He still eats meat, this is true, and I don't think he'll ever not eat meat. However, that doesn't bother me at all. In fact, I consider every meatless meal we have together to be one more meal that celebrates the life of an animal and our own health, especially his.

Every single meatless meal matters.

It's actually why I love the idea behind Meatless Mondays. That project isn't about converting people entirely to meatless diets (though that'd be nice!), but to encourage everyone to take out one day to make a change and realize that it's not difficult. I've seen many people try Meatless Monday and have been not only impressed, but bewildered by how easy it is!

I consider myself a leader by example. I don't shove veg*n philosophy down anyone's throat, I don't vilify others for eating a plate of chicken wings, I don't remind people what that steak does to their arterial health. Rather, I eat well and I eat good, and I show others that they can eat good without sacrificing anything! After all, one of the points of this blog is to share such yummy recipes with all of you! Leading by example. ;)

That, in my experience, has worked and will continue to work far better than any other method I could even fathom trying. It's so much easier and much more effective to show others how it can be done by living a positive example than it is to try and "educate" them. And even easier than forcing them to convert.

I really do hope that there will come a day when those who are on the same side -- the side of wanting to do better by our world, our animals, and ourselves -- guide others along the same path, or even encourage them to make small changes for that greater good. It does no one any good at all to engage in some of the backbiting, chiding, and vilifying that was shown on Lindsay's blog, but it does everyone good if we all make changes towards a more positive life and show others that they can do the same.

:)

(BTW, I consider my blog a safe and sacred space for anyone and everyone, for any and every topic. Polite discourse is encouraged, but intolerance will not be, well... tolerated!)

Autumn Beauty

I consider this our first "autumn" season since Matt and I moved to Maryland in December 2009. Our first such season here, we pretty much missed it as we were in south Florida gettin' hitched (and if you're from or have ever experienced Florida, you know there are two seasons: HOT AS BALLS for about 10 months, and NOT QUITE AS HOT for about two. Fortunately, our wedding fell on a day between those two) and Jamaica following that.

So when the leaves started turning this year, we couldn't help but snap a million a few pictures! Hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoyed taking them. :)

These are all taken either on our back patio (seriously, we are so spoiled by where we live!) or through a nature preserve within walking distance from our home.