Samhain from The Way of the Seabhean

 

In the ancient Irish calendar, the year begins at Samhain. It is the time when the veil is thinnest between us and the ancestors, which is why the Christian Church used it as the day of the dead, All Souls’ Day.

Traditionally, the year ended on 30^th October and the new year began on the 1^st November. The 31^st October was a day of no year. It belonged to the ancestors. Samhain was the most important time of the year in Ireland, because people believed that our ancestors walk with us. Many of our ancestors died in the Great Famine and were never buried, so when we walk on the earth, we walk on their bones.

In the old tradition, when a person dies, a bee often comes and carries their souls to Tír na nÓg, the land of the forever young. Their spirit becomes part of the energy of the earth herself. So the air that we breathe, the colour of the flowers and the songs of the birds, all carry the energy of our ancestors. They are around us all the time.

On Samhain (Hallowe’en) people took out items (pieces of cloth, clay pipes, combs or jewellery) that had belonged to their ancestors. These mementoes helped them to connect and commune with them. They called on their ancestors for help.

People battened down doors and windows, getting ready for winter. They brought the cattle indoors, to survive the winter and to keep the people warm in the bothán (cottage). Farm work slowed down, so they had time to visit each other and share stories of those who had passed on. In sharing the stories of the year – who had died, married or been born – and the stories of their people, they allowed themselves to release what they were holding.

Samhain carried people into the winter months when days were short and nights were long. It was a time for integrating all that had gone on in the working months, for contemplation and for finding inner balance.

Colcannon was the food of Samhain – potato, cabbage and onion mashed together with cream and butter. Barm-brack is a traditional fruit cake containing raisins, soaked overnight in tea. The tradition was to add a farthing coin, a piece of cloth and a ring into the cake. Children waited anxiously to see if they would receive the farthing which meant they would be rich when they grew up, the piece of cloth which meant that they would be poor, or the ring which meant that they would marry. They often ate the cloth rather than admit that they had got it!

The deity who presides over Samhain is Tlachtga, a Munster goddess and daughter of Mog Ruith (Mog of the Wheel), the greatest magician this land has ever known. It is said that people were afraid to say his name aloud for fear of invoking him. They lived on Valentia Island, in County Kerry.

Tlachtga holds the presence of Samhain and is the keeper of the gate between the worlds. She teaches us the importance of releasing, of embracing death, before we can move on. Death does not often mean physical death, it means releasing.

On the Wheel of the year, when we stand in the place of Tlachtga, we are invited to explore our way of being with her. Once we develop a relationship with Tlachtga, we no longer need to be afraid of death. We are being called to go deep within ourselves, to move into her space and when we allow ourselves to go into that place, she comes to our aid.

We do not have to sit in the place of death, because death is always with us. Death shows itself to us in every line of our faces and every fold of our bodies. Awareness of our mortality is not a burden that we carry, rather, it is what makes us value life and live it to the full.

Standing in the place of Tlachtga, we recognise that there are things that we carry, right now, that are heavy for us. It could be the death of a relationship, the end of a job, or some process we are going through within ourselves. We have to let go of those burdens first before we can move on. It is only by releasing that we attract the new.

The Way of the Seabhean, An Irish Shamanic Path by Amantha Murphy (Irish shaman, healer and seer) with Orla O'Connell (scribe) will be published for Brigid's Day, February 1st 2021 by Womancraft Publishing.

The Way of the Seabhean is now available for Pre-order from Womancraft here!

Read Orla O'Connell's Samhain piece on the Trasna Blog 

Autumn Equinox from The Way of the Seabhean

The autumn equinox, September 21^st, is the second day in the year when day and night are in equal balance. This day reminds us that, in the Wheel of the year, our days of sun will get shorter and shorter. The leaves are turning gold, red and brown and beginning to drop down on to the earth. It is a time when we become aware of turning slowly inwards, moving into a place of rest and reflection.

Macha is the goddess/archetype who holds the autumn equinox. She is an ancient horse goddess and shapeshifter. In our stories of Ireland every mythic people who came to Ireland had a Macha with them. So we know that Macha was a title, rather than an individual person.

There are two stories of Macha, one in which she died because silence was not kept, another in which she fought for what was hers and won! These two stories represent different parts of ourselves.

The autumn equinox, the place of Macha, is the point on the wheel where we have the indwelling cave, the place of our becoming or undoing. From early childhood, each one of us creates a cave within us. Our cave holds those aspects of ourselves that we do not like, or of which we are ashamed. It can hold experiences that were too difficult for us to cope with, maybe because of our age, or because of the circumstances at that time of our lives. We are taught, verbally and non-verbally, that some parts of our nature are not acceptable to our family or to society, so we hide those aspects of ourselves.

If we do not go into that cave and acknowledge or incorporate those parts of ourselves, they will always take from us. Life will never feed us because we are using so much creative energy to guard that cave, rather than drawing and attracting what we need in life.

Standing in the place of Macha, we are called to look at what we hold. We are asked to look at the programmes that were given to us when we were growing up and to revisit those aspects of ourselves that felt shameful or fearful to us. Can we go in there and recognise all that is? If we bring that into the light, there is nothing there to pull from us, to make us fearful or to take energy from us.

Macha is there to help us to go into our cave, to open to our power, to fight for our selves and to fight for what is right. Macha teaches us that we can do that by standing in our power.

Excerpts from The Way of the Seabhean, An Irish Shamanic Path, by Amantha Murphy (Irish shaman, healer and seer) with Orla O'Connell (scribe). The Way of the Seabhean will be published by Womancraft Publishing for Brigid's Day (February 1st) 2021.

Winter Solstice from The Way of the Seabhean

The Winter Solstice (grianstad an gheimhridh – literal translation winter sun-stop) is the day of mid-winter. It is the longest night and shortest day of the year. After this night and day, we begin to move forward towards Imbolc. It is a time for our deepest communion within ourselves.

The winter solstice is one of eight festivals on the ancient (Pre-Celtic) Wheel of the Year. It is the place of the Cailleach, the old woman, hag or crone. 

Traditionally, people could not travel far around this time and so, they learnt patience as they lived in close quarters with their families. Communities congregated, to feel the safety of being together and they called upon the sun to return.

Many people kept their cattle in the cottage or rath with them and the warmth of the animals kept the people warm. Evergreens were bought in to decorate the house: holly, ivy and the mystical mistletoe. Some believed that evergreens were a place for nature spirits to rest. People prepared a feast, knowing how much would still be needed for the coming months. Food was shared with others so that those in need were taken care of. At this time, poitin, the illegal whiskey, was often ready for its first tasting. A log was decorated in honour of the Cailleach and burned, making way now for Brigit. A candle was lit and put by the window so passers-by would know they were welcome at this time. The candle also signified the returning of the light.

In Irish mythology, the souls passed over in Samhain and moved on to Tír na nÓg, the land of the forever young, to await rebirth. Their spirits became part of this earth and kept Ireland green and fertile. On the Wheel, the winter solstice is the place where the souls reside, waiting for rebirth at Imbolc. This is the place of the void, the place of the uncreated, a place of energy waiting to take form.

Often, we are frightened of being in the void, but the void is actually the place of women. We think somewhere is empty because we do not see what is there. Space is filled with energy. When we allow ourselves to sit in the void, we really embrace our power as women. We embrace all the creative magic and energy that we hold within us. Things need to be a bit foggy at first. By allowing ourselves to be in the fog and giving gratitude for the lack of clarity, the fog brings us more than we had anticipated or expected. We can put power, energy and magic into it, so that, when it clears, it will be magic.

(Excerpts from The Way of the Seabhean, a book by Amantha Murphy & Órfhlaith Ni Chonaill)