Thoughtober - Day Thirty One

A Samhain Celebration

Today is a special day.

It is the end of our Thoughtober journey and it is also the celebration of Samhain.

It is usually celebrated from October 31 to November 1 to mark the end of the harvest and usher in “the dark half of the year.”

Celebrants also believed that the barriers between the physical world and the spirit world break down, allowing more interaction between humans and residents of the Otherworld.

The tradition of “dumb supper” began during Samhain, in which food was consumed by celebrants but only after inviting ancestors to join in, giving the families a chance to interact with the spirits until they left following dinner.

Children would play games to entertain the dead, while adults would update the dead on the past year’s news. That night, doors and windows might be left open for the dead to come in and eat cakes that had been left for them.

Samhain also has traditions in marking and reflecting on changes in life.

This is what I would like to focus on right now.

Reflection, intraspection, consideration, insight, memory, focus, concentration are all cognitive functions.

We have been practicing all month for this moment.

What I would like you to do is this -

Look back on the year starting January 2023.

What has come to light for you in this year of illumination?

What changes have you made?

What have you learnt?

What is different?

What is the same?

What have you lost?

What have you gained?

What do you now know about yourself?

What would you like to remember the most about this year?

You can make notes about these questions in any which way you like. On a timeline, using a mind map, making a list, drawing pictures. Anything that brings it all to your mind.

Think back - we have done a lot just in our communications on substack.

Then I would like you to write a letter to someone who is no longer here, or you are not in contact with. You do not need to send this but it is honouring the energy of the time as well as marking the need for you to celebrate your actions this year.

Write all your news within this letter.

Samhain is a fire festival so utilise this and burn your letter whilst celebrating your changes, your newness and your new learning.

This is not a time to berate yourself and think what if or what about or about all that you have not done. Now is a time to celebrate all that you have and think well of yourself whilst doing so.

I have been so proud of all the interactions and sharing that we have had and want to celebrate that with you.

The rest of the year we will be doing different.

Now is the time to reflect on your success and welcome in the darkness so we can rest for a while.

It has been a busy year.

Honour the cycles by allowing a little bit of darkness to quieten your busyness.

There will be time soon to decide what is next.

For now we are bidding farewell to activity and entering the season of reflection, recuperation and bon homie.

“Samhain is the threshold to the Season of Death.
The fertile fields of summer give way to the bare forests of autumn. As crops slowly die and winter takes over, the cycle of life is once again approaching
a renewal.”