Between the Worlds

New Moon in Scorpio, November 1

As we celebrate Halloween today, we are on the eve of a high holy day for many cultures.  For the ancient Celtic and pagan peoples, the feast day is known as Samhain.  Christians know it as All Hallows or All Saints Day, and it is celebrated as Dia de los Muertos in Mexican culture.  To the celts, it was considered the New Year and tomorrow, Thursday, November 1 at 5:47 a.m. Pacific, we have a very astrologically loud new moon in Scorpio to commemorate the bringing in of the new.

According to the Witches’ Bible, Samhain is “the mysterious moment which belonged to neither past nor present, to neither this world nor the Other.”  It is a time outside of time and thus a time when the veil between the Otherworld and physical world is at its thinnest. 

Alexei Kondratiev writes in the Apple Branch of five dominant themes of Samhain: renewal, hospitality for the dead, dissolution, timelessness and sacrifice.  These are appropriate to consider on this new moon.

Theme of Renewal

Samhain marks the death of the light half of the year and the birth of dark half of the year.  It is in darkness that all beginnings hatch.  Seeds sprout under the ground and humans begin to form in the darkness of the womb.  As we enter the dark half of the year, we enter the goddess’ cauldron of transformation.

Samhain is a time of affirming that physical death is not the final act of existence.  Samhain celebrates the triumph of life over death.

In ancient pagan times, the bonfire was a symbol of renewal.  All household fires were extinguished before Samhain. Then a large bonfire was lit on a hill. In Scotland and Wales, these were built for days ahead on the highest ground near to the house.   Then, all the households would relight their own fires from the Samhain bonfire.  This was the marking of the New Year and new projects. 

Samhain was also the time that agricultural field work was to be abandoned to make room for the new.  Any crops that were not harvested by Samhain were left to rot.  There was a belief that the Pooka came through and poisoned any leftover crops after Samhain.

Theme of Hospitality for the Dead

The theme of hospitality for the dead is one that crosses over many cultures.  For the celts, Feile na Marbh, was the feast of the dead where deceased ancestors and other friendly spirits are invited to the feast and to be reunited with loved ones who are otherwise separated by time and dimensions of existence.  It is considered a time to strengthen karmic ties with those that you wish to be with again through another lifetime.

In Christianity, the aspect of communion with the dead was Christianized as All Hallows, now known as All Saints Day.  The date was moved to November 1 and extended to the whole church by pope Gregory IV in 834.  The reformation abolished it as it was too pagan.  It was formally restored by the Church of England in 1928 when they assumed that the old pagan associations were dead. 

In Mexican culture, the Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) festival is held at this time.  They honor their ancestors with drinking and feasting and to toast the personification of death who was once believed to take this day off as his one day off for the year.

Other cultures have a dumb supper which is a feast for the dead.  Some cultures believe in eating with the dead while others feel that the food left for the dead should not be eaten by the living.

Theme of Dissolution

Samhain is also known as mischief night and the start of the reign of the Lord of Misrule.  It is a time of looking primordial chaos in the face to discern in it the seeds of a new order. 

Samhain is a time of dressing up in masks and putting on a different face which breaks the bonds of what society expects and helps to bring about the realization of the authentic self.  Cross dressing was common during Samhain as it was a way to shed the trappings of gender.  “The dissolution of the incomplete and spiritually unproductive social persona allows the emergence of a fresh identity more open to Otherworld gifts and thus capable of magical influence of the environment,” explains Kondratiev in The Apple Branch.

Pranks are common during Samhain.  It was a time of tricking those in power to help balance the power of society. In Rome, Samhain was known as upside down day when kings were slaves and slaves were kings. 

The practice of carving pumpkins and gourds come from ancient times when faces where carved into gourds to scare off evil spirits.

Theme of Timelessness

Celtic Mythology sees Samhain as the partial return to primordial chaos.  It is the dissolution of established order in order to start anew.  This escape from the linear progression of time makes it ideal for divination. 

Most of the divination of the ancient ancestors was for future marriage partners.  Today we see divination of upcoming events of the year or issues that should be considered for the year.  There was much circumstance over who was the first visitor to the house after Samhain.  Thoughts were that a dark-skinned or darkly clothed individual brought protection to the home for the year.

Druids used hazelnuts in their divination and read the nuts as they jumped while roasting in the Samhain fire.  Today we use scrying, tarot and pendulums as ways to divine our focus on issues for the new year.

Theme of Sacrifice

Samhain was a time of giving sacrifice to the earth for blessings for the coming year’s crop. Today, the theme of sacrifice on Samhain is one of personal sacrifice.  We sacrifice our old self and issues into the Samhain fire to transform the energy into new growth within ourselves. If you are planning a banishing or burning ritual of what is no longer serving you, I recommend doing so this evening at the darkest point of the moon before it turns new in the early morning.

The Astrology of this year’s Samhain

Today’s new moon chart is a strong call to action from the universe.  We have a highly intuitive, emotionally in tune water sign grand trine flowing between the planet of action Mars in Cancer, the planet of communication Mercury in Scorpio, and the planet of dreams and the spiritual realm Neptune in Pisces.  This grand trine forms a kite formation with Pluto in Capricorn as Pluto is in direct opposition to Mars.  A kite formation is aptly named because tracing the angles between the planets literally draws a kite.  In this “kite,” Pluto is at the top soaring and Mars is the tail of the kite balancing it. This brings in a LOUD message of bringing action into power. The focus is on communicating and taking action on our dreams to bring them into power.

Communication also is at the forefront as we also have another kite formation with Uranus in Taurus, the planet of innovation, eureka moments, and change.  This kite involves the water trine of Mars, Neptune and Mercury but Mercury is the planet in direct opposition to Uranus and forms the tail of the kite to Uranus’ top.  This is a challenge to bring our communication to a higher level and innovate the way that we communicate our dreams and our spiritual realities.

Neptune is influencing these formations and is a key representation of this luminal “between the worlds” time we are in now.  Neptune is the realm beyond the veil, that mist of spirit that is difficult to describe or put into words but rather is deeply known by experiencing it. 

Take time for Spiritual Self-Care

Here in the United States, everyone I speak to is completely focused on next week’s election.  It is an extremely important election but please remember your own well being.  I encourage everyone to take time away from the world this evening or over the weekend to focus on your own personal spiritual well-being. For those wanting to hang their intentions on the light of the early waxing moon, first light for this new moon will be Saturday evening around 11 p.m.  

The veil is thin, we are intentionally (or unintentionally) setting our path for the year ahead and it is vitally important that you check in within your own spirit to claim your sovereignty in how you will approach and venture out in the world over the next year.  How will you bring your dreams to power through communication and action? Allow yourself an evening to disengage from the world and enter the realm of spirit.

Blessed Be.

For sisters on the central coast of California, The Goddess Temple Central Coast is hosting a Samhain ceremony in San Luis Obispo tomorrow, November 1.  Details and registration information available here.

If you are in need of guidance during this time, you can book a reading with me here.

References

1.    The Apple Branch, Alexi Kondratiev, Citadel Press, 1998; ISBN 0806525029

2.    A Witches’ Bible: The Complete Witches’ Handbook, Janet and Stewart Farrar, Phoenix Publishing, 1996; ISBN 0919345921

3.    The Golden Bough, Sir James Frazer, Dover Publications, 2002; ISBN 0486424928