November Eve
Toward the end of October, first frosts force cold frames out of storage to extend the growing season for just a few
weeks, sometimes only a few days. Autumn’s colors surround us and nature’s creatures begin storing and preparing for the
winter. Humans do too, maybe not the way we once did, but the tidal energy that began the introspective, finalizing and
regenerative dark half of the year at the autumn equinox is building, its power is taking hold. It is time to move indoors,
to be near family, friends and the warm fires as winter’s chill begins to blast the countryside and the sun continues its
retreat. The lengthening nights become more noticeable as we prepare for the Greater/Major Sabbat of Samhain on October 31.
For the Celts, Samhain marked the beginning of winter, the end of the old year and the beginning of the new when the
barrier between the worlds of the living and the dead was at it most easily passable. Candles were placed in windows to
guide the way for the dead and food was left out or apples buried to nourish passing souls. Rituals in honor of, or to
contact, ancestors are particularly appropriate during this time of year and especially in this night. Invite ancestors to
Samhain celebrations through ritual and meditation or to prepare a traditional dumb supper, set an extra place at the table
and eat in silence while focusing on heritage, ancestors and received blessings. Divination directed toward future survival
was almost certainly a common Samhain event as well. Surely the people would have wondered what was to come over the hard,
lean months ahead and what exactly the new year would hold. Most likely they would have sought counsel when otherworldly
communication was at its most promising, just as we continue to seek glimpses of the future today. Incorporate a favorite
form of divination as part of your Sabbat ritual or try something new on the eve of the new year. Fire, smoke or candle
scrying would tie in well with the sacred fire that symbolizes the spark of light and life in seemingly total darkness.
Samhain was once one of the four great fire festivals of the Celtic year and the bonfire plays a prominent and sacred role in Sabbat celebrations. Balefires were once, and can be again, lit to usher in the new year with light, symbolically banishing darkness, illness and poverty by the power of the God which is contained in the sacred fire. The fire, its ashes and smoke may be used for purification of the self, objects or animals. Old, misbegotten ideas and greievances can be tossed into the fire to burn away and be destroyed allowing a place for new concepts to take root. Just as animals were driven between two fires at Samhain’s polar Sabbat of Beltane, so they were driven now as they come down from highland pastures for the winter months. Purified through fire, the hardiest animals were selected to house over the winter and for breeding in the spring, while others were slaughtered and the meat preserved. One of the stark realities of life that is often forgotten in our modern, convenient world is basic survival. Death must come to one for another to live. It is the cycle of life, death and rebirth that is exemplified by the light of the sacred fire glowing in the darkness.
What was seen in the agricultural and natural cycles is echoed in the myths of the Dying God, who passes from life to
death on this night to rejuvenate and heal while awaiting his rebirth as the Child of Promise at the winter solstice. As
each crop is harvested and each animal butchered, the blood of the God is let in order that the people may survive. Some
practitioners maintain that it is the passage of the God into the Summerlands that thins veil and that even in death he is
protective of his children and will hold back any malevolent forces that attempt passage.
In the face of death and darkness, the people celebrated. The final harvest had already been gathered and any crops left
standing in the fields were abandoned to the pookhas, who were believed to destroy or contaminate the left over crops. In
many Native American cultures, to harvest the last stalk of corn would kill the Corn Mother, so it was left in the field as
a home for her spirit. In other cultures, the last plant standing was pulled, burned in the sacred fire and its ashes
sprinkled over the fields at Beltane to transfer fertility from one year to the next. With the harvest reaped and foods put
up, it was time to rest and receive the bounty of the year’s efforts. The revelry, bell ringing, singing and dancing was a
means to welcome the Lord of Misrule, whose reign over the primordial chaos of darkness would continue until Imbolg on
February 2, and as a challenge to the unknowns that his reign brought. As an affirmation of life, fertility and creation,
which all begin in darkness and chaos, the Great Rite may be enacted during Samhain rituals, either symbolically or
actually. In the Norse traditions, the god of mischief, Loki, is honored at this time of year. Loki is known as a trickster
deity who delights in creating havoc and disturbing the traditional cycles.
November Eve has come down to us as the child’s holiday of Halloween or it has come to some as an evil night of malevolent spirits out to steal souls of those who wander too far from the hearth and home. To still others it is a time to acknowledge the past and honor deceased loved ones, to say thank you for blessings received and to observe the turning of the wheel of the year as it moves to a phase that is difficult for many of us to handle. Without death, there can be no rebirth, with chaos creation can not happen. Observing Samhain allows us to contemplate and experience the dark phase of the cycle that is so essential to the light.
Dance the ring, luck to bring,
When the year's a-turning.
Chant the rhyme at Hallows-time,
When the fire's burning.
Fire spark, when nights are dark
Makes our winter's mirth.
Red leaves fall, earth takes all,
Brings them to rebirth.
Continue to November Eve :: Correspondences
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