To be honest, I am going through a kind of depressing/stressful time which is not at all unexpected for me at the end of summer with winter ahead."She parts the thin, fragile veils that stretch into eternity, between life and death, on this Cross-Quarter when the intense Scorpio Power Gate Opens, releasing the potent water element that signals the dying of the solar year."Samhain, October 31st, marks the beginning of the dark season for Pagans who follow the Celtic tradition of dividing the year between the dark and the light seasons with Beltane on May 1st marking the entering of the light again. These festivals are earth grounded, a recognition of seasonal changes that more 'advanced' cultures mostly choose to ignore.
Ffiona Morgan © Mother Tongue Ink 2009
The most symbolic, for me, way to celebrate Samhain is with a big bonfire. In a Celtic village the people would build it in the center of the village. Sometimes there would be two for the people to walk between as a symbol of being purified. Other times all the homes would extinguish their home fires. From the darkness, they would bring candles or a torch to the central plaza where from the fire, they would bring light and heat back to their homes symbolizing their connectedness to each other.
For Americans today, instead of entering a season of dormancy, we are about to begin the busiest, most expensive, high expectation season of the year, at a time of the year, where we have the least energy, where we are all more prone to getting sick, where flu will be everywhere along with colds, where we are also most apt to over indulge. Do we recognize any connection to natural cycles?
This season they are additionally warning us to expect dire consequences from the H1N1 flu which will hit younger people harder than oldsters. So with that ahead, what are these coming months about-- overeating and lots of desserts which will further reduce our immunity. Modern cultures make so much sense.
I know things I can do to help get through what for me are some depressing months: going for walks, painting colorful paintings, writing or editing my own fiction, reading good books, watching uplifting movies, reminding myself of all the good in my life, making future plans for things that I can do, fires in the fireplace, lots of white candles, eating right, and sometimes replacing light bulbs with those which help with seasonal depression.
Doing those things will help, as will reaching the Winter Solstice when I can start turning my gaze toward spring again. Oddly enough, the heart of winter is easier for me than right now because today it's all heading the wrong way. After the Solstice each day will be just a bit lighter.
Others can remind me how beautiful the leaves are in this season, how exciting are the constant sky changes; and I will agree but still it's hard for me. That's the plain out truth and it's been this way for a good many seasons.(more to come about Samhain)
15 comments:
Spring shall return again Rain. And with it happy thoughts. By the way, you look beautiful !!
Samhain is also my birthday - and so i find myself feeling my way through a "re-birth" each year at this time... since the very cold snap 2 weeks ago froze all our trees before the leaves changed, i was grateful for your lovely picture :-)
you are beautiful, and your spirit glows like an ember, renewed in the bonfire of the Solstice.
How wonderful that you celebrate Samhain. When I was young we had a party, with apples in a water barrel, and the barm brack with a threepenny bit and a ring in it.
On the eve of Samhain, my Mother would make sure that all windows were shut and put an open scissors or a knife on the floor in front of each door to the house.
Autumn, Winter and Spring are my favourite seasons, maybe because I'm a December child, and I've always preferred those seasons to Summer, too hot and humid, though we did not have much of that, a summer, this year.
It is gray and raining here which may be why this post struck a cord with me. I actually found it uplifting, thank you.
"Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all"
- Stanley Horowitz
I'm with you, rain. I am watching the darkening days with trepidation. I also celebrate the solstice with great anticipation, knowing that the light begins to return. I keep reminding myself that we're almost halfway there, to the shortest day, and then we can breathe a sigh of relief.
Just thought I'd chip in with an eastern viewpoint.
As you know the Indian (Asian) native calendar is a lunar calendar. Sometime around midSeptember, we had what is considered a very inauspicious period for starting anything. It has to do with a period when the spirits of those long gone, come down to earth and hover around, and people perform prayers to the ancestors during this time. This period (a fortnight) then ends.
As it gets colder (relatively), we actually start the most exciting festival time of the year. The weather is more conducive to slightly richer cooking , and traditional sweets are prepared. There is a lot of people to people contact and new projects are often started then.
I often feel, that our ancestors planned these festivals and lifestyles taking into account things that we define today as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), depressions, and so on. The typical food prepared during this time was also mood lifting.
It seems to me that your festivals like Thanksgiving and Christmas are also designed with these thoughts in mind. In the cold and quiet of winter, people warmth works, and there is more socializing.
That this is so commercialized today is sad. Its happening that way in India too, these days.
Having said all this, I wish you a very fruitful and cheerful fall and winter, and may you spend it doing all the things you enjoy, and with all the people you love.
Rain, now is the time to come back to Tucson. Today is beautiful and winter is something to look forward to.
I always got depressed in the Fall when I lived in Colorado. I dreaded winter and loved summer. Now it's the opposite.
The two things I most dislike about winter are the shortened number of daylight hours and the colder temperatures. After Dec 21st (or thereabouts) the number of minutes of daylight start to (slowly) increase but we are still in for our coldest temperatures. Finally by late February things start to noticeably turn around. There are many reasons to spend part of the year down south, led by November, December, January and at least part of February. I guess the good news is those months are only about one third of the year, leaving two thirds to look pretty good.
Ugich,
I enjoyed reading how shortened houres of light are observed.
Good ideas on how to cope during the winter.
That was an interesting insight into the possible reasons behind the activities, Ugich.
Neat to have your birthday on Samhain, RobbinMT and your concept of what it means. My birthday was earlier in October but I don't tend to think of it as a rebirth which is a richer way of thinking.
Ainelivia, that was interesting on your celebration of Samhain and what your mother did with the scissors and knives. I had not heard of that but it makes sense to me given the day.
I am writing more on Samhain, several more as I think earth based traditions have meanings that are helpful for the cycles of life.
Sorry to hear that you are having a tough time. The shorter days are dragging on me a little bit too.
I agree with Darlene, maybe you need a trip south even if it is only for a few days. The other thing that really helps seasonal affective disorder is going to a tanning booth. I know it is not good for your skin, but a few trips is not that bad. The warmth and bright light just feels good when it is dreary outside.
As for commercialism, Halloween has become the number 2 holiday for spending behind Christmas. People around here go nuts with decorations and such. I enjoy decorating the house for Halloween, but I am keeping it low key at the new house since no kids come out to a street with only 2 houses on it so far.
I find it puzzling that you, who are so appreciative of nature, talk of the year's seasons primarily in only two groupings of light and dark.
I wonder if focusing on all the shadings in between those opposite extremes might bring you comfort with the distraction of searching for and absorbing all the color and subtle transitional changes?
I had a friend whose formative years were in the south, favorite years were lived in sunny Florida spending free time on the ocean, moved to Southern Calif., then ultimately to Seattle. Once in the Northwest she described herself as experiencing what sounded much like seasonal affective disorder and she often wanted me to visit her there as some sort of antidote. My personal obligations at home did not permit my doing so. I'm not sure how one combats what can be so debilitating for some. Ultimately she returned to Florida but it was, of course, not the same as before.
I also find your experience and perceptions of these coming months to be quite a different view from the Rain whose writings I've mostly read here. Much of what you describe in negative terms is actually very energizing for many people. That's not to say there aren't truly some behavioral aspects could best be different.
I wonder if maybe the overall state of our nation, the economy and uncertainty of these times tend to make darkness darker and we need to make a concentrated effort to seek light in new and different ways.
Thinking of you and sending positive thoughts your way.
Thanks for your insights, Joared. I appreciate your help.
Someone who works outdoors, who has animals, who lives with deep mud in the Pacific part of the Pacific Northwest would understand it better. Some say we have summer (3 months) and winter (9 months) *s*. Or there is the dry season (a month) and the wet season (the rest of the time). Actually though that has changed and we have had much less rain. You get a lot of gray days but they can be beautiful. A cozy rain is pretty cool, storms I love. Those things don't bother me as a native Northwesterner.
I think the change of season to the dark season, and even the awareness of it, hits us to the north harder than people farther south because in the summer we have days that last until 10 at night, mornings that begin at 5. It is a glorious season, and then boom, it's dark in the mornings until 7 something and night comes on around 6 (and we are not yet to the darkest part of this). I have spent a few summers in Tucson and notice the difference there that I don't get those long long days. We pay a price for them though when the dark season comes.
I actually think agrarian people are probably more aware of there being a growing season and a dormant. Yes, you can see the fall has leaf changes, the spring has flowers but you also know that some seasons grow grass and some do not. When the Celts came up with the two seasons, their lives were totally tied to the land and in a country much like the one where I have lived almost all of my life
My problem this year has been exacerbated by having lost 8 lambs-- 5 to coyote kills. I will tell you that is a painful experience and as many years as we have raised sheep, this is the most we have had killed (the other three deaths were freak accidents).
The most recent little ewe, that was killed, died quickly but its twin called for it for several days. They always do. Twins are so close, and they don't get weaned from each other unless by death.
I might not be tough enough, even after 30 years of doing this, to get past feeling their pain along with my own. When we butcher, we generally take both of a set of twins for that reason. By now they are mostly weaned from their mothers (not all of them) but the twins stay connected.
The last kill I found because I had gone out to check on the sheep and there it was laid out in the pasture. It was torn open but they didn't eat that much of it. We felt we had no choice but to buy leg traps to try and get the coyote when it came back to feed. We HATED that also. I feared it would catch innocent wild creatures, but we are not getting a shot at these coming in now. These sheep are in all night but when they go out during the day (something they love doing), that's when the coyotes get them. Anyway a trap seemed the only way but then the coyote never came back. Nothing fed on that carcass. So that lamb died for virtually nothing.
I don't write about all of this every time we have a loss and some is what you mentioned. We are living through such a tough time as a nation, we know so much more about every thing that goes wrong other places, that I felt I didn't want to add pain to people. But I have written now a couple about the hard part of raising livestock. It has wonderful aspects, things I love, but it seemed unfair to never mention the hard. It would make it sound more idyllic than it is. I also don't write about it because I don't like to dwell on it. Nevertheless, this has been a hard season for the sheep and us.
Now comes the difficulty of finding someone who can look after them if we try to go down to set up the Tucson house for renting. That's not easy either when you live a rural life. There aren't all that many people who can do it and you can trust to do it.
At any rate, thanks for your comments and I hope you do get back to read my answer to this.
I wasn't thinking in terms of your needing help, but only to raise some thoughts that might cause you to think in a different direction. I'm sure finding ways to distract yourself or refocus your thoughts in more pleasant ways for you is something you've had plenty of experience successfully doing.
I expect differing experiences send each of us off into the darker crannies from time to time, as certainly I've had my share of doing. Just was thinking, I wouldn't welcome having that happen every year with seasonal changes.
I empathize with some of your ranch experience from stories my mother told me about growing up on a busy large prosperous farm in Northern Ohio, along with the unpredictability and sometimes lean years. Many of my early and again young adult years were spent in that State, also. I know about the darkness of winter in both town and country at different time periods. I had the experience of walking alone about a mile down a lane to the highway in darkness, snow-biting wind, drifts along fence rows higher than my head, waiting road-side without shelter for a then hour long ride on a school bus to get to school (late '40's.) But I had that for only 2 1/2 years and I was young without adult responsibilities (plus though we had water in the house, no other indoor plumbing -- gave new meaning to freezing your ...)
Our animals were few in number and variety, but it was heart-breaking when one of our two dear milk cows died. I can still picture her bloated body on the hillside, vultures swooping down from their circling above. Poor Lady, as we had named her, somehow swallowed a small piece of wire.
I think of you and magnify my limited experiences -- there were others -- and can easily see how the never-ending challenges of it all can give rise to the thoughts and feelings you express here. Hopefully, that expression lends itself well to your continued positive life view.
Your other modes of artistic expression likely serve you well in reconciling all.
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