Samhain

 

 

The celebration we call Halloween is actually around 2000 years old.  It began as a Celtic celebration of the end of harvest and the start of a new year.  Bonfires were lit and the Celts wore costumes because they believed nighttime was dangerous and at this time of year, there were spirits around because the veil between living and dead was thin.  The costumes would trick the ‘ghosts’ into not knowing who anyone living was. 

Of course, when religion got into it, Pope Gregory III decided November 1 was All Saints Day and left some of the traditional things in to appease the Celts.  The evening before All Saints Day was call All Hallows Eve.  What was once called Samhain, was combined with Roman festivals already in place: Feralia, a day celebrating those that passed in the year, and Pomona, the goddess of trees and the apples (that is why we still hear of bobbing for apples). 

When the celebration came to the Americas, with so many mixed Europeans, there came to be an American version which celebrated the harvest and people would gather and share stories of their dead, they would tell each other their fortunes, and there would be singing and dancing.  Because of the different cultures mixed in, Halloween became a day where children did trick or treating, pumpkins were carved, costumes were worn and there were many treats shared.  What the Celts marked as a time of the beginning of cold winter nights, Halloween changed. But there are still many symbolic Halloween things. 

Today we add our own unique take on decorations and celebrations.  We mix thanksgiving décor with Halloween décor; we paint ghosts even though we know ghosts either do not exist or do not look like Casper.  In the 1800s, religious leaders banned some of the celebrations and suggested family and friends’ get-togethers and more of a happy party atmosphere and less about superstitions and fortune telling.   And then a traditional food was encouraged.  There were cakes called “Soul Cakes” that were made for all the passersby and children who would come begging for prayers for their past love ones in return for the soul cakes.  I made it a time of giving rather than taking.  I wish I had known about soul cakes.  Now that I do, I am going to make some for a gathering of neighbors we are having tonight. 

May you make tonight special I some way for yourself if not for anyone else.    

 

©Carol Desjarlais 10.31.23

 

 

Celtic Tree Month: The Reed: Ceridwen

 

 

Druids, who were very connected to trees, had their own calendar.  They considered trees to carry old knowledge and wisdom.  They considered the Universe as a great tree.  The roots were the past.  The trunk was the present.  The branches (reaching to heaven) were the future and afterlife.  Each month was represented by a type of tree, aligned to the 13 moons.  As well, the old Ogham alphabet was used with each tree having its own alphabet symbol. 

 

This month, Oct 28 – November 23 is represented by the Reed.  It symbols the great winds of Fall. And when the wind rushes through the reeds, it creates music.  The reed is actually a grass and it grows in wet land near water sources.  They could eat parts of the reed and there is medicine in the reed plant. 

 

Boiling the leaves was used for coughs.  The ash of burned reeds was used on infected sores.  The flowers were mixed with melted fats and was given for food poisoning.  The root was ground and used as sedatives, for stomach illnesses.  It was mixed with gypsum and packed on aching teeth.

The reed was food.  The roots cooked and were like potatoes.  They could be dried and ground and made into cereal.  The leaves can be dried and ground and made into a type of flour, as could the seeds.  The stems could be dried and ground and were used as sweetener.  It could be eaten raw.

This month, then, is known as the month of the Inquisitor:  Compassion, truth, and curiosity.  This is the month for us to seek truth beneath all things.  We are to work on being truthful because our truth is our honor.  Look behind the veil people use to mask their truths.  You will find that others come to you for counsel. There will be secrets shared.  You will have wisdom to share about what lies behind the WHY of things.  Your compassion and loyalty will draw others to you.     You are the Cailleach, the goddess of grain that helped the Druids survive the winter.

Cailleach was a goddess strongly tied to family.  She gained her reign at Samhain.  She also partnered with a trickster and was said to have many children.  It is interesting to note that she could regain her virginity and cold be married several times so she had many partners and many children, some adopted.  She outlived all her husbands and became the mother of all the Irish and Scottish people.  She became, in later history, known as Ceridwen, a Welsh white witch able to make potions, to change form, and made beautiful others who came to her for knowledge.  She taught women to make useful thigs of the reeds.  Mats being one and mats were very useful and made the women’s’ lives easier. 

 

I have a reed center table placemat for this month.  The cat tail was used by the Splatsin (Spla-cheen) Band of the Okanagan Tribe. The used reeds for many important purposes:  Woven mats, baskets, used to serve food, to dry food.  Emergency huts were made by making reed walls that was put up like a tipi.  I was taught how to make the mats, baskets etc. by the Splatsin former (and currently running again) Chief, Gloria Morgan during August’s Art month. You collect green reeds by cutting bunches above the water line.  The reeds are then cut to desired length depending on what you are making.  (Shelter Walls would be the largest and smaller mats would be the smallest lengths).  I used the mat as a table mat to put Fall bowls of treats on.  Get the reeds before they all turn brown if you can.  

 Here is a YouTube presentation on how to make mats. Honor the Reed and the goddess this month represents by using reeds in some way. (I also have what we call snake crass (segments reeds that grow on the edges of ponds and lakes, on my altar)).   

©Carol Desjarlais 10.30.23