Summers end, winters beginning

A peak behind the veil during natures mysterious yawn

The great earth mother is yawning in her long mysterious inhale that swallows all fruit and last leafs left on the trees, before she returns to her womb cave for the winter slumber.

Samhain is the Irish Gaelic word for Summers End.

It’s a season that culminates in a celebration day, nowadays known as Halloween, Hallows´s eve.

Hallow means holy and can be interpreted as the holy ones, ancestors, the fair folk, faery people who have gone into the land and became part of the earth to nourish us, to hold us, root us.

A time to practice rituals and connect to our roots.

Halloween is a holiday in the Gregorian calendar on October 31st

Before this relatively new, man made calendar, Samhain was (and still is) celebrated at the midpoint between Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice, which this year falls on November 7th (astrologically).

A time of transition, from summer to winter, from light half of the year to dark half.

You can perform rituals or honour this natural cycle by finishing things you started this year, tie up loose ends and make space to rest. Give your body and mind a break.

Allow yourself to transition, too.

Where are you coming from? And where are you going?

If this all sounds too grand and abstract for you, ask yourself:

Are you tired, do you have a cold or feel stressed?

If yes, think about how you can switch routines, go to bed earlier, reduce screen time and drink herbal tea instead of coffee first thing in the morning. Go for walks in the rain (properly dressed), catch sunrise & sunset, even just for 5 min.

Breathe, smell the autumn air and composting leaves.

Its summers end, death alchemises into life.

What has to die for the new to emerge?

You don´t know? Start a dream journal. The subconscious communicates with our consciousness through our dreams. And remembering our dreams is the first step to decoding the messages that we send to ourselves at night, hoping we will listen.

Call your parents, grandparents, family.

Gather together, eat and share stories of those that have passed between the veil.

In European countries you might know All Saints Day and All Souls Night, in Mexico they celebrate Día de Muertos, the day of the dead. These are all celebrations in honour of those that transitioned from this life to the next. A time to pay respect, light candles for the souls to find their way into the afterlife.

Some ancestors were wise, others caused harm, were lost, suffered. Some ancestors passed recently, some we might have complicated relationships with. Others we never met, don´t even know the names of.

It is a time of complexity, of grief and celebration, that does not ask us to know all answers and invites us to trust. Trust, that those who we know or don’t know show up for us and support us either way, as they are the ground we stand on.

Their bones are in the earth we walk upon.

Their waters, their blood have nourished the soil from which the plants grow that we eat.

They literally feed us.

This might sound gruesome but I find it rather comforting, magical and so natural. Mufasa explaining the cycle of life to Simba. A cycle, a wheel.

And the wheel of the year turns again.

To the Celts, and modern witches, Samhain is not only summers end.

It´s the new year´s beginning.

Because all death feeds new life. Release results in renewing, birth. A new start, fuelled by the transformation of the old.

I hope, you, too, can see the beauty in that.

Blessed Samhain portal, beloveds.

Let us be grateful that we are alive and can decide how to spend our days and live our lives.

Let us light a candle in deep reverence for those that don´t have that choice anymore.

Let us pray for the souls whose time on earth was too short.

Let us commit to do live our lives fully to honour those that couldn´t.

Let us become the ancestors our children will be proud of.

Speaking about veils… Samhain, like its counterpart Beltane, Mayday, is an ancient fire festival during which the veils between the worlds are thin. Hence why many contact their loved ones who passed away.

The portals to the Otherworld are open.

Gwynn ap Nudd (the Faery King, he lives under the Glastonbury Tor), is the leader of the Wild Hunt during which he serves as a psychopomp. A death doula that guides deceased souls into their next adventure.

Another figure that helps souls to transition is Morgan Le Fey, also known as the Queen of Avalon, the fortunate isle of healing and rebirth.

So also the Faerie Realm is easier to touch during these thinly veiled times. No wonder we call it the Season of the Witch.

Avalon is an otherworldly place, accessible to those that dare to see with the heart. 

It takes courage to cross the subconscious ocean and part the mists of illusion and fantasy.

Many have been called and many more are longing to take the journey.

Some dare to leave their old lives behind and others keep dreaming.

As someone who has been through phases of longing, dreaming, moving countries and seeking, I found that Avalon stays with me when I truly follow my heart. No matter the season.

Avalon finds me should I stray from the path of my truth. 

And will call me into action again, to respond to the challenges that life presents with hope and fierce love.

Some claim Glastonbury to be the modern day Avalon and despite their being possible portals, and a culmination of human faith, I know for myself it is not bound to a physical location.

As it is not meant to be.

Avalon might require you to embark on a journey - but it doesn’t have to be a physical one.

Wherever you are in the world, you have everything you need, to access the healing isle WITHIN YOU.

I am holding a SAMHAIN CEREMONY (online) with Morgan le Fey as our guide to Avalon, to which we undertake an inner vision journey together. November 10th, 4pm UK time for appr. 1.5h, for £10 (the replay will be send to everyone who registers).

And I am passionate about presenting entry ways that open Avalon up for YOU!

This is what WORLDS OF AVALON is about.

The world of history

The world of mythology

The world of literature

The world of nature

The world of the Fae and of humans.

There are gateways to Avalon in all of these worlds and they are different to all of us.

As we all carry different keys, resonate with various aspects of this sacred realm.

Let’s anchor Avalon into YOUR WORLD.

Join me for a yearlong immersion into THE WORLDS OF AVALON, a sacred container and intimate study group. 

Online gatherings and ceremonies for the Celtic seasonal festivals, stories of the Otherworld and what they have carried for centuries for us to discover in our modern day lives.

Avalon is calling us to reMEMBER our western mystery tradition, our roots, our connection to the land. And we pave ways for you to honour her teachings in the environment that you call home, to find belonging. 

Within and without.

Are you called by Avalon?