The festival of Samhain falls between 31st October and 1st November, the beginning of the Celtic New Year.
It was a time of letting-go, of starting over, and it was essential to let go consciously of the old year so that the new one could be really welcomed in. Rituals of releasing were celebrated and the Meitheal (Gaelic for ‘gathering') all joined in. The following is an example of the kind of ceremony which took place (I use the term ‘priestess' as in many Celtic ceremonies the priestess represented Goddess; this is the ceremony given to me to celebrate):
The priestess, along with the people, made a Tine geal, or bright fire. The women and the maidens gathered the twigs and small sticks while the men gathered the large branches and upright poles. This gathering was in silence. The gathering done, the priestess cast a circle and any animals that wandered in were welcomed. She then called in the protection of the four directions and the elements, which represented them. With a clear voice, she invited north, which represented earth; south, which represented fire; east, which represented air; and west, which represented water.
With their contributions full in their arms, young and old placed themselves around the neat, circular clump of flat stones on which the fire would burn. As far as possible they stood male next to female, so that the energy got distributed evenly. The priestess then sprinkled sage and sweet grasses on to the stones and laid the first twig in the centre. She then called on the women to come and continue circling the twigs around it. When the last woman had laid her twigs around the circle, the priestess then lit the twigs and small branches. The fire started and the flames grew high. At this stage she asked the men to come and place their offerings, vertically standing around the burning twigs. (The belief being that it is the feminine who births the soul in the masculine. She is the fire in which he burns his unyielding parts.) It was not about hierarchical superiority; rather the Celts believed that the feminine represented the soul of nature, and was not attached to gender. They then all held hands and chanted the fire song:
‘We give thanks to the fire,
For the breath of life be in it,
We give thanks to the fire,
Thanks and praise.'
Thanksgiving for all of nature's gifts was important to the Celtic people. Their belief was that when we are grateful, the Great Spirit of Creation fills us Lán do grastái, full of graces or gifts. The priestess asked:
‘What be the burning you give to the flames?’
One by one, the people came forward, stood in front of the lit fire, spoke their name and offered their burning, for example:
‘I, (naming themselves) amongst us, give the pain I suffered at the death of my child as burning to the fire.'
Another might add:
‘I, (name) amongst us, give the failing of my crops as burning to the fire.'
In other words, they surrendered to the fire the heartache of the past year as a burning gift, a precious gift to the flames. The fire in turn would transform their gift into something that would benefit their lives. This was great alchemy; this was the forging into gold of the hard metals of their lives. This is what we do nowadays when we consciously let go of the pain and invite the abundance of life to fill us. When the last person had surrendered their so-called gift to the fire, the priestess added:
‘Oh! Great fire amongst us,
Clean out what is not for harvesting in us
And fill us with your passion.'
This done, she invited the Meitheal to turn their backs to the fire and, facing outward, she instructed them to let go of the hands they were holding and raise them upwards and give praise to the great spirits, Sun, Moon and Stars. This done she prepared them for the mighty Seá (the equivalent of ‘Ho' or the Christian ‘Amen') as follows:
With great enthusiasm, each person present thought within their heart what it was that they wished for their lives for the coming year. Satisfied that they had time enough in which to do this, the priestess signalled to begin the acclamation. Everyone bent their right hand to the earth and, slowly bringing it towards them again whilst taking a sharp intake of breath, they raised it to the sky whilst loudly acclaiming Seá. The breath was held out for a few moments, for in that time it was said that the Great Spirit of Creation gathered in their wishes and set about granting them. Everyone then clapped and danced individually around the fire. The children amongst them separated from the adults, formed an inner circle, danced and sang around the fire until the oldest man present called on them to go home and prepare for the coming of the Souls.
From A Celtic Book of Dying, © 2005 by Phyllida Anam-Aire, published by Findhorn.
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