Transitions

Here we are, walking the wheel again. Familiar pathways lead through time, all the same yet not the same. Ever onward through the ways, on these spirals of change.

Our journey brings us to Samhain, the time of the final harvest of the year when the fields are burned and the last of the crops are stowed for the long winter to come.

Samhain (pronounced SAHwin or SOWin) is the celebration of this third and last harvest of the season, and it marks the beginning of winter and the darker half of the year. Samhain is also a time when the boundaries between this world and the next are at their thinnest, making contact with our ancestors and other spirits much easier than at other times of the year.

Traditions and Rituals

We set places at our tables for those who have gone before us, and we bring their pictures off of the mantle and onto the altar in remembrance and celebration of who they were and of how, even though they are now gone from this life, they are still so very much a part of us.

Several years ago I was at a festival in Florida celebrating the turning of the wheel into the Samhain season, and on the final night of the gathering we had a Viking ritual, calling back to our ancestors and inviting them to join us around the fire as we sang and drummed in remembrance and celebration. As I was drumming within the circle I felt a presence behind me that was warm like a feeling of love; that was comforting like being in a mother’s embrace. I felt hands gently placed on my shoulders, and though I didn’t turn to see who it was, I knew it was my mother, Johnnie and my grandmother, Wilhemina coming to join me as they had been invited to.

Through the rest of the ritual they stayed with me, their presence inspiring memories of early childhood before I lost them both to illness and desperation. My heart and soul were filled with love, sorrow and a wondering at how it had been for them to cross over from this life into the next, and how it was that they had come to join me on that night under that Florida moon.

Reincarnation and Soul Transitions

That experience got me to thinking of that time of year, and death and renewal, and I imagined what it could feel like, what it must be like, to transition from one life to the next.

I personally believe that the soul is eternal, and that we choose to experience various lifetimes as humans/animals/other creatures/plantlife, like choosing a menu of things or experiences that will further grow our souls. Our soul, our essence, our spirit can also choose to move on to other ethereal pathways in this reality and to have those experiences, as well.

Since Reincarnation is a soul journey that many folks in some Earth religions believe, what happens when our physical, earthly bodies die and our spirits are free isn’t an exact science. While no one knows for SURE what the process is, I was contemplating patterns and cycles as we move into this Autumn time and the thinning of the veil, and this came to my mind as someone, perhaps one of my ancestors, whispered it into my ear.

Click here to listen on Bandcamp: https://merenking.bandcamp.com/track/transitions-2

Horned owl sounding, scaring up an evening meal
Full moon shining, dancing to the raven’s call,
I twirl in the silvery light through the veil.
Spirits find me, clothe me in gossamer and light,
Feed me ambrosia, hold me as we dance our way,
In to the deepest part of the night.

Floating on silent wings,
Part of the starlight,
Flowing among the Ways,
And on to,
that next life.

Lining the pathway, lo do I see who came before,
Mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, reaching back
Down generations. To my core.

Stepping in bright light, I choose to see what is to come,
Joy and Sorrow, Struggle and Beauty, Love Hard Won,
And still I choose to go, for my soul.

Floating on silent wings,
Part of the starlight,
Flowing among the Ways,
And on to,
that next life.

“Transitions” by Meren Edna Marie King, (c) 2021

Celebrations

As we once again approach Samhain and as the veil begins to become thinner and thinner, let us think to those who came before us and to the journeys that brought them together and made them a part of our ancestral lines. Write down their names, and take a moment to think of what their lives must have been like as they lived their day to day, moving towards each other and into a future where you would be their descendant. Look back along the long line of people who came before you, and see the beginnings of the generational memories yet to come.

As you light your altar candles, and prepare your decorations and delicacies for your Samhain celebrations, think to them and what their own rituals could have been as they prepared for the coming time of year. Speak their names aloud as you gather together with family and friends and with your communities around the bonfire, whether in person or virtually. Share their stories, if you know them, and help to create stories of your own for those coming up to share in celebrations to come.

One way to do this is to incorporate your family history into your costume choices for Halloween Evening! Come as your Great-Aunt Ida, the Librarian by day and Roller Derby Queen by Night, or perhaps your Many-times-great-Grandfather Aloysius who had a penchant for herbs and potions when not working at his coachman day job. There are so many choices for you once you start researching, and spending the time with your family as you delve into and remember those who came before you helps to build what is yet to be passed down.

So blessed Samhain time, to you and yours. May this turning of the wheel bring you a harvest of bountiful memories warm enough to see you through the winter time to come.

Blessed be, my friends.

For more information about Meren King, including her collected articles here on Pagan Song, her bio, and links to Meren’s sites on the web, check out Meren’s page on Pagan Song.

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