Nov 3

Nov 3 The Alchemy of Samhain

As the Wheel of the Year turns, there are certain things we’ve come to expect from each season and new themes that turn our lives upside down and inside out. Sometimes we go through these seasonal transitions with great awareness and enthusiasm, and other times we fight them with resistance and fear. The latter is especially true with endings, and we could all use rituals and practices to support us in loosening fear, dispelling denial, and opening to the Great Mystery.

This particular turn of the wheel towards Samhain is well-known for bringing up fears that manifest as thoughts and feelings around what we dread, what we do not want to look at, and what we hope will just go away. This often manifests as physical symptoms - it is “cold and flu season”after all - a time when the immune system (our innate boundary and protection system) is challenged on all fronts. No wonder.

Shedding…

Old outworn skin is shed and masks are torn off - sometimes in a liberating way, other times in a painful, heart wrenching way. In any case, we are made raw and vulnerable to some of our deepest fears and sorrows. The ghouls and horror stories of Halloween are not just imaginative entertainment, but actually invitations to go into the darkness with eyes open. And you may just find that your deepest fears are messengers of power, magic, transformation and awakening.

The easy route is to distract ourselves with shopping, alcohol, sugar, busyness, and other addictions. Why? Because emotions are dangerous and uncomfortable - they open us to the vast heart and Truth of life - our interconnection with all. And frankly, there’s a lot out there (and in here) that we might naively wish we weren’t connected to or even affected by.

Find beauty in the endings…

And yet, there is so much beauty, transformation, and wisdom we deprive ourselves of when we turn away from the dark and the shadows of this cycle. Remember, we all begin life by floating in the dark waters of our mother’s womb. The memory of life in utero echoes in our bones. It is in this cellular memory that we experience both grief (in the loss of our mother’s heartbeat) and praise (in the miracle of life). It is in this darkness that life takes form and transforms, creating and destroying, preparing and dismantling. This is the alchemy of Samhain.

Being present with this season offers us a kind of mastery that can be developed when we devote ourselves to the dying time of the year. And now more than ever we need to be skilled in navigating the breakdown of systems and structures that are old and outdated. (The year 2020 will be a big year of course, correcting what is out of alignment. Much necessary and destabilizing change is on its way - the rumblings have been present since 2016 and earlier, and the change will continue through 2023.) We need to grow our capacity to be resilient in the face of uncertainty. We need to become familiar and adept with the process of death, grief, honoring, and facing our biggest fears.

The kind of growth being asked of us individually and collectively is huge and scary. And that is the point. When we face the things that scare us head on, especially with each other in community, they lose their power over us. The overwhelm goes away, the truth is revealed, and the path forward is illuminated. We develop our emotional, mental, and spiritual maturity when we close the loop and remain rooted through the dying part of the year.

It takes courage…

It takes courage to see this through - to truly face our fears - and the first time we do it is the hardest. It may not get easier or more comfortable, but we can choose to learn the skills to navigate it with increasing Grace.

This Samhain Masterclass provides tools and reflections to help you understand this deep part of the cycle. As always, work with what resonates and leave the rest. With a deep bow of gratitude and recognition of your courage, may this masterclass provide tools for a stable and secure foundation to navigate life’s transformations.

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