Halloween Blog Bash with Molly Cochran
I really wish I had Molly Cochran's new cover to flash along with this blog, but it's a little early yet for her new and truly wonderful young adult novel, LEGACY, which will be out next year from Paula Wiseman Books. (Summary: Katy Jessevar’s world gets turned on its ear when she overhears her never-mentioned mother and the words "criminally insane" uttered in the same sentence. So much has been kept from her. Not just her mother's infamy, but her entire heritage. She's about to find out all about it the hard way, at the very unusual boarding school to which she's sent when her father takes up with his latest mistress.) However, I can share with you her great post on what Halloween means in the Wiccan world view. Enjoy!
Halloween/Samhain by Molly Cochran
For witches, like Southerners, the past isn’t dead; the past isn’t even past. What’s more, in the Wiccan view, the dead aren’t “passed,” either; they aren’t even really dead!
Have you perhaps noticed odd goings-on in your house or apartment as the cold weather draws near? Strange noises, misplaced objects, mind-bending coincidences? There may be scientific explanations… Then again, these things may be happening because the veil between the human world and the Summer Country, inhabited by those who have gone before us, lifts a little at this time of year.
Halloween is what practitioners of this ancient, Earth-centered, nature-based religion refer to as Samhain (pronounced SOW-en), the Wiccan New Year’s Day, and the most important holiday in the witches’ calendar. This is because at this time of year, the veil is at its most transparent, and the dead may (if invited) re-enter our world to join in the festivities of the living once again.
For the living, it is an opportunity to honor those who walked the path of life before us - not only those in our immediate circle of family and friends, but also our ancestors, our heroes, and the ancients who opened the way for those who have come lately to the Old Religion. As we have learned from bitter history, many witch-women who used their knowledge of the natural world to heal, teach, comfort, and make magic were tortured and brutally executed for their wisdom. These invidivuals, too, are acknowledged and blessed at Samhain.
So if you’re one of those sensitive beings for whom the world goes a little mad during the days of late fall, it may just be that some visitors from another realm are knocking on the door of your consciousness, eager to let you know that they’re ready to party!
Halloween/Samhain by Molly Cochran
For witches, like Southerners, the past isn’t dead; the past isn’t even past. What’s more, in the Wiccan view, the dead aren’t “passed,” either; they aren’t even really dead!
Have you perhaps noticed odd goings-on in your house or apartment as the cold weather draws near? Strange noises, misplaced objects, mind-bending coincidences? There may be scientific explanations… Then again, these things may be happening because the veil between the human world and the Summer Country, inhabited by those who have gone before us, lifts a little at this time of year.
Halloween is what practitioners of this ancient, Earth-centered, nature-based religion refer to as Samhain (pronounced SOW-en), the Wiccan New Year’s Day, and the most important holiday in the witches’ calendar. This is because at this time of year, the veil is at its most transparent, and the dead may (if invited) re-enter our world to join in the festivities of the living once again.
For the living, it is an opportunity to honor those who walked the path of life before us - not only those in our immediate circle of family and friends, but also our ancestors, our heroes, and the ancients who opened the way for those who have come lately to the Old Religion. As we have learned from bitter history, many witch-women who used their knowledge of the natural world to heal, teach, comfort, and make magic were tortured and brutally executed for their wisdom. These invidivuals, too, are acknowledged and blessed at Samhain.
So if you’re one of those sensitive beings for whom the world goes a little mad during the days of late fall, it may just be that some visitors from another realm are knocking on the door of your consciousness, eager to let you know that they’re ready to party!