art by Margaryta Yermolayeva
Standard Halloween/Samhain
disclaimer: Today is not Samhain. All Hallows belongs to the Catholic Church,
an amalgamation of Dia de los Muertos, Samhain, and probably some other things
(like Diwali).
Samhain (sau-en or sow-en or sav-en) and
Bealtainne (be-yall-tin-eh or bel-tin-ah or bel-taine) do lie between the
solstices and equinoxes, but they actually have to do with the position of the
Pleiades. (One reason I do not think it
is Bealtainne in the southern hemisphere, despite the season. But there is no record of Druids in the
southern hemisphere to guide us on that.
And I have not been able to celebrate either in the Southern Hemisphere
and see for myself.)
And there is a reason for it,
magickally. The gateway lies with the
Pleiades, not the sun. These
"holidays" also lasts for 3 nights, although there are mentions of
longer celebrations, but you really have to dig, and most just go with the
Coligny calendar.
If you are only going to do one night,
look for the sun at 15 degrees of Scorpio (Taurus for Bealtainne), and remember
the "day" begins and ends at sunset, not sunrise. So look for 15 degrees of Scorpio, after
sunset in GMT, to be exact.
Having said that, Halloween is still
awesome, still magickal, the veil is still thin, and so many people set out
food and offerings that of course the spirits can come with an invite.
It's just that Samhain is many more things
than Halloween.
Happy Halloween peeps!
