{"id":138495357,"date":"2023-11-01T16:51:55","date_gmt":"2023-11-01T16:51:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/?p=138495357"},"modified":"2023-11-01T16:51:55","modified_gmt":"2023-11-01T16:51:55","slug":"the-illuminating-spark-samhain-reflections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/?p=138495357","title":{"rendered":"The Illuminating Spark: Samhain Reflections"},"content":{"rendered":"

Musings from my Samhain celebration.<\/h2>
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(Image description: A photo of a light-skinned hand holding a yellow fallen leaf, with a heart shaped hole in the middle of it. Other yellow leaves are seen on the ground and among the trees in a forest.) Credit: Photo by Anthony Intraversato<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/p>

The wheel has turned again, and winter seems to be making itself known this Samhain. From what I can remember, the past Samhain seasons have been on the milder side. However, that doesn\u2019t seem to be the case this year. Summer\u2019s end was apparent with weather that called for bundling up.<\/p>

In a way, I feel like I\u2019m still winding down from my long trip, and that calls for stretching Samhain observances out through the first part of November. The astronomical midpoint between the fall equinox and the winter solstice falls on the 7th<\/sup>, so I have some time to do this.<\/p>

As usual, I\u2019m tending the flame during this fire festival season. I kept the offerings simple with some patchouli incense, water, and flame. I plan to give offerings to Nodens soon, in return for offering His part in the reading. I also wrote a poem to Brighid, shown below. It very much reflects how things have changed since Samhain a year ago.<\/p>

A Pierced Heart<\/h3>

A year passed,<\/p>

one form of grieving<\/p>

traded for another.<\/p>

This battlefield has no spears<\/p>

nor arrows, yet my heart<\/p>

is pierced still.<\/p>

The lows traded<\/p>

for the highs, then<\/p>

understanding is aflame.<\/p>

Trade certainties for what-ifs,<\/p>

day in and<\/p>

day out.<\/p>

Is there a sacredness<\/p>

in I don\u2019t know, a holy pilgrimage<\/p>

of hope and best efforts in uncertainty?<\/p>

Be at my side, O Comforter.<\/p>

Afterward, I did my quarterly reading from now until Imbolc and received \u00dar, Sail, and Ailm. These letters indicate general introspection, but I think it strongly leans toward grief work. I feel I have been passive in dealing with the after-effects from the loss of a pet and a parent, and my deities are showing that I need to work on that matter. As time goes by, I figure I will have more clarity as to what else it could mean.<\/p>

Ironically, this coincides with a book I\u2019ve been meaning to read for myself and as a possible resource for Clann Bhr\u00edde. The book is A Celtic Book of Dying: The Path of Love in the Time of Transition <\/em>by Phyllida Anam-Aire. From a cursory glance, the book may have some issues, but it could also provide some healing nourishment. We\u2019ll see how things go.<\/p>

For the time being, I wish you bright blessings in the sacred darkness!<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Musings from my Samhain celebration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-138495357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138495357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=138495357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138495357\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=138495357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=138495357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=138495357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}