{"id":150919782,"date":"2024-10-30T13:00:52","date_gmt":"2024-10-30T13:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/?p=150919782"},"modified":"2024-10-30T13:00:52","modified_gmt":"2024-10-30T13:00:52","slug":"the-illuminating-spark-samhain-samhuinn-season-thoughts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/?p=150919782","title":{"rendered":"The Illuminating Spark: Samhain\/Samhuinn Season Thoughts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thoughts and plans for the upcoming festival.<\/h2>
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(Image description: A photo of items on a table. A short, black candle with pumpkins and the word \u2018Samhain\u2019 is next to a bundle of herbs, a small crystal ball on a stand, orange-colored rune stones, and small ghost candle. A plume of smoke hovers in the aid behind the objects.) Credit: Photo by Daizy Isumi<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/p>

With the way the calendar falls this year, the time I will be observing Samhain won\u2019t be until later this week. This post is something of a to do list and reflections on the spiritual New Year that Samhain serves as.<\/p>

As usual, the festival functions more as a season than a celebration set to only certain days. The time of Samhain Eve until sunset on November 1st<\/sup> is the time I do a flamekeeping shift. Fire is associated with bonfires, but I\u2019m aware that a light is kept on for any ancestors who may be traveling during that time. With Brighid\u2019s role as a midwife and who can be seen as involved in the rebirth process, I feel this is an appropriate use for the lantern I use during my shifts.<\/p>

Following Samhain, I aim to participate in Nine Days for Brighid<\/a> and focus not only maintaining my prayer routine, but also focusing on cleansing and protection, given how much of an active time of year it can be spiritually.<\/p>

With the start of November, the days seem to be getting cooler, so embracing the warmth of the hearth on a metaphorical level feels important to do. Hearthcraft still continues to be important to my developing path, and figuring out how different practices interweave with each other is a fascinating and valuable process.<\/p>

The new moon also occurs on November 1st<\/sup>, so there will be some overlap between my honoring Brighid and Brigantia and giving offerings and devotion to Nodens, as I consider the darker part of the year as especially affiliated with Him.<\/p>

I\u2019m still in the process of building my ancestor veneration, but it is becoming more defined as I figure out who I want to honor and the best ways to do that. Some include family members, but I\u2019m also finding ancestors of spirit who have influenced me and who I am.<\/p>

Lastly, the ogam reading I do will give me a contemplative focus from Samhain until Imbolc next year. I don\u2019t know what that might entail, but I hope to learn from it and sit with with whatever knowledge might be found within the reading.<\/p>

Until then, may your deities and ancestors bless you this Samhain season!<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thoughts and plans for the upcoming festival.<\/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-150919782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150919782","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=150919782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150919782\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=150919782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=150919782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.illuminatingspark.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=150919782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}