The Magickal Pen

Today is November 1st- All Soul’s Day.  The veils between the worlds of the living and the dead are thinning and we have greater access to our ancestors and loved ones who have passed.  This month has been extraordinarily dense for me this year.  Not only in the amount of work expected, but in the general feeling of the pervasiveness of the atmosphere and energy surrounding.  Now this would not normally be unusual given the season of the year and the opening of the veils, but, this year seems different.  The thinning seemed to begin much earlier and the heaviness of death and whispers of those wishing to be heard by the living once again seems to be deafening at times.

The other point in the year where these veils are thinnest occurs at Beltane.  There is a lightness about that opening heralded in the anticipation and promise of new life crossing into the physical realms brought forth by the quickening and fecundity of what is waiting to burst forth.  The opening of Samhain speaks of loss and the anticipation of opportunity to reconnect to those who have passed in this or previous years. It is a bittersweet sadness that colors the celebration of lives well lived and although it is palpable, thick and dense, the density is one of being wrapped in a heavy warm cloak.

In contrast, the density of this year seems more to be that of unfinished business and the extra weight of what needs to be said; to be heard and to asked. Many I have spoken with agree that this year they are very much in need of the wisdom gifted by their chosen ancestor(s) and those answers to deep and painful questions loom large in the foreground in determining what kind of action will carry them forward  and out of what has been a challenging year for many.

Although, October 31st is the recognized Sabbat for most, the true and astronomical date of Samhain generally occurs somewhere around November 6–9th. This accounts for the lingering aftermath of ancestral energy beyond the Oct. 31st celebrations.  This year the date is November 7th a few days following a potent New Moon in Scorpio and unusual hybrid Solar Eclipse.  So, the astrological energy will be ripe with challenge and potential and Scorpio’s energy will enhance the deep seeking within ourselves and the answers sought out from our Ancestors.

Each year has been different in what I have needed; some years only needing to honor and not to ask. My needs this year are much the same as my friends and the heaviness I have been feeling is as much of my own making as that of the opening of the veils. I set into motion my intent for reaching out to my ancestors last night, drawing on the collective energy that this particular night holds.  Each night I will light the candles on my ancestral altar, paving the way for our meeting.  Each night I will offer up the questions I have and leave offerings of my love and respect for what they gifted in life and what I request from them now.  And, finally on November 7th I will do ritual, celebrate and sit, listening for the answers I seek.

This is my intent as the veils thin and I am reminded of my place in the cycle of life and death, for each must be honored and in those times of union when the two become as one the deeper wisdoms of each may be shared freely in perfect love and perfect trust.

May your Samhain be blessed and fruitful in your intent!

Resources:

If you would like to use a pathworking of meeting the ancestors, please read Parting the Veils and Opening to Ancestral Wisdom on WitchVox. And, a great tool for finding out the true dates of the Solstices, Equinoxes & Cross-Quarters is the Archeoastronomy Site.