The Druidic College

Samhain marks one of the two great portals of the Celtic Year. For our Celtic ancestors, day began with the darkness of night, so too the New Year begins with the darkness of winter. In this sacred time, we celebrate the beginning of a new cycle of life, death and rebirth. It is in
the silence that we hear the whisperings of new beginnings, the stirring of the seeds hidden below in the ground. Samhain is the beginning of the cycle, welcoming the darkness of Winter and thus one of the most magically powerful time of the Wheel.

This is the time for the Feast of the Dead, the night of the year’s turning wheel that brings us
to the Thinning of the Veil. The gates between the worlds stand momentarily open. We honor our Loved Ones whose voices come to us on the whispering wind. The Veil is parted so that all spirits, those of this world and those who have passed over, may once more celebrate together in fellowship. All those who wish us well are welcome to our Circle. As we commune with those who have gone before, may we remember the eternal presence of the Gods, and may we remember that which we call “death” is but a fleeting moment in the constant cycle of birth, death and rebirth.

This is a time of remembrance for all those who have journeyed to the realm of the Summer Lands. Let us rejoice in their memory and give thanks for their blessings and that which they have taught us. Let us remember in the cyclical nature of existence those that we greet in
the Samhain circle are our parents, grandparents, great-great-great grandparents and other family members all the way back to the beginning of time, at the same time they are our children, our children’s children, and so on forever. They are our lovers and friends, past present and future. They are ourselves.

We celebrate kindred in the Otherworld, and thank them. We shall thank our honored dead, share a feast with them, and listen for their messages to come to us through the veil.

And even as we celebrate we remember that in the Summerlands, and realms outside our mundane world, it is not a time of winter and darkness but a time of sun and mist. We meet
at the crossing points of the worlds, and in circle we celebrate the coexistence of them all.

Faolan Iolachtir, Rowan tea Athrawes, and Arvanna Redmantle