Celebrating Samhuin; Through the Gates of Annwn

         Gwyn ap Nudd: Wild God of Faerie, Guardian of Annwfn - Watkins MIND ... www.watkinsmagazine.com       

Winter looms on the horizon, the Wheel of the Year turns once more, the boundary between our world and the spirit world is fragile and thin. In cultures all over the world, the spirit of Death has been celebrated at this time of the year. 

How do you celebrate Hallowe'en, the night of all souls, which the Irish call Samhuin, and the Welsh call Calan Gaeaf?

 Is it for you a chance to move through the veil between the worlds and communicate with those you loved, and have lost in this world? 

Or is it a chance to drum into trance and search for ancestor wisdom?

Or do you search for the gods and goddesses who are associated with death and darkness, such as Gwyn ap Nudd, Arawn, Hecate, the Morrighan, Anubis and Osiris, Hades, and, of course Hel, daughter of Loki, with her bones on the outside of her body, portrayed in black and white,

Do you avoid it altogether, as a time when death is abroad and best avoided?

Or do you just think that we imagine such things, and make it all up, as the darkness descends at this time of year, that silly idea of a thinning of a veil between worlds, and that other being can contact humans at these times?

Certain, we must surely agree that somewhere in all the ancient myths there are acorns of truth. The last time I was in Ireland, my taxi driver explained, as we passed a fairy hill, that the Sidhe lived beneath it, and that the farmer would never drive a tractor across it. 

The  otherworld had many names across the world we now think of as Celtic, including Tir-na-nog, the land of Youth, Tir-Innambeo, The Land of the Living, Tir- Tairngire, The Land of Promise, Tir N-aill, the Other World, Mag More, The Great Plain,  The Isle of Women, Isle of Apples. This otherworld was located quite far away, over sea or though mist, or deep below the ground. It was thought of as a world of peace, harmony and abundance, where no ailment or death could be found. Hy-Brasil (from Gaelic, “Isle of the Blessed”) was an “enchanted island“ off the coast of Ireland – seen by many people over a thousand years, but never remaining in one location, it then disappeared from maps completely. 

In The Adventure of Bran,  Son of Febal from the seventh century, Bran travels to Hy-Brasil a paradise supported on golden pillars. No one is ever sad or ill there; they are always happy, continually playing games to musical accompaniment. When early sailors crossed the Atlantic and landed on the coast of South America, they imagined they had found Hy-Brasil at last, and that country is called Brasil to this day.

I'm not sure we do need to wait until Samhuin to contact the ancestors, though. In lockdown, we did a summer outdoor ritual which focused on those relations recently passed; our parents, our grandparents and their parents. Read it here.

There is another side to Samhuin, which is to explore, in this winter darkness, our own weaknesses and difficulties. Often, this is harder than speaking to loved ones who have passed into the next life. Old wounds might be ignored in the busy light of day, but in candlelight on the 31st of October, when the veil is thin, they confront us, allowing us to pass over normal boundaries and examine our human condition in the raw. These wounds, personal, family, historic or from a wider experience, can be forceful, they can create a disconnect, they can chip away at our soul, and destroy our enjoyment of life. They can obstruct us, actually create a spiral where we can't heal them because the wounds prevent that healing.  Going on such a journey at Samhiun, meeting ones otherworldly allies and speaking honestly with our guides and guardians can help reverse this spiral.

The Spoils of Annwn is an ancient Welsh myth that tells of a heroic journey of King Arther and a group of warriors. They take their ship Prydwen (wen means white, pure, or blessed) on a perilous voyage into the otherworld. They visit seven different forts on seven otherworldly islands in search of a magical cauldron. 

My first words were spoken concerning the cauldron: from the breath of nine maidens it is warmed. It is the cauldron of the Head of Annwfn; what is its purpose with its dark rim and edged with pearls? It will not boil the food of a coward; it is not destined to do so.

This poem was written down in the fourteenth-century Llyfr Taliesin (Book of Taliesin)  It is hauntingly beautiful, There is a translation of this poem in Robert Graves' The White Goddess.

 It can be used to create ritual, or it can be use to access a shamanic journey. Studying it closely brings it alive. To me, this white ship is a trancelike journey to meet ancestors and learn from them, while also learning more about one's "self", and one's "life journey". In ritual, we can visit each castle or 'Caer' and look at them from whatever approach we need on our journey; maybe aspects of our characters, or goals to drive towards, or weaknesses we'd like to be strong about removing from our lives.

One thing is clear though, it's not a place for the fainthearted. The texts reminds us constantly that; And when we went with Arthur,/   dolorous visit, / except seven/    none rose up.  Other translations say ...none returned.

Stay safe in ritual by laying down ground rules with the other ritualists, and discussing the ideas beforehand. Stay safe when journeying by knowing you can return to your 'home space' the chosen place that should start and end a journey, and by calling your animal allies to you to accompany you and guide you on your way...and on your way back. 

A CELEBRATION OF THE AUTUMN EQUINOX 21st of September

 21st September

At six in the evening of the, people began to gather at Rhos Hill

They came from the east, the west, the south and the north (even as far as Aberystwyth). Evening was falling on a special day; autumn equinox, which Druids call the Light of Autumn; Alban Hefen, in Welsh. This is the moment of seasonal balance which to many ancient people was the most important time in the year; final harvests and a general flurry of farm and homestead activity. Winter is now not far away.

There were twelve of us at this evening’s celebration and an eclectic and talented mix they were; a shaman, some Druids, Ovates, Hedge Witches and Wiccans.

We began the evening gently, as some people had met for the first time. After sorting out drinks for everyone and chatting for a while we held a ‘talking stick’, as usual. This enables everyone to say something and introduce themselves without interruption. At that point, Jim and I described how the ritual would unfold, and we asked everyone to chose a harvest gift from our table of gifts. 

I’d scoured the hedgerows and garden earlier, and gathered a great bounty, which Jim arranged on a golden cloth; a branch of hazel with cobnuts, a branch of oak with their acorns, and even a branch of sweet chestnuts with the spiky cases that contain the delicious winter treat. We created a spray of autumn coloured leaves, and added apples, pine cones, a jewel of a Mandarin, a spray of blackberries, elderberries, hawthorn, sweetcorn cobs, and much more. 

We processed into our little stone circle, with the fire in the pit lit and sparking and the lanterns in the four quarters of East South West and North glowing. After setting up our circle in the usual way, each person placed their chosen autumn gift into a basket, using one word or phrase to describe their feelings about this time of year. The basket of goodies was dedicated to the goddess. 

All photos by Carni

After beautiful poems and readingS by several members of the circle, we moved on to the middle, magical centre of the ritual where we investigated the balance of this moment in the year by actively working with it.

Each person planted a 'tete a tete' bulb in a pot, with an intent that used this planting to symbolise our own lives.  Like the bulbs, we all had our own process of moving from the scurry of getting ready for winter, down into gentle hibernation until the warming of spring. To exentuate the magic of the action, our of our number, representing the elements, blessed the pots of bulbs. Air, representing the oxygen of life, blew over the pots. Fire, representing the sun, warmed the pots with a candle’s glow, Water sprinkled spring water over them. Finally a little more Earth was then scattered onto the bulbs with a blessing.

The final part of the ritual was highlighted with a wonderful visualization created by a member of the circle, in which we celebrated the Blackberry moon with a lovely Journey to choose moon or sun fruits from an Avalon apple tree.

The apple branch talking stick went round again, and the tempo slowed as we sat on cushioned logs around the fire and shared our experiences of the journey and the ritual. It was so warming to see the glow of the fire on the circle of faces and hear them speak.

Before we closed the circle down, we drummed a chant of Balance in our lives.

Then, as always, we went into the house and tucked into the table of goodies...and the heather mead that a guest had generously provided!

Thank you all so much for making the autumn equinox rite a success and a delight, and I wish everyone a very happy autumn.