Astrology and Mythology: Samhain & The Gateway to Transformation

(Astrology Explored)

In the Celtic worldview, beginnings were shrouded in the dark, much like a child grows in his mother’s womb. Thus:

Samhain is the traditional celebration of the New Year within Celtic culture and since the Celts considered both solar and lunar signs for their calendar, the New Moon at Samhain marked the true beginning of the New Year.

This sets a moving target for this Celtic festival on our Gregorian Calendar. The Catholic Church, in its infinite wisdom, settled on November 1st as All Souls Day, a shadow of the Celtic festival, to continue its propaganda campaign of merging local celebrations into Church traditions. That gave us October 31st as All Hallows Eve, modernly morphed into Halloween.

In Irish folklore, Samhain was when the ‘doorways’ to the Otherworld opened wide. Supernatural beings and the souls of the dead could freely enter our world. This concept of a permeable boundary between worlds reflects the Celtic understanding of the cyclical nature of life, death, and rebirth, mirrored in the turning of the seasons from the abundance of harvest to the dormancy of winter. This belief in a thinning veil between realms is not unique to Celtic tradition but resonates with many cultures’ understanding of liminal periods, especially those marking seasonal transitions. Read More

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