Beyond Samhain’s Doorway: Visionary Fiction

Summer has exhaled and faded. The nights are beginning to lengthen. Leaves burnish in shades of red, gold, and orange, and drop from the trees. The last of the harvest is gathered, and the remains of the crops are tilled back into the fields to nourish the soil for next year’s planting. Our lived life is analogous to this turning of the seasons if we can view it from that perspective. As such, you may ponder what seeds you have planted earlier in the year, what you have created by mid-year, what has now come into fruition to be harvested in your life, and what needs to be nourished for the upcoming year.

Because I am an author of Visionary Fiction (VF), the writer in me also resonates with this season of autumn. And, more so with… yes…Halloween. Not so much the commercial Halloween of clever costumes and adorable children who ‘trick or treat’ for candy, as much as acknowledging this season ‘where the veils are thin between the worlds of the seen and unseen,’ or so the ancient Celtic people asserted.

October 31^st, mid-autumn, marks one of earth’s seasonal turning points with a festival called Samhain (pronounced sa-wen, which comes from two words meaning summer’s end), a festival later to be renamed Halloween. Samhain originally celebrated this mystical time when the usual barriers between our world and the otherworld opened to allow contact between humans and their ancestors, the spirits of the dead, as well the fairy folk. Legend says that these two realities now have the opportunity to come together and communicate.  

These otherworldly realities do not refer to unnerving horror stories often associated with Halloween. Rather, the reference to thin veils between the worlds addresses the unseen aspect of life that often goes unnoticed, and is patently undervalued in our society. In this regard, Visionary Fiction is a sort of ‘X Files’ of the literary world, or even an empirical starship ‘Enterprise,’ in that VF often goes places other fictional genres do not. More importantly, VF takes the reader to these otherworld realms in a manner that other genres do not. The other realms often include intuition, spiritual contemplation, paranormal events and beings, psychic abilities, dreams, visions, the power of synchronicity, the magic of everyday miracles, the metaphysical, or supernatural occurrences.

To be true Visionary Fiction, such realms and experiences are not used as mere plot devices by the VF author. Instead, they are the venues through which characters redeem themselves, as well as the conflicts in their lives and their relationships. Like any character in a well-crafted novel, VF characters struggle to transform their fears – the adversary that lies either within themselves or in their external circumstances. The uncharted and unseen realms that are outside mundane awareness are the arena Visionary Fiction draws upon in its effort to provide stories that give the reader their own internal experience of expanding their minds and their consciousness.

The VF author, or authors of any genre for that matter, can use the energies of Samhain/Halloween to stoke their creative fires. The Samhain passageway opens to winter, that dark half of the year where the earth slumbers and the seed gestates in fertile richness. As authors, we often get a preliminary jolt of inspiration for our novels. As part of our writing process, we plant that seed of inspiration in the rich earth of our imagination in the hopes it will grow. At this time of year, beyond Samhain’s doorway, lies the deep cavern of the Earth Mother’s womb from which all that is intuitive, creative, and natural on this earth is gestating, readying itself to one day be birthed. The stages of writing a novel are similar, whether it is the bare, newly forming concept of a story, or the kernels of ideas for a new scene or chapter.

This time of year can also add its energy to help us to strip away what no longer serves in readiness for rebirth into something better. In my writing world, that is called editing and re-writes!

I like to tap into the Samhain/Halloween energies by partaking in a writing exercise to re-energize my writing life. I invite you to do the same with the following exercise.

Samhain is a time to reflect on the past year’s writing and finish any old loose ends in your chapter, scenes, or manuscript from the previous year.

Have a piece of paper, a pen, matches, and a fireplace or fireproof bowl nearby. Take a few moments to go within. Acknowledge the energies of gestation and transformation that preside over this autumn–into—winter half of the year. Reflect on any old scenes, chapters, character development, plots, etc. that you would like to finish at this time. Your reflections could even include outmoded habits of writing, (or not writing) - whatever old business you’d like to complete or transform with regards to your writing and authorship.

Take your piece of paper and write down your reflections. Light a fire in your fireplace, woodstove, or fireproof bowl, as a symbolic remnant of the Samhain great bonfires of yesteryear. Place the paper in the flames and allow it to burn, to represent the finishing of your old business. As the flames consume the paper, speak your intention for the releasing, transformation, and completion of the old -- and the gestation, inspiration, and germination in your rich fertile imagination and soul, of the new.   Give thanks.

I would love to hear what is creatively gestating in your imagination from this exercise!

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Jodine Turner is the award winning, best selling visionary fiction, fantasy author of the Goddess of the Stars and the Sea series about young priestesses who have lived in Avalon down through the ages to today. www.jodineturner.com

Celebrating Samhain and Halloween

October 31st marks one of the eight seasonal turning points on the Wheel of the Year, the festival called Samhain (pronounced sa-wen). Summer has exhaled and faded, and the nights lengthen. Leaves turn red, gold, and orange, and fall from the trees. The last of the harvest is gathered, and the remains of the crops are tilled back into the fields to nourish the soil for next year’s planting.
 
The Samhain passageway opens to winter, that dark half of the year where the earth slumbers and the seed gestates in the fertile richness. Beyond the Samhain doorway lies the deep cavern of the Earth Mother’s womb from which all that is intuitive, introspective, creative, and natural on this earth is birthed. The ancients considered this day as their ‘New Year’. They lit ritual bonfires to signify burning away the dross of the old year, finishing old business, and freeing the people from the worries of the past year. All hearth fires were put out and new fires lit from the great bonfires to symbolize this release and new beginnings.

Samhain comes from two words meaning summer’s end. The origin of Halloween lies in this ancient Celtic celebration. Hallow is an old word meaning holy or sacred; "een" is Scottish for evening. Thus Halloween means holy or sacred evening.

Samhain celebrates the mystical time when the usual barriers between our world and the Otherworld are thin, allowing contact between humans and the fairy folk as well as the spirits of the dead. The world of the seen and unseen realities come together and communicate. Candles are an important part of these mysteries. Brightly lit jack-o’-lanterns are echoes of the candle bearing spirit-guides that welcome back dead relatives for a short visit during Samhain.

In the seventh century, Samhain was Christianized. November 1st became known as All Saints’ Day, to commemorate the souls of the blessed dead, the canonized saints. November 2nd was established as All Soul’s Day, where the loved ones who had passed on were remembered, prayed for, and honored. Thus, we 'hallow' and venerate the dead, and by doing so, acknowledge their energy which still flows through us.

Since the night before a festival was always the most important time (because the Celtic day actually began at night), the night before All Saints Day became All Hallows Eve, or Halloween. Throughout the centuries, pagan and Christian beliefs and customs intermingled, all intended to usher in the mysteries of this dark half of the seasons.

The colored leaves, cornstalks, and apples, that are so much a part of our modern Halloween decorations, are reminders of the autumn Samhain festival. Divination practices were customary. The modern day Halloween witch is a vestige of that time long ago when the older Wise Woman was revered instead of feared, and she was often turned to as an oracle, prophetess, and soothsayer.

This dark half of the year is presided over by the Divine Dark Mother. She is dark because of her rich fertility that transforms the old into the new, much like the winter months germinate the seed within the fecund black soil. The Dark Goddess helps us to strip away what no longer serves in readiness for rebirth into something better.

Traditional games played on Samhain often featured apples from the recent harvest, since at the heart of the Celtic Otherworld grows an apple tree which bears magical fruit. Celtic legends tell of heroes sailing the western sea to find this wondrous Otherworld, known in Britain as Avalon. The hearthside games of apple-bobbing reflect the journey across water to obtain the magic apple from Avalon. 

Christian influence contributed its own unique traditions, such as trick or treating, which originally was collecting "soul cakes" on All Souls' Day. Since the window back into our world is opened on Samhain to those who had already passed, people would dress up in scary costumes to protect against evil spirits who might also cross the thin barriers between the worlds.

Simple Samhain commemorations:

Decorate with your kitchen with bowls of gourds and dried ears of corn and corn stalks.
Honor the earth’s bounty by baking your favorite recipe with the season’s last harvest: pumpkin, apples, or autumn squashes.
Roast your own pumpkin seeds from your freshly carved pumpkins. Mix them with a little olive oil and toss with seasonings like tamari, garlic salt, or cayenne.

Two Samhain Rituals:
Choose one ritual – or both!

1. Create a simple ancestor shrine. First, make a small altar. A nice cloth with a candle in a candle holder set atop the cloth will do fine. Since black onyx is the gemstone for Samhain, you might put a piece of black onyx on your altar if you have some. Place photos or keepsakes on your altar that remind you of those family, friends, or pets who have died. Honor them by speaking their name aloud. Contemplate the gifts they have given to you, and then speak those gifts aloud. Put your hands over your heart and offer them your love – it is the never-ending connection you will always have with them. Give thanks.

2. Samhain is the New Year, a time to reflect on the past year and finish any old business from the previous year. Have a piece of paper, a pen, matches, and a fireplace or fireproof bowl nearby. Take a few moments to go within, through meditation or prayer. Acknowledge the Dark Goddess of transformation who presides over this dark half of the year. Reflect on any old business you would like to finish at this time. It could be old habits, old emotional wounds or grudges, any work or creative projects you’d like to conclude – whatever old business you’d like to complete or transform. Take your piece of paper and write down your reflections. Light a fire in your fireplace, woodstove, or fireproof bowl, as a symbolic remnant of the Samhain great bonfires of yesteryear. Place the paper in the flames and allow it to burn, to represent the finishing of your old business. As the flames consume the paper, ask the Dark Mother to help you in the releasing, transformation, and completion of your old business. Give thanks.

Wheel of the Year