Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Brian’s Reflection: October 31, 2012 Samhain [Ancient Celtic: pronounced “Sha-ween”]; All Hallow’s Eve; Eve of All Saints]


Brian’s Reflection: October 31, 2012
Samhain [Ancient Celtic: pronounced “Sha-ween”]; 
All Hallow’s Eve;  Eve of All Saints]


“Throughout the centuries, pagan and Christian beliefs intertwine
in a gallimaufry of celebrations from Oct 31st through November 5th,
all of which appear both to challenge the ascendancy of the dark
and to revel in its mystery.”


This time, around the approaching Winter Solstice, has been an “holy” time for long centuries. It was often know as a “thin” time … when the “separation between the living and the dead was permeable … and human beings felt a palpable connection with those who gone before them in Life and passed on into the mystery of Death.

Remember folk:  this is a mystery engaged with by all cultures and religions. Christianity, alas, soon took the path of dominance and conquering … and so, as they did with Christmas and with the resurrection of the killed gods of the ancient World, they co-opted out a particular pagan feast to remember the saintly dead and the “normal” family dead who had gone on before … a remembrance of the Ancestors”.

I love this time of the year! I definitely feel connected with all here, with all who have “passed on”, and with all who will come behind us. Not just with “saints” … but with every single “normal” human being. Every single one of us is a gift to the World, regardless of our “goodness” or not. Every human being has contributed to the long path of human development … it is our job to choose wisely our “role models”, or “heroes”, and to commit our walk to their Path towards becoming a reflection of the vision we call Divine Love.

We are now in our metaphorical time of growing darkness, yet a time when we celebrate the rich harvest of the Earth that sustains our Life.

Oh yes:  the “dark” has mysteries which can teach us about Life. I look at the sky here in NM before I go to bed … and I see Orion and the Plough and the Pleiades, and I feel caught up in the eternal sweep of Being. The lovely verse of the All Saints Christian hymn comes to my heart: “We feebly struggle / They in glory shine / Yet all are one, in Thee / for all are Thine”.

We are one. Each of us unique … yet bound together. What each does affects the destiny of the Human Race. Only together can we bring about a human community I which together we create Peace and Joy and Justice.

Do I have a “political” statement? Yes. It isn’t the 99%. It’s the rest of us.

Brian+

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