Samhain (And the Day of the Dead)

"Past Desire, Hope or Change, I Rest in You, A Seed" (1994)

The air has a fragile, and Magical, quality at this time of year, and particularly on this collection of Last Harvest Festival/Going into the Dark days.  Samhain, Dia de Los Muertos.  Even though Halloween has reduced the sanctity of this day, honored and celebrated across millenia and across many human cultures, to a highly  commercial party, still, there is some felt spirit of a hidden sacredness, a specialness about these days even among the most unimaginative of souls. 

The Witches New Year, November 1st, has always seemed to me a different way of looking at the beginning of a new year, a new cycle.  The traditional placement of the New Year is at the Winter Solstice.  Yes, the return of the Sun does seem a most appropriate beginning.......... the Sun/Son is born again, the adored Child is born.  But........... this time of Ending, of the Going into the Darkness of winter also has its own kind of sanctity and appropriateness, depending on one's perspective.  

It is the beginning of the great Rest cycle, the return to the great Underground Realm our various ancestors conceived of throughout many times and cultures.  The Realm of Hecate, Hella, Maat, Ereshkigal, Fra Holle, Hades, Pluto, Anubis, Cerridwen.......... and so on.  And going even farther back, to a time before humans even had names to personify their deities, going back to the  Caves "of forgotten dreams", they believed they were going back into the generative, mysterious,  incubation of Mother Earth's Womb.  They saw that all life seemed to return there,  after summer's explosion, returning  to rest, returning to ultimately be reborn.

So, from that perspective, perhaps this time of "going into the Dark" might be seen as a true beginning, because it is a time of listening, listening and awaiting conception that has not yet arrived, at the Roots, at the Roots, at the Roots.  

 https://youtu.be/s0t6mws2vgY?si=v8-BQns5xV1C4GiC

The Ritual at the Women & Spirituality Conference

 

My colleague Patricia Ballentine and I were very pleased and moved by the Ritual Theatre we created with women from Rochester and other parts of Minnesota for the Women and Spirituality Conference which took place the 4th through the 6th of October in Rochester, Minnesota.  It was difficult working via Zoom with a cast I only met in person at the dress rehearsal the night of the Event at the Chateau Theatre downtown, but Spirit was there indeed:  everything went perfectly, and the Goddess was a felt Presence with every Invocation.  I copy some of the text of the Ritual here, and photographs of some of the cast,  graciously provided by Virginia Cooper, one of the Facilitators of the Conference.

Our beautiful and mystical Music was provided by Nicole Neill Roen  and Friends,  with "She Who Hears the Cries of the World" by Jennifer Berezon.  In addition to myself and Patricia Ballentine our Storytelling was beautifully shared with the poet Esther Marcella.

The performance script was written by myself (Spider Woman Speaks), Erica Swadley (Invocation of the Great Mother), Diane Darling (Bridgit), and the Invocations of the Goddess were by Patricia Ballentine .  With many thanks to Virginia Cooper , Lisa Spiral  and the Conference for making this possible!

"O Great Mother Goddess,  we call on you now.

We invite your presence in circle. Surround and encompass us.

Rise up from your roots.  Hear us, our voices of pathos.

See our dancing feet, how we beat out your rhythms.

With our hearts, we drum you back:

We are staggering toward you.

Will you run one hundred steps to us?

Will you spread your mantle of peace?"

......Excerpt, "Invocation of the Great Mother"   

Bonnie Berquam  as White Tara

"Om Tare, Tu Tare, Tare Soha

White Tara, Bodhisattva

 hear us now………. "

Cathy Peterson  as Bridgit

"I am still with you, children of the children of the children

of The Lost Isles, the Western Shores, children of Tiranog - 

I have not forgotten you, far from the homelands.

Remember Me, when the bard sings:

Raise a glass of golden mead to Brigid, Lady of the Celts"

Patricia Ballentine weaving Spider Woman's Web

"Once, you could see the Web just as plain as day. 

Song lines, ley lines, threads, links, the pattern.

Each shining thread connected to each shining, light woven strand.

You say you can't see it - Well, take a look around!

You don't need to climb a mountain to get the big picture!

All of its snaking rivers 

and twining roots

Are inside of you"

Jurema Silva as Yemeya

“We Call Upon Yemeya, Ocean Mother, “Yey Omo Eja”, She Who is the Mother of the world,She Whose Children are the Fish and the great whales and all the wealth of the sea ... The great tides are your rhythms and moods. Bring to us your gifts of Beauty, Compassion and Protection.”

Susan Langston as The Cailleach

"We Call Upon The Cailleach, Old Woman of Winter, most Ancient Ancestor, Divine Hag who creates the landscape with her giant strides and staff, brings the changing seasons of cold and wind. She whose face is as weathered as the rocks and as blue as ice, Bring us your gifts of Endurance, Wisdom, and Primal Ancestry"

Spider Woman weaving with the Audience

Deb Erickson as Flora 

"We Call Upon Flora, Goddess of flowers and springtime whose steps upon the Earth dance forth the returning fertility of the land. She whose presence infuses the air with the perfume that attracts the bees and teases into expression the blossoming of new love. Bring us your gifts of Playfulness, Imagination, and Inspiration! "

Shawn Vougeot as Quon Yin

 “We call upon Quan Yin, Goddess of Mercy, Bodhisattva of Compassion, holder of the healing waters, who through your arms offer comfort to the suffering of the world. She who hears the cries of the World, Bring us your gifts of Kindness, Honesty and Mercy. "

Raechel Murphy as The Goddess of the Turning Year

"We Call Upon The Goddess of the Turning Year, She who stands at the crossroad of the Wheel of the ever turning year. She reminds us that we are ever changing and ever moving with all living beings, and our lives mirror the Turning of the Seasons, each beautiful, each challenging. Bring us your gifts of the Return of the Sun in the dark of Winter, and the Promise of new life as a new year begins."

Dalia Gamal as Isis 

 “We Call Upon Isis, Lady of Ten Thousand names. Moon and Mother of the sun. Mourning wife and tender sister, you are the culture –bringer and giver of healt. You who have known sorrow and bring the gift of grieving….you who flooded the Nile with your tears, Bring to us your gifts of Restoration….and Renewal!

Kay Rydeen as Green Tara  

“We Call Upon Green Tara, Goddess of immediate action, remover of obstacles, She who is of youthful face and peaceful presence yet poised for quick movement and encouragement as we aspire toward enlightenment. Bring us your gifts of Presence, and the Removal of Fears."

Kva Mary Wajer as Hagia Sophia 

We Call Upon Sophia, Mirror of Wisdom, You who are the first and the last, honored one and scorned one….whore and holy one, wife and virgin…Mother and daughter, the Silence beyond comprehension. Bring us your gifts of Self Knowing and Expanded Consciousness”

Tina Cotterman as Gaia

"We Call Upon Gaia, the Mother of All, Eldest of all beings. She births and sustains allthe creatures of the world, all that go upon the land, and all in the paths of the waters, and all that eek the skies, and all that grow under the Sun: She feeds all of Her vast generosity, and Her beauty that sustains and evolves us. Hail, Mother Earth. Bring us your gifts of Beauty, Ecology of Soul among All Beings, and the ability to cherish our Source in Gaia."