Happy Celtic New Year. Today is the point when the light days are gone and the dark ones begin.As the Celtic Wheel of the Year turns, November 1st or Samhain (pronounced Sow-in) is a pivotal point of the Celtic year, a time of birth, death, reflection and regeneration. In the tradition of our ancestors, we descend into the darkness of Winter only to emerge on Brigid's Day, the 1st of Spring and the ancient Celtic Festival of Imbolc.
Close to mid-way between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice, Samhain is an ancient celebration, and one of the four major festivals in the Celtic calendar. Along with Imbolc (Spring), Lá Bealtaine (Summer), and Lúnasa (Autumn) these festivals split the year into quarters. Known today as "cross quarter days," together with the winter and summer solstice and the autumn and spring equinox they were the most important days in the Celtic calendar for an ancient people directly reliant on the land for their survival.
A time for remembrance, contemplation. Samhain teaches us to embrace the darkness, welcome the unknown, and celebrate the eternal dance between life and death, reminding us of the beauty within the cycle of existence.
It is a fire festival that celebrates renewal and re-connection. It is believed that, at this time, the veil between our physical world and the ‘Alltar’ (Otherworld) was at its thinnest. This allowed the spirits of the ancestors to cross the plain and wander the earth for a day. Food, drink and a seat would likely be put at the fireplace so that the souls of those who had passed may feel welcome in the family homes. These offerings were made in hopes that the spirits would be satisfied and bless the homes they frequented, giving a protection of sorts to the family. As Christianity arrived and adapted old rituals into their own, Samhain became All Hallow’s Eve and All Souls in practice.
The Celts, who lived about 3,000 years ago in an area which is now Gaul (France), Ireland, Wales, Scotland, England and Brittany, celebrated their new year during the Lunar calendar, around the 1st week of November, but it is now generally known as the eve of November 1.
This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of winter, a time associated with the end of the agricultural year and the falling leaves of autumn. On the night before the new year (Samhain), the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. It became a liminal, thin time between the two worlds.
To commemorate Samhain, vast bonfires were prepared, especially at this “fire festival” day, where the people gathered to burn detritus left over from crops and celebrated the end of harvest-time. Offerings were made to agricultural deities. Costumes were worn consisting of straw or animal skins . When the celebrations were over, hearth fires, which had been extinguished earlier in the day, were re-lit from a central bonfire, This act renewed the connectedness of the village people.
As a tree of both death and rebirth the Yew ushers in the first Lunar Month of the year. Towering in cemeteries and churchyards the Yew seems dark and imposing yet on closer inspection (the females at least) are cloaked in beautiful red berries.
These berries sustain birds in the cold whilst it's thick foliage of the tree provides sanctuary against the elements. The berries themselves reflect the two face of the Yew. The flesh is sweet and delightful yet the seeds will bring your heart (and life) to a stop.
In the ancient village of Nevern in Pembrokeshire. It has a 6th century church (St Brynach's Church) and in the churchyard there are a number of ancient yew trees (Taxus baccata). One of these yews near to the gate is called the "Bleeding Yew" which is about 700 years old.. It has a blood-red sap running out of it which has the consistency of blood - though it dries pink rather than brown.Nobody seems to be able to explain the phenomenon of this yew nor does anyone seem to know why this is happening. But it has been “bleeding” for as long as anyone can remember.
