Blessed Samhain

In my post last week, I wrote about Samhain and how it differs from the modern Halloween. One of the differences I mentioned was that since the Celts used the lunar calendar, yesterday, October 28th, rather than October 31st, marked the festival of Samhain. I also mentioned that the festival continued for three nights, making this day 2 of the festival.

Over the last week, I learned more about Samhain. I thought I would share some of what I learned.

1)    Academic uncertainty
What we think we know about Samhain is not certain. We know very little about the pre-Christian Samhain festival. And what we think we know should be taken with a grain of salt. 

2)    There was no Universal Celtic Festival
The pre-Christian Celtic people were not unified. The pre-Christian Celtic Irish were different from the Welsh, who were different from the Gauls, and so on. Indeed, they share linguistic and cultural elements. But we can’t lump them all together and say, “The Celtic people believed...” I will admit that I’ve been guilty of this. 

3)    Supernatural
In my last post, I implied that Samhain lacked supernatural elements. That needs to be clarified. 

Samhain was a liminal time when the division between our world and the Otherworld became porous. In modern occult language, we say that the veil becomes thin. It was this change that allowed the increased supernatural activity.

While it’s true that the Irish honored the dead during Samhain, they also practiced rituals meant for supernatural protection, such as bonfires and talismans. This belief in enhanced supernatural activity was found in Wales and Scotland; however, they didn’t see this time as connected with the dead. For the northern and central Welsh, it was a time for divination. 

While there was a supernatural element to Samhain, with the risks accompanying it, horror and fear were not the theme as it is with the modern secular festival of Halloween.

Conclusion
As contemporary Pagans, we need to acknowledge that our spiritual traditions, while they have ancient roots, are ours. They don’t exactly match up with the traditions of ancient people. And that’s okay. 

Samhain blessings to you and all who hold dear.

Samhain and Halloween

Note: The book Secrets of the Druids: From Indo-European Origins to Modern Practices by Teresa Cross was a great resource for this post.

Halloween is right around the corner. Needless to say, I’m excited about its approach. This is especially true since I have a preference for dark aesthetics. I can say that Halloween for me is more of a lifestyle than a holiday.

It’s commonly said that Halloween is a Christianized version of the Celtic Pagan festival Samhain. While they are related, that’s not 100% accurate. Like so much in life, it’s more complicated than that.

We begin with the date. We all know that Halloween always lands on the same date each year (October 31st). This is because Halloween is based on the solar calendar. However, the Celts followed the lunar calendar. For them, the full moon marked the month’s change. As a result, the date of Samhain changed each year. In addition, the Celtic holy days started at sunset. Hence, the Celtic festival of Samhain began at sundown on the last full moon of the month we call October. 

Unlike the modern Halloween, Samhain wasn’t a time of fear of ghosts and evil spirits. Instead, it was time to honor the dead rather than fear them. Nor was it for just one night. The Celts celebrated Samhain for three nights that began the night of the full moon. There was "food for the dead” in which food was collected and given to the needy. In addition, there were bonfires and the carving of turnips to resemble skulls (a practice that continues in modern Halloween with pumpkins.)

So as you can see, Samhain isn’t exactly the same as Halloween. I used to celebrate these on the same day; however, starting this year, my wife and I plan to celebrate them as two different holidays. We’ll celebrate Samhain as a three day festival starting at sunset on October 28th. Each day we’ll have a different ritual to honor loved ones who have passed on to the Otherworld. Then on October 31st we’ll celebrate the secular festival of Halloween as a night of spooky fun.

Embracing the Dragon

It’s impossible to overstate the influence of Joseph Campbell. Campbell was a professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College. While his most influential book was The Hero with a Thousand Faces, the PBS production The Power of Myth with Bill Moyers made him a household name.

Recently, I watched a clip of The Power of Myth in which Joseph Campbell discussed the myth of the European dragon. In the classic myth, the European dragon represents greed, for it guards either a hoard of gold or a stolen virgin maiden. In the myth, the hero fights and kills the dragon, taking ownership of the gold and winning the maiden’s heart. And they lived happily ever after.

 

In the clip, Campbell provides an interpretation from a psychological perspective. Campbell says that the dragon represents binding oneself to one’s ego. You’re imprisoned by your ego (i.e., the dragon), and the solution is to break the dragon and release yourself from the cave. How does one slay one’s dragon? By allowing yourself to “follow your bliss.”

Even though Campbell is one of the greatest minds on myths and comparative literature, many scholars question several of his conclusions and theories. While it might be hubris on my part to think that I’m qualified to also question Campbell, I propose an alternative psychological interpretation of the dragon.

Maybe the dragon is less like a hoarder or kidnapper and more like a family dog protectively watching over its homestead. Indeed, the dog will respond aggressively to any stranger approaching the house and fight to the death to defend the ones they love.

Understanding the dragon as a defender rather than an obsessive hoarder changes our approach. From a psychological perspective, the dragon isn’t an evil to be “killed.” It’s part of the greater Self. Therefore, we should embrace the dragon out of self-love. We can help the dragon understand we’re not a threat through patience and effort. Eventually, we would be allowed access to the treasure it protects.

This reinterpretation of the European dragon helps to bring the archetype closer to its Asian cousin. Campbell points out that historically, the European dragon is negative while the Asian is positive. By understanding the psychological archetype of the European dragon as a defender, we can accept it as a positive force in our lives that can aid us in healing.

Embrace the dragon.

The Long Goodbye

John Locke was a British philosopher who lived in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The American Founding Fathers based many of their ideas on the work of Locke. According to Locke, we must differentiate between the human animal and the person. The creature we call human is the physical being. Whereas a person is one’s own identity.

Locke wrote that what makes a human a person is their memory. Only because of memory can a person be held accountable for their actions. For example, if someone commits a crime yet has no memory of the act, they cannot be held responsible. Although still biologically a human being, their personal identity was absent, for they had no memory of their actions.

Locke was not the only philosopher to advocate for the importance of memory for the sense of Self. The mid-18th century Scottish philosopher David Hume also believed memory was critical to identity. The 19th-century psychologist William James focused on the importance of stream of consciousness in the sense of Self. James adds to Locke and Hume by saying that simply having a memory isn’t sufficient. Ownership of one’s thoughts, feelings, and memory must exist to create an unbroken continuity between your present and your past. 

Recent events in my life have made the aforementioned ideas about memory and identity very personal to me. 

For several years, one of my elderly dogs has suffered from health issues with her liver and pancreas. She almost died a couple of years ago and was saved by extraordinary vets at a local animal hospital. As a result of her health issues, she’s on a special diet along with various prescriptions. Her primary veterinarian describes her as “fragile.”

 

We’ve been noticing some odd behaviors from our dog in the last few months. Sometimes, she will stand in the middle of our living room and stare into space for several minutes. There have been times when she would lose bladder control and wet the spot she was sleeping. She’s also developed an OCD where she will drag one of her beds around the house until she finally lays down. After a few minutes, she’ll drag it to another location.

One night recently, these bizarre behaviors took a disturbing turn.

A few evenings ago, rather than just pausing and staring off into space for a few minutes, we found her standing in the corner with her nose against the wall like a toddler in a time-out. She stood there for the longest time. She then turned and began to aimlessly walk around the house. It quickly became apparent that she was confused. She would wander to another corner and stand with her nose against the wall at the new location. Again, after a long period of time, she would start wandering around the house. She was obviously upset and confused. Nothing we could do would comfort her or stop this behavior.

All that night, my wife and I took turns watching over her. Our immediate goal was to keep her safe. The plan was to call her veterinarian in the morning when they opened.

We suspected what the diagnosis might be. Dementia. And, if so, then any prognosis would likely be grim. There is no cure for dementia in dogs. We braced ourselves for having to make the hard choice.

Thankfully, by morning, the event had ended. Our elderly dog was back to her old self. We’re currently working with her veterinarian to determine the cause and to develop a treatment plan.

We’re realists. We know the day will come when she will cross the rainbow bridge, as the euphemism goes. Worse yet, we know that the recent event may be a horrifying glimpse of her final hours, making the situation all the worse.

Dementia is one of the great scourges. It’s an insulting and degrading disease. It robs us from our loved ones and from ourselves by stealing our personal identities.

Not only the eventual passing of our beloved pet but the possibility that she may go through the Long Goodbye is something we dread. My wife and I try to be Stoic, talk about the circle of life, and the need to avoid attachment. Stiff upper lip, as the British say. 

The reality is that everything about this hurts like hell.