New Moon 28th and Samhain (Halloween, All Hallows) 31st October

From the post for October ...

"The moon will be new on 28th at 03:41 in 28.3.  28 is about struggle, great exceeding, extraordinary action.

28.3 "It is a dangerous time and great care is required.  Pushing ahead willfully leads to misfortune." BBW

Just as with the Full Moon placement this New Moon highlights a channel in play as the south node position will be 38 giving the 28-38 channel of struggle.  All about picking the right cause to fight, a reminder perhaps to look at where we have been fighting and with what, echoing Saturn's presence alongside this south node energy since mid-September."

Given the process in our Parliament the last few weeks this New Moon's message seems even more important than before.

The Rune stepping forward to guide us for New Moon is Teiwaz ... Tyr's rune, he of truth and justice and the sacrifice for the greater good.  This rune is also associated with emotional maturity and wisdom.  Nuff said I would say ...





SAMHAIN - said 'sow-en' 31st - also All Hallows and Halloween!

The final of three harvest festivals and a cross quarter day falling as it does between the autumn equinox Mabon and the winter solstice Yule.  For some, witches in particular, it marks the end of one year and the beginning of the next.  And marks the end of a period of review started 6 weeks before.

Traditionally, and in many cultures, across all ages, this time of year is considered to be a time of the ancestors, of the veil between the worlds being at its thinnest.  The modern Halloween of trick or treat, as largely imported in recent decades from the US, is actually very similar to ancient traditions in northern Europe of collecting food donations for the whole community to come together, feast, and remember those that had passed over.

I've been following the sabbats for some time now and really enjoy the re-connection with seasonal changes.  It started about 15 years back when living in the far north of Scotland, at 57 north to be precise!  There the shortest day is a mere 6 hours and winter solstice became a far more important moment for us to mark than the Christian, and now very commercialised, Christmas, a few days later.  In fact we dropped that celebration completely for about a decade and simply marked Yule.

In the last few years I've marked all the sabbats and loved the fact that the year is divided by 8 moments to pause and celebrate and wonder at the natural world, moving through the seasons; the house is cleaned and smudged and a special meal prepared.

Of course if you tune into the moon cycles too you become inextricably linked to the connectedness of All Things.

And the Rune for Samhain ... Inguz ... an interesting one, not sure I've pulled that one for the blog before.  This one's associated with Freyr, Freya's brother, he's God of plentiful harvest and good fortune.  Inguz is the seed, of all potential outcomes.  It's in part about gestating the new ready to spring forward ... it always reminds me of the 3rd hexagram which I spoke of in the last post, difficulty at the beginning.  It's also the masculine and can sometimes refer to an actual man when used in divination.  Rather appropriate as we sit with our harvest before us and decide which seeds to plant for the new cycle.

November's transits will follow shortly ...