By Lady Samantha Coven TCOTM 3rd Degree High Priestess in the Norse Tradition of Witchcraft
There is something to be said about the energy of autumn, particularly in the weeks leading up to Samhain, the Witches New Year, pronounced sow-in in Gaelic. The magic that fills the air with the presence of spirit, the decay of life we witness around us, the migration of birds, falling leaves and the tradition of Halloween we celebrate in the West, all contribute towards the essence of the season.
In the Wiccan tradition, we acknowledge the celebration of thanksgiving for the harvest within the agricultural season of autumn. We witness the death of life through the ripening of apples and other fruits, the bread we produce from ready grains, and the matured corn cut down and enjoyed. As wiccans, we acknowledge this death associated with the bounty of the Earth, as the sacrificial death of the God who dies for the Goddess, so that She may live through the winter. Some time around Mabon, the Fall Equinox, the God dies and journeys to the underworld where He will stay until resurrected with the light in the spring.
The Goddess is left alone in Her waning age. Already a mother, She yearns for Her lover and consort at this time and makes the conscious decision to journey to the Underworld to confront death. We see this story played out in many cultures, from the Greek myth of Persephone and Hades to the Sumerian myth of Tammuz and Ishtar.
She must pass through many gates in the Underworld that require her to be tested, to give up a piece of herself, to let go of her attachments and be stripped down until she reaches Her lover with nothing to hide behind with who she is, with all of Her light and Her darkness, Her shadows, Her lessons, and Her truths.
This stripping away is represented by the journey we all make in our own darkness, to confront our own shadows, our own demons, our own patterns that limit us from true intimacy and meeting with our reflection of awareness in our true form of pure love. The God and the Goddess evolve in their relationship through this archetypal understanding, offering us the teachings in the fertility and death dance of life: The teachings of strength, surrender, openness and vulnerability of the heart’s lesson. This is the marriage of the God and the Goddess in the Underworld. The marriage of shadows, the marriage of reflection, and the marriage within death.
The Goddess gains the wisdom of the crone in Her descent and waits patiently for Her transition into the void of winter to ultimately again become the maiden in the new year.
Blessed Samhain to all!
May you all be blessed within your Journeys this Scorpio Season of Darkness.
Lady Samantha
Lady Samantha is a 3rd Degree Initiated High Priestess in to the Norse Tradition of Witchcraft. She has been running sabbat rituals within the Open Coven of TCOTM and teaching classes since 2009.
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For upcoming Rituals: visit Open Coven Rituals.