The Pagan Heart
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August-September 2005 Issue
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From the Desk of
Samhaine is an interesting time for me. A time to examine one's innards, as it were, and clean out the dross to leave the mind and spirit fresh and renewed. How many of us really do this I wonder? And how many take this as an opportunity to eat lots of lollies and dress up? Not that there's anything wrong with chocolate and fancy masks - I certainly enjoy the whole kit and caboodle. But this year, watching my children preparing for the parties and trick or treating during our local Mischief Night festivities, I wondered how much they really understood - or wanted to. Pig out or gaze at your navel lint - an unequal competition for most children and this has left me at odds finding ways to ensure Samhaine isn't lost in the crinkle of chocolate foil wrappers. Like many Pagans I separate Samhaine from Mischief Night (or Halloween), reserving one for the fun and the other for the more serious aspects. But I have learnt with children that if I want their participation in and desire to comprehend Samhaine, I must tone down the spirituality and throw in some games. You think I'd understand that naturally, but in my years of practicing as an adult - especially during my oh-so-serious early days - it was the solemnity and contemplative nature of Samhaine that appealed. I didn't miss the fun and games. Some of my friends ask when I will resume rituals sans offspring, as if my children are some burden to be shed if possible. Once I would have agreed with them, eager to escape and have adult time. But times, and people, change. (I can be a bit slow on the uptake as my wife delights in telling me). Not these days. I cherish my time alone, but ritual and religious observation is not that time. I finally realised that if I want my children to grow up to be spiritual adults and active participants in their faith, I need to involve them in my observations. And that means child-friendly rituals. So we have apple bobbing and candle leaping, divination and scary stories intermingled with the ritual. And you know what? I have discovered that those "childish entertainments" really do bring a certain reality to the ritual. There are times when I am bobbing for apples in a pail of icy water (it is afterall November in Scotland) that I feel I am touching the face of God. A reminder that in this time of darkness and contemplation, it is joy and a desire for life that ensure we survive the winter. In light and love,
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