Witchvox Article

Author: Asradel
Posted: October 29th. 2006
Times Viewed: 7,088

For those of us who call ourselves Witches, we know Samhain as a time when we can more easily see and feel through the veil that separates this temporal plane from the astral. It is a time to honor and commune with our ancestors and our beloved mighty dead who walked this plane before us and paved the way for our own walk.

We also know it as Halloween in a secular sense and recognize it as a time to explore other aspects of our personality. We playfully bring those aspects forward by dressing in costumes and letting our imaginations run wild and our inhibitions take a hike as we embrace the things that scare us and go bump in the night. All of these things are Halloween and Samhain, and the shrinking light, the gusting wind and the vibrant colors of the turning leaves enhance all of them.

But have you ever noticed how, around this time of year, it's also extremely compelling to stop and take assessment of where you are and how your life is going? It's compelling because this is the time of year when all is slowing to stillness and quietude. Those same turning leaves, gusting winds and fading light are all yawns and stretches of the living organism we call home. The Earth (at least for those of us in the northern hemisphere) is going to sleep.

As all living things, the Goddess that is our Earth must rest in her time. And this time of rest is part of the Her gift of the natural order of things from which no living creature is exempt. In the seasons of the Earth and the tides of our blood, there is a time for things to be seeded, a time for those things to grow and come to fruition and a time to harvest - to take them in and allow them to nourish us in our Karmic growth. The great Sabbat of Samhain is that time. It marks the final harvest in the great Wheel of the Year cycle.

In these days and times, most of us do not labor in the fields, so our harvests are marked in actions and outcomes. This is why images of where you are and how you got there can come quite sharply into focus now. It's simply time for this to happen. Sometimes more, sometimes less, but always the eye of the Witch's spirit turns inward as Samhain approaches.

Introspection is not always an easy gift to accept, however. Not everything we planted in the year preceding this time was noble or good. And, even if noble in intent, or good by nature, perhaps some things just didn't go as planned. These types of situations can easily lead to a person becoming discontented and even despondent when the time of reflection arrives. They can also inspire the more creative among us to avoid the process of introspection entirely. Neither of these is a healthy response to turning of the great wheel.

The life we have been given as we walk this temporal plane is one of continual learning. And, for those of us who have chosen to walk the path of living purposefully as members of the Wicca, we have an obligation to elevate and improve ourselves as much as our time here will allow. And so, it is our duty to give ourselves over to the nourishing process of harvest time.

As the spirit moves you, the simplest way to begin your psychic harvest is to take a look at where you are in your life at this time of falling leaves and failing light. Where are you in your job? Have you made improvements over where you were at this time last year? If not, are you reaping a steady harvest of satisfaction in some form? A steady paycheck perhaps?

Maybe no change is a good thing. Are you as happy in your work as you were last year at this time? There are no 'wrong' answers, but only honest answers will produce growth and hence direction.

How are you doing with your personal relationships? With your friends? Your family? Is everyone still around and there to support you or has your fan club gotten smaller? Are you as supportive of your loved ones as you might be? Is there something that you did or did not do that changed the dynamic between you and another person? For better, or for worse? If so, take a look at it and own it. Harvest it with your recognition, ingest it by claiming it as your own, and let it nourish your character.

Did you get angry at your job earlier in the year and wind up quitting without notice? Are you paying the price for that action now? Or did you work overtime and help get the work out on an important account before the deadline and make everyone on the team look good? Whatever you did, good or bad, just take a look and seek the wisdom there.

Don't try to do all of this reflection and assessment at once. Think of things as they come to you - don't force it. But think them all the way through when they do.

Be fearless. Whatever you do, don't shy away from the process. Sometimes the work in the fields of your psyche will last only seconds. Others, you will labor there for hours with no seeming end in sight.

And when the muse of Samhain comes on you to ponder deeply something that did not go as planned, or perhaps was not as noble as it might have been, or that you are downright ashamed of, don't let it defeat you. Take comfort in the fact that you have no taste for the bitter pill it produced, and, as such, will likely not repeat the same mistake again. Perhaps there is something you can do to plant a seed of healing.

But that's for a different season.

One thing at a time. Harvest and learn.

Brightest blessings for a beautiful Samhain.

Asradel

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Asradel

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