Samhain: Permission to Grieve

in honor of all we've lost

At this Samhain threshold, the time of honoring our ancestors, celebrating the darkness, and reveling in the mysteries of what is to be… we are collectively breathing in and recycling our grief. Grief is the water we are swimming in. Grief is the ritual and the medicine. Through honoring our grief we will find the answers. 

Traditionally, this is the time of year for ancestral reverence. Just as the Earth is navigating its annual cycle of decay, so too our animal bodies are called on to reckon with what we have lost, what we must let go of in order for our spirits to continue evolving, and what is ready to decompose and be reborn. The brightness of the Earth’s display, its golds, and blood reds, are a key to how we might celebrate at this time. Light candles that shimmer in the dark morning light. String rowan berries together into garlands for protection all Winter long. As nature dies, it celebrates its ultimate beauty. The descent into darkness and death is colorful, exuberant, saturated in heavy shades of feeling. 

And now, as we tread this spiral again, this Samhain we are being asked to be colorful and expressive in our displays of grief. No longer can we shutter away our sorrow. Lovingly articulated accounts of our despair - which neatly fit within the frames of social media - are not enough. This is the time for ritualized grief. This is the time for honoring death in grand Earth shaking ways - and in doing so celebrating the precious reality of a life. Let us be so loud in our grief that the powers of government and state have no way of silencing us. 

Samhain Divination

During this betwixt and between time, we are encouraged to keep all our senses open, to perceive messages from the beyond. Divination is traditionally an excellent way to honor these liminal spaces, as with divination, we offer a line of communication to those spirits and allies who wish to have their voice known. In order to support us, collectively, I have called on the spirit of the Python to offer us council at this deeply important time for the Earth and its planetary inhabitants. We thank the great serpent for their council, for making us conscious of our relationship with power.

I’m thrilled to offer this channeled tarot reading for you all for this Samhain portal. Please upgrade to a paid subscription for channeled readings at the Equinoxes, Solstices, and cross-quarter holy days. May the messages send healing ripples out into your universe.