I've only gotten through one shelf of books thus far, on my search to find *why* Samhain is considered the time when the veil between the world is thinnest.
I'd never really thought about this before, till Dawn brought it up the other night. Now, understand, Dawn is another one of the engineers I love, so once again I'm stuck with someone who wants and needs data and facts. *grins* That's why you'll hear me mutter"damned engineers" frequently when in the presence of 'em! LOL Much as I hate to admit it, sometimes they make me want the facts, too. And to make things even worse (!) Dawn is a "human factors" engineer, so she's well versed in having to come up with *how* people think about things!
Anyway, in my own nutshell, if most Pagans believe in the wheel, or the circle - in other words, something that is continuous, no beginning, no end, then we have a mathematical plane that is 360 degrees. Each degree is equal - and it has an opposite. So, when we in the Northern Hemisphere celebrate Samhain, the Southern Hemisphere celebrates Beltaine. That makes sense in a weird way... But, then, somehow that thin veil has to get around to the Southern Hemisphere! So, eventually, degree by degree it moves halfway around. But based on things passing through the wheel of the year, then that veil is thinnest *somewhere* all the time.
This also makes sense to me. Not everyone is tuned to pagan thought. Wiccans and many Neo-Pagans consider Samhain "New Year's Eve". There's a good portion of the world that believes that Dec. 31 is New Year's Eve. "Should auld acquaintence be forgot..." If that is the day of memories for them, then I have to ask *why*? What about other cultures whose year ends at other times during the calendar? Is this a weighted thing? Designed to ensure that the cosmos is not skewed to tip precariously by having only one day to commune with the departed?
But then, let's throw in individual personalities. If you're a student, you may be tuned into a Sept-August mindset because that's the way most school years run. If you're in business, many times the fiscal year runs July 1-June 30. And, people tune their lives around HOW their life works! So, even within the circle, a Pagan student *may not* feel like Samhain is his/her New Year's. Or that's my take, anyway.
But, even though I've expressed some of the thoughts I have on this, it still leave me with a gaping hole to fill. Where does it definitively say that the veil is thinnest at Samhain? According to some Irish lore, there are four times during the year the veil is considered to be thinnest. My logical thought would be if this is so, then there should be a corresponding celestial event, like equinoxes to attach it to. But, Samhain isn't an Equinox, it's a cross-quarter. So, then, is the veil thinnest at the cross-quarters? Why shouldn't we honor our ancestors and our dead at each cross-quarter instead?
Orion's idea is very good. It's the end of the harvest, the beginning of the dark time. But, the darkest time of the year is not yet here. If this time of the year is to be more introspective, then why wouldn't we wait till it's a little darker...say, closer to Yule?
This is, in part, why I'm looking for a myth, or legend that explains why the veil is considered thinnest.
I'll keep you informed of anything interesting I find.
5 comments:
?? I made a comment yesterday on this - it appears to have been devoured...
Orion
This was the night the Old God died, returning to the Land of the Dead to await rebirth at Yule, and a time when the Crone Goddess would go into mourning for her lost son/consort leaving her people in temporary darkness.
Traditional lore speaks of the doors to the Lands of the Sidhe (pronounced "shee") or Faery Realm being opened.
Because October 31 lies exactly between the Autumnal Equinox and the Winter Solstice, it is theorized that ancient peoples, with their reliance on astrology, thought it was a very potent time for magic and communion with spirits.
I tried to do some research of my own and this is all I found.....
Don't know if it'll help any...
Yeah, Orion, you commented, and sad to say, I had a brain fart and had *far* too many windows open at once and accidentally deleted it. I'm sorry! Twasn't intentional! :(
Thanks, Trace! Yes, this is part of the reading I've done, too, and this definitely touches on what I want to know. Samhain is the last of three harvest festivals, the first being Lammas or the "grain" festival, the second, Mabon, which is the "fruit" harvest, and Samhain, which is the "meat" harvest. Traditionally, "when the gales of November start blowin' ", to quote a favorite song, the herds were supposed to have been brought down from the high pastures, and those which were not used for breeding the next year's stock would be slaughtered in order not only to feed the people in winter, but to eliminate excess mouths to feed in the herds. Because times became lean in winter, it was very common for the ill and elderly to die around this time. It became a mourning time, an expected time for death.
So, this part of it makes sense. And the legend you tell makes sense as well. But, based on the legend, there's not been anything I've found that actually says *something* about the veil being thinnest at this time. All I've ever found...at least thus far...talks about what the traditional lore says...but where the heck IS the traditional lore? Neither Dawn or I have been able to find it in the reference books we've looked at thus far!
Thank you for helping! *hugs*
I couldn't find any 'facts' or where the traditional lore came from etc...i'll keep looking though!
Post a Comment