Decluttering for the Samhain Soul 2016: Day 1

Decluttering for the Samhain Soul 2016: Day 1 October 27, 2016

The moon turns new this Samhain.

Beginnings dance with endings. One life ends, another begins. So is the cycle continued.

My own life has had both beginnings and endings this past year. I married my Shy Engineer, ending a life of being single and beginning one of official coupledom. `I started a new business and began the process of winding down my old one. And I continued to adjust to my life changes by culling away old possessions to make room for the new things brought by a new life.

This year’s five-day Decluttering for the Samhain Soul challenge will be more internal than external for me. I have some ideas for external spaces I might clear to support the changes I need; we’ll see how things progress.

In the past month alone, I’ve boxed up plates and bowls, glasses, pots and pans that we owned in single life. I unboxed and washed the new dinnerware we picked out together. I looked hard at the books I’ve collected to support my magical and spiritual progress over the years, and boxed the ones that are no longer relevant—so many that I no longer need three bookshelves, but just one. I hope the books will find good homes.

The old desk and chair that have been replaced for my new business. I kept the cat, of course.
The old desk and chair that have been replaced for my new business. I kept the cat, of course.

I finally released the old Ikea table that’s served as a desk, and bought a new one. With drawers. I hadn’t had drawers in so long I hardly knew what to put in them.

But with all this newness, all this clearing, internal blocks still remain. My own opening meditation this year had me traveling down the roots of the World Tree to a faery hall, where I saw my second chakra filled with a dark tangle of roots. Much needs to be done to clear away my self-imposed creative and generative blocks. The tool I used was the pocket knife I inherited from my Grandpa Wright; as a farmer, he knew a few things about clearing away the weeds. Also that there’s a time for everything, and when it’s time to work, you work or go hungry.

I then met Hermes on a misty sea shore, and we traveled to the sun-filled Hall of the Gods. The message was one of clearing away that which blocks me, and establishing structures to support creativity. Also that I may be working more with fey than ancestral energies this year. Which is unusual, as I think of Midsummer as being a more fey time. But I also understand Samhain to be the time the faeries return under their hills for feasting and song. This also would explain why my household faeries have been so thirsty lately. My office smells like a distillery, as they wanted both a very large glass (for faeries) of Irish poteen and a smaller one of Jameson’s. This is in addition to all the cream they’ve gone through recently.

The stars as we start our Samhain journey do very much favor taking a message to the Gods, or receiving one. Today Mercury conjuncts the Sun, an event called cazimi. It’s the time the Messenger stands in the presence of the Gods; a time when intentions for change have particular power.

We’re also in the last few days of the moon’s cycle. It will be new again 12:30 PM CDT October 30. So now is a good time in its cycle, not just the cycle of the year, to tune into that which needs to wind down, to die and be buried so that new life may grow.

As for a meditation for this first day, I recommend setting aside 20 to 30 minutes. If you have a journal you use for meditations or inner journey work, have that. I also recommend divination tools for further clues. I pulled three cards and three runes.

I did the meditation sitting, but that’s because the journey/images came to me at the tail end of my daily 20 minute silent meditation. I decided to just go with it, instead of setting a more formal time later in the day as planned.

Tools for Day 1: Journal and divination tools. Looks like I've got some struggle, some cutting away internal blocks, and eventually, successfully planting the seeds of an abundant new life. I'll take it.
Tools for Day 1: Journal and divination tools. Looks like I’ve got some struggle, some cutting away internal blocks, and eventually, successfully planting the seeds of an abundant new life. I’ll take it.

However, my original plan is as follows:

Light a candle and/or incense. Find a quiet space in which you can be alone for 20 to 30 minutes. Have your journal and divination tools handy. I did not cast a circle, but many people find that helpful before doing mediation or journey work.
If you like, use audio cues like music or drumming.
Lie or sit, as you find comfortable. Settle in with the intention of finding the root of your current issues with either physical or emotional clutter. Imagine that you are on a path. The path may be through a wood. It may be through a meadow or alongside water. Each of us has a path that will call to us alone. Walk this path until you see a guide, or an entrance into the earth. Light a torch, and walk into a spacious tunnel, with a firm floor. It opens into a larger space. Look around you. Are there images on the walls? Are there tools or other objects on the floor? Notice whether the chamber seems empty, or full. If it seems ordered, or disordered. Take all the time that you need.
When you feel you have seen all that is necessary in this space, go forward. Notice what is in the other chambers. Notice whether they are light, or dark. Notice whether they are ordered, or disordered. Ask your higher self, that part of you which is connected to past and future, ancestors and the Divine, to help you see that which is best for you to work on at this time. You may see or hear ancestors, spirit guides, animal guides, or even Gods as you receive answers. Again, there is no right or wrong thing to see, hear, smell, taste, or perceive in any way. Trust that you will be given the information you need.
Be aware that there is no right or wrong answer. If you see an image which seems important but does not make sense to your conscious mind, simply notice it and journal about it later.
When you feel you have all the information you need, or are going to receive at this time, give thanks to anyone or anything which was helpful. Leave an offering. Pick up your torch and return, noting whether anything seems or feels different as you walk back. Place your torch where you found it, or extinguish it.
Journal about your experience, including the divinatory clues you receive. Eat something; protein is particularly grounding.

I’ll be alert for comments or questions both on the blog and in the Facebook groups. Five Day Decluttering for the Samhain Soul Challenge is open to anyone who wants to join. If you’d like a more private container for discussion, Decluttering for the Soul is a private, members-only group. I will admit any who do not seem like obvious trolls.

We had a lot of activity last year, and I had quite a few requests to offer the work again this year. As an added incentive to do the work as it is offered, I’ll be offering five Tarot by phone consultations. I’ll draw a name each day of those who participated by posting something about their experience of  each day’s working on the day it’s assigned. I’ll do a sixth drawing after it’s over for those who may not have posted about their own experience, but offered supportive comments and discussion for those who did. I’ll post more about the spread I’m offering in the groups.

Good luck to you all. Even if you decide not to do this five-day working, I hope the ideas and concepts in it will be helpful as you move through the new year.

 

 

 

 

 

 


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