Samhain is\u2026<\/p>\n Can I be honest?<\/p>\n I\u2019m not feeling it this year.<\/p>\n Part of that is the weather here in North Texas. It was a relatively mild summer (only five days of 100\u00b0 or more) but it\u2019s been a very long summer. It was 90\u00b0 on Monday, for what we hope \u2013 but can\u2019t be sure \u2013 is the last time this year. It\u2019s cooled off a bit this week, but temperatures are still running 7\u00b0 to 8\u00b0 above normal. Summer doesn\u2019t feel over.<\/p>\n Part is the dysfunction and cruelty on display in this country. The federal government is shut down and those with the power to reopen it show no interest \u2013 much less urgency \u2013 to do so. Immigration is a complicated issue where good people can disagree, but previous administrations of both parties<\/a> have managed to deport millions of undocumented immigrants without having storm troopers terrorizing people just trying to make a living \u2013 including legal immigrants and U.S. citizens.<\/p>\n In Texas, the most important issues for the Republican-dominated state government appear to be harassing trans people and eliminating rainbows from crosswalks.<\/p>\n The war in Ukraine continues, and while there is a tentative peace agreement in Gaza, I see no indication either side wants peace on anything other than its own terms (there are no good guys in the Hamas \u2013 Netanyahu conflict, only bad guys and victims).<\/p>\n I could go on \u2013 I haven\u2019t even mentioned the economy or the continued rise of Christian nationalism \u2013 but why torture ourselves?<\/p>\n The bottom line is that the holiest day on the modern Pagan Wheel of the Year is rapidly approaching and I\u2019m in no mood to celebrate.<\/p>\n But I\u2019m going to celebrate anyway.<\/p>\n Because at Samhain \u2013 especially this Samhain \u2013 we need to remember who we are.<\/p>\n Walk into the home of even the most conservative Christians and you\u2019ll see old family portraits, artifacts, and mementos. You\u2019ll hear stories about grandfathers and great grandmothers and those who were the first to immigrate to this country. Ancestor veneration is something so basic to human culture that people do it without even thinking about it.<\/p>\n As a Pagan, I do my best to be deliberate about remembering my ancestors. I pray to them every day. I make offerings to them every week. And at this time of year I break out the old pictures, remember the old stories, look over the family tree. I don\u2019t have the details that my genealogy-obsessed cousin has, but I have enough to feel like I know where I came from.<\/p>\n The further back we go, the more the family tree becomes a bush with many roots and many branches. I know few of those ancestors\u2019 names, but I know enough history to know they faced challenges far worse than anything I\u2019m having to deal with. That doesn\u2019t minimize my own challenges \u2013 other people\u2019s greater suffering doesn\u2019t lessen yours<\/a>. But knowing that they lived meaningful, successful, and happy lives despite bad situations gives me confidence that I can too.<\/p>\n Remembering my ancestors is part of who I am.<\/p>\n When we honor our ancestors, we realize that sooner or later we will be the ancestors. None of us will live forever, at least not in this world.<\/p>\n Our mainstream society likes to ignore death, to hide from it, to deny the reality of aging with hair treatments and plastic surgery and desperate attempts to hold onto power \u2013 especially for those in high political offices. I\u2019m at a point where I know I have far more days behind me than in front of me, and while I have much I want to do \u2013 and intend to do \u2013 in my remaining years, I have to acknowledge death is coming<\/a>.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s OK. Death is inevitable\u2026 and it\u2019s necessary. Death does not end things \u2013 it changes them, transforms them, prepares them for something\u2026 more.<\/p>\n At Samhain we contemplate death, talk with our long-dead ancestors, and journey to the Otherworld. Then when our own death eventually arrives we will not be frightened. We know where we\u2019re going and what it will be like, because we\u2019ve been there before.<\/p>\n Two years ago at Samhain, I claimed the title of witch. My practice has always been very witchcraft-adjacent, but I saw no need to call myself a witch when my primary spiritual identities are Druid, polytheist, and of course Pagan. But given the direction of current events, I felt obligated to choose a side. I chose witchcraft<\/a>.<\/p>\n Regardless of what you call yourself, Samhain is a season for magic. Part of that is the liminal space between this world and the Otherworld. Part is the mainstream connection to Halloween \u2013 more people think about magic this time of year, so more people do magic, so magic in general is stronger.<\/p>\n I have two long-term magical workings going to close out this segment of my life and to move on<\/a> the next segment. I recharge and reinforce those workings periodically \u2013 I\u2019ll be doing that again between now and the end of the month.<\/p>\n Samhain is also a time for divination. I did a Tarot reading for my mid-range future earlier this week. It showed that I\u2019m headed in the right direction. I just have to keep putting in the work \u2013 both ordinary work and magical work \u2013 and I\u2019ll get there. That\u2019s encouraging news, especially now.<\/p>\n I\u2019m an engineer \u2013 I like tangible plans and tangible actions. But I\u2019m also someone who understands that when ordinary paths are blocked, we still have magic.<\/p>\n I am a sworn Druid<\/a> of the Morrigan \u2013 listening for her and to her is what I do. Samhain is her season, in part because of her connection with death, and in part because some of her most notable actions attested in lore occurred at Samhain. (Morgan Daimler pointed out that the Bed of the Couple<\/a> took place a week before Samhain, and the day before Samhain was when the Tuatha De Danann gathered for battle).<\/p>\n I\u2019m leading the Samhain ritual at Denton CUUPS<\/a> this year. Herself was quite clear on what she wants in the ritual: a call to action, to challenge people to reclaim their sovereignty and live their lives their way, in accordance with her values and virtues. And so we will.<\/p>\n I pray to the Morrigan every day. I make offerings to her every week. When the occasion calls for it, I lead rituals in her honor. That\u2019s more than what I do \u2013 it\u2019s part of who I am.<\/p>\n![\"photo](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2025\/10\/Samhain-2024-222-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>Remember your ancestors<\/h2>\n
Acknowledge death<\/h2>\n
Magic and witchcraft<\/h2>\n
Listen for the call of the Morrigan<\/h2>\n
![\"photo](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2025\/10\/Morrigan-10.04.25-01b-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n