BETWEEN WORLDS
The wheel of the year is taking its last turn; it is creaking, its wooden corpus adjusting to the changes of time and still, eternally spinning. We have been through the cycle once more – planting the seeds on Imbolc, igniting the fire on Beltane, and bringing in the first harvest on Lammas. And now, on 31st October: Samhain, the Sabbat of transformation, of death and renewal, the Sabbat of remembrance and integration.
Transformation is a big word, and it can feel scary and daunting. We crave it, the liberation that comes with it. Changing the form can make us feel bigger or smaller or different altogether. The Sabbats signify the phases of a cycle, asking us to stop and look around and reflect on what is, what has been and what will be. The Maiden, The Mother, The Queen, and The Crone – they are one, and they are there to greet us.
A Walk Through The Cycle
Let’s walk into the woods and revisit nature’s journey through the cycle. Under Winter’s still surface, seeds are stirring in the ground after the time of darkness, ready to come out and break through to the world. Delicate buds appear in the morning frost, hints of new leaves become visible on the empty branches of the tall and resistant trees. We, too, come out of times of darkness like this – we need time to sit with new ideas, with new trust, with new stamina until we slowly turn our energy outwards.
Spring brings an explosion of new life; flowers are opening their blossoms, the forests shine in endless shades of green. Animals buzz and hop and celebrate the joys of life. There is growth and beauty purpose. We are riding a high during the phase of the cycle. We celebrate the progress that becomes visible, tangible and fathomable for us. It is a celebration that lasts during the Summer.
It is high Summer when the first harvest is brought in. Tall sheaves are standing majestically on the fields, evaporating the summary smell of hay and sun and heat. The forest is lush. The first crop is ripe and baked into bread – another transformative step. This is the third phase of a cycle: after the peak of productivity, results are coming in; be it small projects or our personal development. We feel like reaching a plateau where we can walk around and look at all the work and the progress and the results. It is the start of an exhale after the inhale’s pause.
And now, the final phase. It is Autumn. The forests light their fireworks – so many colours! And just when you think it couldn’t be any prettier, the leaves start to fall, to die. The trees’ energy is starting to draw inwards. It is the most beautiful and the most melancholic part of the year. But the leaves do not disappear – they transform. They change their form and become soil and give their best to the seeds that are sleeping in the ground. Our own transformation is reaching its final stage of the cycle, too. We prepare to rest, to get cozy, to sleep. Our work and our development is still there, it has just changed form.
The Beauty of Transformation
Nothing is ever lost. Samhain celebrates exactly that: open your heart and soul to those who were there before us, those whose efforts and development and love still affect us. They have been transformed. We are transforming – life is cyclical and everlasting and nothing ever stands still. Samhain shows us that there is so much beauty in change, in letting go, in exhaling. The thinning weil lets us touch the past and the future and rest in the in-between for a moment. Blessed Samhain!
“Everyting is beautiful, because everything is dying.” (New Model Army)
Kerstin Wolff