Samhein is my favorite time of the year!
Regardless if how it is celebrated, it is accurate to call it a "holiday", whether you are referring to Halloween or Samhein, or even the three-day Mexican holiday of Day of the Dead.
As a Pagan, there are eight extremely significant moments of the year for us and Samhein is one of them. These days are the Spring and Autumn Equinoxes, the Winter and Summer Solstices, and their midpoints. They can be viewed as "Sabbats" or "holidays" or "festivals" or "celebrations", it really doesn't matter.
Most cultures will develop holidays along many of these dates because of Earth's Nature, the seasons, astronomy, the yearly cycles, and how it relates to our culture and/ or religion.
Many believe that Christians twisted some Pagan "holidays" to make it easier to manipulate Pagans into converting to their religion. Accurate as that may be, it really doesn't matter to many of us because any religion who pays close attention to the Earth and the sky would develop "holidays", rituals, or celebrations on many of these days anyway.
These are extremely epic and powerful moments of the year for many people, but especially Pagans. Even though some Sabbats- like the Solstices and Equinoxes- technically only last for a few moments, the entire day is just filled with this unique energy, which you would feel if you've celebrated them long enough.
During the Sabbats... from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to rest, everything is more... special. Magickal. This euphoria overcomes you. Your senses feel heightened, your spirit feels more "awake", you feel more connected to Nature, the Earth, your Gods, your past, and your ancestors. You feel compelled to do something extraordinary on those days. Its kind of how a child would feel on their birthday- but greater than that! Because its not just about you... its about everyone! And the Earth! And the Gods! And Nature, and the cosmos, and spirituality, and so much more!
If you believe in Gods and other spirits, you can feel them encouraging you to make the most out of the Sabbats when they come!
I encourage everyone, regardless of their religion, to annually embrace these eight magickal Sabbats of Nature and develop their own spiritual traditions around them!
As a Pagan, there are eight extremely significant moments of the year for us and Samhein is one of them. These days are the Spring and Autumn Equinoxes, the Winter and Summer Solstices, and their midpoints. They can be viewed as "Sabbats" or "holidays" or "festivals" or "celebrations", it really doesn't matter.
Most cultures will develop holidays along many of these dates because of Earth's Nature, the seasons, astronomy, the yearly cycles, and how it relates to our culture and/ or religion.
Many believe that Christians twisted some Pagan "holidays" to make it easier to manipulate Pagans into converting to their religion. Accurate as that may be, it really doesn't matter to many of us because any religion who pays close attention to the Earth and the sky would develop "holidays", rituals, or celebrations on many of these days anyway.
These are extremely epic and powerful moments of the year for many people, but especially Pagans. Even though some Sabbats- like the Solstices and Equinoxes- technically only last for a few moments, the entire day is just filled with this unique energy, which you would feel if you've celebrated them long enough.
During the Sabbats... from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to rest, everything is more... special. Magickal. This euphoria overcomes you. Your senses feel heightened, your spirit feels more "awake", you feel more connected to Nature, the Earth, your Gods, your past, and your ancestors. You feel compelled to do something extraordinary on those days. Its kind of how a child would feel on their birthday- but greater than that! Because its not just about you... its about everyone! And the Earth! And the Gods! And Nature, and the cosmos, and spirituality, and so much more!
If you believe in Gods and other spirits, you can feel them encouraging you to make the most out of the Sabbats when they come!
I encourage everyone, regardless of their religion, to annually embrace these eight magickal Sabbats of Nature and develop their own spiritual traditions around them!
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