Bring our Crystals to the Moon tonight.
We all need our monthly boost of moonlight, and this moon is very very special indeed, so I am bundling up tonight, and going out, to soak up her energy.. Moonrise 5pm, GMT Dublin.
I am going to one of my favourite places, high in the hills, where the standing stones of quartz crystal sparkle and shine in the moonlight, where the Angelic energies, and the Goddess have been honoured for thousands of years.
Added to the excitement, it is now the Celtic festival of Samhain or Shamhna, (pronounced howna or sowen), meaning summer’s end.
Celebrated throughout the west as All Souls Day, All Saints Day, or Halloween, this festival has its roots buried deep in pagan tradition. It signifies a point of synergy, of endings and beginnings. It marks a portal, or threshold, a place of transition, and a turning point.
In early Ireland, this festival was the most important time for gathering at the ritual centres, the greatest, being the gathering of the tribes at Tara, the heart of the sacred land, and originally the place of the Goddess.
The Hill of Tara dates back to 2500 BC, and is the most sacred hill top in Ireland. Here the High Kings were required to mate with the Goddess of the Land, and warriors gathered to ward off visitations from the Fairie. It is likely that Tara (“Teanair” in Gaelic) was named after the proto-tutelary Goddess Tea Tephi or Teia, one of a twin, whom legend tells us, came to Ireland from western Europe, married an Irish king, and was responsible for constructing the interlocking twin mounds we know today on the Hill of Tara.
The twin mounds on the hilltop are accredited to Teia, meaning “the light which is outside and visible“, and Tephi, her sister Goddess, meaning “that which is inside or hidden“.
The circular mounds are joined together, mimicking the many spiral carvings found in the Boyne Valley dating from 4000-2500 BC.
Spirals flowing into one another are regarded as one of the main symbols, occurring in neolithic Goddess religions worldwide. They represent and honour the endless cycle of renewal, birth and decay, and the joining of the two worlds, life on Earth with the Other world.
Together they form the bridge where the two worlds meet, and offer a gateway from earth, to the realm of spirit.
The word Samhain ( season of death and renewal ) translates from the Sanskrit ( samana “together”), and Old German ( saman “together”). For me, it conjures up images of the great gatherings, held at Tara, to celebrate the meeting of the seasons, where light meets dark.
I imagine at Samhain, this inbetweeny time when the veil becomes thinnest, the two worlds can meet, briefly, side by side, and that herein, a greater potential exists,. for magical creation.
Samhain or Halloween,.is a time of bringing together Teia,.. the light, earthly and visible on the outside, with Tephi,.. the hidden inner realms of spirit, the other world, intuition and the higher self.
For the old Celts, the year was divided into just 2 seasons, the light and the dark, Beltane and Samhain, the living or the dead. Samhain is the gap,
“When you breathe there is a mysterious moment between the tides of in- and outbreath. For a moment, at the fullness of breath, there is no movement. It is an in-between time. And again, after the outbreath, there is a stillness, rather like a little death. It is a lovely practice to turn your soft attention to these points of stillness. Though they are fleeting, yet they speak of that which is always present” from “On the Threshold” by Mary J, Jakshe.
Tonight, or any of the next few evenings, bring all your Angels and crystals out, and let the moon replenish their energies, and yours. May She bless you.
Love and connection,
Linda.