Halloween: Season of Life, Death, and Resurrection

The Pharaoh Seti bringing offerings to the God Osiris (Usir)

Isis Queen of the Nile

Halloween: Season of Life, Death, and Resurrection

Osiris

"Farewell, O Sun, ever-returning Light,
The hidden God, who ever yet remains.
He now departs to the Land of Youth (Tir na nog)
Through the Gates of Death
To dwell enthroned, the judge of Gods and men,
The horned leader of the hosts of air.

Yet, as he stands unseen without the Circle,
So dwelleth he within the secret seed--
The seed of new-reaped grain, the seed of flesh;
Hidden in earth, the marvelous seed of the stars.
In him is Life, and Life is the Light of man,
That which was never born, and never dies.
Therefore the Wise Ones weep not, but rejoice."

"At this season the Night is waxing and the Day is waning; for nothing ever remains without change, in the tides of Earth and Sky. Know and remember that whatsoever rises must also set and whatsoever sets must also rise."

Samhain/Halloween the old Celtic New Year

The Wheel of the Year has turned and Summer passes into Winter on this night of magical transformation. Here on this night of nights we are between the worlds where we belong neither to the past nor to the future. The dark of night is waxing and the day of light is waning. At this time we turn within. All living things in the northern hemisphere are now attuned to the season of Night and Winter as the life force withdraws into the earth to rest and restore itself for Spring's rebirth. The veil is thin, most thin, and the door stands ajar. As of old the harvest has been gathered in and we look back to the year of work gone by, to the future which is yet to come and remember those who have gone before us.

In ancient times our Celtic ancestors approached this season of transformation most seriously. At this time of the year there was great psychic stress. Life and death decisions had to be made. The harvest was gathered in, the breeding stock for the coming year had to be chosen and the rest of the herds slaughtered to feed the tribe. Would there be enough to get them through the coming winter? Would those animals spared be enough to renew the herds when Spring came? Who would live through the Winter and who would die? Therefore this was anciently a time of communion with the dead, a time of propitiation and sympathetic magic. It was also a time for divining the future and celebrating life in the face of death.

Then as now those who follow the old ways approach this night with reverence and with mirth to celebrate and affirm life with worship and wonder, with feasting and revels and all remembering the Scorpio themes of life, birth, death, and rebirth. "To fulfill love, you must return again at the same time and at the same place as the loved ones; and you must meet, and know, and remember, and love them again. But to be reborn, you must die, and be made ready for a new body. And to die you must be born; and without love you may not be reborn."

In Ireland on Samhain "the doors of the sidh-mounds were open, and on this night neither human nor fairy needed a magical password." Whatever was left in the fields was abandoned to the Pooka, a hobgoblin shapeshifter who spent this night destroying all that had not been reaped. At this season in ancient times propitiation was a serious affair involving sacrifice and also the leaving of offerings for the dead who returned now to visit the living. Echoes of this yet remain with us now as children trick or treat on Halloween. The old feast of life, fertility and uninhibited eating and drinking is still very much with us. In America we have a large Irish population which brought the old holiday with them to the new world and it is now one of the most popular American holidays among children and adults. It is estimated that half the homes in the United States are decorated for Halloween!

Hallowe'en is still Irelands bonfire and firework night. In the County of Wexford in recent times children would seek apples, nuts and "money for the King, money for the Queen" and one child would appear in Mask as 'the Man in Black'. From him the challenge would come "I am the Man in Black-do you know me?" to which one had to reply "I know who you are, but you are the Man in Black." In the old records of the witch trials the High Priest of a coven was referred to as the Man in Black.

On this night divining the future was very important to our ancient ancestors and in later times this custom continued and survived in the form of more personal divination. On Halloween it was especially customary for young women in Ireland to seek to discover the identity of their future husbands by the way roasting nuts would jump or by gazing in a mirror to see the face of that unknown beloved. Apples and nuts may have become part of the lore of divination in later times but anciently their original meaning was related to fertility. In those ancient times at this season there was "a deliberate (and tribally purposeful) sexual freedom" expressed and of course this feast was anciently also a festival of "first fruits." This night was also a Mischief Night presided over by the Lord of Misrule, whose reign began now and would last until Candlemas. The intent of all these rites and practices is to look primordial chaos in the face and affirm our faith in the Divine, affirm our faith in life and the future.

The Osirion at Abydos (Abtu, Abdju) Temple in Egypt

Scorpio is about deep love and so is this season of transformation. It is a traditional time to remember our loved ones who have passed into the other world. According to the tradition of ancient Egypt, it was at this time of the year that the death and resurrection of Osiris, the Lord of Life, Death, and Resurrection, was commemorated. It was also during this time that the Goddess Isis undertook Her search for Her murdered Husband, Her lost Beloved. As the old story goes Isis sought, found and resurrected Him. These events were commemorated at this time of the year from October 31st to November 3rd. They were celebrated all over Egypt and most especially at the most ancient Temple of Osiris called the Temple of Abtu (Abydos). This Temple may be six or possibly seven thousand years old and is the Holiest site in Ancient Egypt. In those times one had to make pilgrimage to Abydos at least once in his or her life.

Three thousand year old Lapis Ankh (Key of Life)

Tradition holds that Osiris was murdered and set adrift on the Nile when the Sun was passing through the sign of Scorpio. He was the God of fertility and of the afterlife and these are aspects of life traditionally associated with the sign of Scorpio. It was believed that it was the power of His fertility which caused the Nile to flood in it's season and fertilize the land of Egypt. Osiris was responsible for feeding the hungry millions, and it was the great love, faith, and loyalty of Isis for Osiris which awakened Him to eternal life and called forth the Nile flood, giving life to the land and the people of Egypt.

Sirius the Star of Isis

Scorpio as a sign deals with a descent into the underworld to find the essence of life, a descent into that place from which there is an eternal return and renewal. This is a season and time when we all in our own way participate in that process even if only through participating in the transformations of nature. It is a time when we remember our own loved ones and the meaning of life and love, past, present and future.