Scottish Practice and Folklore for Samhuinn

Samhuinn (Samhain in Irish) is the time of the ‘little sun’. Astronomically, it is a time when the seven stars that form the Pleiades rise at sunset, and the harvest is in. Seasonally, all plants and berries are gathered from the hedgerows, and cattle have been driven back to winter inside the villages.

In Scotland, many folk traditions date back to pre-Christian Celtic ancestors. Samhuinn contrasted with the festival of Bealltainn six months earlier in the year when folk celebrated the return of the ‘big sun’ and the fertility of the Earth. Fire was sacred to the Celts and part of both celebrations.

At both Bealltainn and Samhuinn, ritual ‘neid fires’ were also made. This involved the extinguishing of all the villagers’ hearth fires. Two special sticks were then rubbed together to raise the sacred fire. From this neid fire, hot embers, called clavies, were then taken to relight all the hearth fires.

The modern Hallowe’en is a blending of Gaelic myth regarding the supernatural and the sacred fire, and the early Christian beliefs of the dead and the day commemorating departed saints. This holiday began to truly take shape in the Medieval period. It is from this time that ‘trick or treat’ or ‘guising’ started. ‘Galoshins’ plays, irreverent social satires with set characters, were performed throughout Scotland. In them, youngsters wearing masks or “guises”, carrying turnip lanterns and causing all sorts of mischief, often took part.

The Reformation in the 16th century brought a fervent attempted to ‘stamp out the superstitious practices’; by the 18th century, many had disappeared.

In modern times, there have been movements to rekindle Scotland’s traditions and Celtic myths. Edinburgh’s Beltane Fire Society, which presents its Samhuinn procession on October 31 to mark the onset of winter,  runs from the Lawnmarket to Parliment Square. The Fire Society also performs the fire festival of Bealltainn on Calton Hill.

http://www.electricscotland.com/history/scotsman/halloween.htm

Note to self on wisdom

HA – lovely discussion today on an oracle study chat on the topic of wisdom. I’m writing this down, because I realise all this study and work I’m doing for ADF, looking at the virtues, and examining my feelings and thoughts on things really are increasing my self-knowledge. The debate was the idea that knowledge equals wisdom, and that it is a natural part of aging; one acquires wisdom merely by getting older and obtaining knowledge.

I completely, 100% disagree with that position. Historical examples aside, I know too many people who wield knowledge as a club over others, or who willfully refuse to learn a damn thing, even though they sound like encyclopedias. And, they get WORSE as they get older. More willful. More in denial. More entitled. No, the aging process alone does not bring wisdom.

Nor does the simple acquiring of knowledge. I can truthfully now say that my definition I worked up back in April is working for me. Glè mhath!

I’ll use myself as the perfect example of how one can acquire lots of knowledge, but be unable to translate that into wisdom. I’ve studied psychology since I was 12 years old. I’ve read literally hundreds of books on the subject, over the years. I’ve taken numerous classes at University. I understand where my issues are, why they are there, and other people’s suggestions on how to overcome them. I know different schools of thought, and different modalities of treatment. With all this knowledge, however, until recently, I never understood what was meant by ‘living in the past’ and how that was stopping me from healing. In short, I couldn’t take that head knowledge, and apply that in my life as a course of action. I couldn’t transform that knowledge into wisdom. I was missing the key to the locked door. I saw the door, understood it, could describe it in detail, but I couldn’t unlock it and walk through. THIS, this is why I know that knowledge isn’t the same thing as wisdom.

Once I had the key to the door, I was able to walk through it and leave the locked room and the carefully examined door behind. That, is the wisdom part. Knowledge is like examining the locked door. You know it. You look at it from all angles. You understand it, at a deep level. But, until you have the key, put the key in the lock and walk through it, all’s you have is a locked door to perpetually examine forever. You can acquire a limitless number of facts, and stuff your head with it, but in the end, it’s still just a locked door.

Week 18 Energy Work practice

For Week 18, and the next few weeks, actually, I’m going to be focusing on my energy work, sort of physical side of mental training, meditation, energy management. Many of the next few things I’m going to work with are from Eastern practices, especially Tai Chi. I have to spend a few minutes daily on these next series of work, I think. I’m happy about it though – doing Tai Chi is like playing, I love it so.

Here’s the practice:

Entering tranquility

Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart, toes pointing forward. Shift your weight slightly forward onto the balls of your feet. Do not lock the knees.  Keep your knees spread apart slightly, as if you were sitting on a horse.  Don’t allow your knees to flex inward. It helps to imagine that you have something like a basketball held between your knees keeping them apart. Keep your abdomen relaxed and “soft”.

Breathe naturally into your lower lungs, letting your abdomen naturally expand and contract: Don’t breathe by flexing your chest. Use your diaphragm instead.

Now imagine that someone has attached a string to the top of your head and is pulling upwards. This will straighten your back and roll your backside under your spine to support it better. Let your arms hang at your sides with the palms turned to face behind you. Lightly touch the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth.

Relax.  Do not allow any part of your body to tense up. If your body is tight or tense this will restrict the flow of chi or energy and eventually cause distracting discomfort. In this posture all of the energy channels should be free. Breathe naturally and deeply. Don’t rely on shallow chest breathing: Relax your abdomen and let the diaphragm drop, drawing air deep into the lungs. Focus on your breathing at first. Take a deep breath in, hold it a moment, inhale a little more, and then exhale completely. Once you have exhaled, hold a moment, and then exhale a little more before taking the next breath. After a while you will do this without thinking about it. Inhaling a little extra before exhaling and vice versa helps you to do this deep breathing with less discomfort. If you are distracted or preoccupied, imagine that your concerns are being expelled from your each time that you exhale.

– Kerr Cuhulain

Source:
Order of Scáthach foundational energy practices
http://dunscathach.wordpress.com/lessons/
Yes, I know this isn’t cited correctly!!! But at least I can find it!