Witches' New Year

Just as Samhain ends the old year, it must begin the new.. Reflection should continue during this dark time, but a growing sense of the changes to be made and the light to be sought should accompany reflection.

Samhain symbolizes both the past and the future, illuminated by the cycle of the seasons, forever linked as steps on the journey we must all make.

The Goddess tells us:
"And you who seek to know Me,
know that your seeking and
yearning will avail you not,
unless you know the Mystery:
for if that which you seek,
you find not within yourself,
you will never find it without."

We must look inside ourselves for self-knowledge and for the spirit that will sustain us in life's trials. Silence is one of the keys to seeking truth, for we cannot hear the answers in the midst of this noisy world in which we walk every day, nor in the noise of holiday celebrations however joyous.

 Samhain is also said to be the time when the veil between the living and the dead is thinnest, allowing us some communication with those who have departed. How befitting this is for such a time of endings and beginnings.

Reflections on death can be as instructive as the self-examinations just mentioned. When we think of those who have died, it reminds us of time passing by and of things we could have or should have done. This reminder, coupled with our lists of past and future actions, encourages us to take our New Year's resolutions far more seriously.

We know our time is limited, and most of us have much to do in our allotted time. Most of us have to make a living somehow, but death reminds us that we had better spend some of that time in pursuit of our other dreams lest they be lost in the struggle merely to survive.