30/04/2022
SAMHAIN IN AOTEAROA
By the end of April the light is receding, nights are drawing in sooner, leaves have fallen to the ground, and there is a definitely chill to the air as evening falls.
In the Southern Hemisphere we tend to 'play act' Halloween, having imported the commercial aspects straight from the Northern Hemisphere in October - but Samhain on April 30 has the potential to be one of the most powerful of our seasonal festivals. To restore the real meaning of Samhain, we need to celebrate it when nature appears to be dying and the time of darkness is upon us. All the more poignant is that in Aotearoa we honor our fallen soldiers as a country in NZ and Australia on ANZAC day, April 25; just five days before Samhain.
This is the time when the cattle that had not been slaughtered for meat, were brought in for wintering over and people prepared themselves for the bitter cold and scarcity of winter. Hens had ceased to lay eggs, and all the harvest had been collected.
For Maori, this marked the end of the Kumara harvest, though other foods started coming into season such as taro, fern root, gourds and cabbage tree suckers. As such, the emphasis of gathering shifted more to the bush than agriculture, and thus into the domain of Tane, the God of the Forest.
The Kiore, the NZ rat, was also an important food source. Unlike the European rats later introduced, the Kiore was a creature of clean habits and had a mainly berry and nut diet. It was a companion animal revered in waiata and carvings, and considered to be a descendant of the Goddess Pani.
This was the time when people face their fears about aging, death and decay - who would be carried away over the harsh winter months? Many people today, without really knowing why, still fear the coming of winter and so they reject the great power this season evokes.
In Goddess based traditions, this is when the Goddess enters her crone phase, and Maori tikanga recognised this in venerating the Kuia or aging woman of the tribe, for her wisdom and power by presenting her with gifts and sacrifices.
Consider the forest and the hunting season of the ancient Maori who at this time ventured into the realm of Tane in search of Kiore and birds to hunt. This could be a time to make a night journey into the forest, listening to the sounds of the wild creatures around you, taking time alone and facing the dark. Remember the Kiore who is the night creature of the underground and so remember what lies in our own underground, our own depths, to be faced in this season of coming darkness.
Additional ideas and correspondences for celebrating Samhain in Aotearoa might include:
Altar: Black cloth, symbols of Kuia (Wise Women), Kawakawa leaves, images of darkness and all things underground, images of the Kiore, harakeke seeds, taro, apples sliced in half to reveal the seeds within, bones, divination tools
Foods: Pumpkin and Kumara Soup, soul cakes, haggis, apples, cider, pumpkin pie, feijoa
Deities: Hecate, The Morrigan, Persephone, Hades, Osiris, Freyja, Anubis, Tane, Pani, any death/underworld gods or “crone” goddesses
Activites: Honor the Grandmothers/Kuia by sending a card, letter or gift;
Gather as a family around a fire to tell stories of the ancestors and old traditions;
Place a symbol for Matariki (the Pleiades star system) under a veil or in a container to represent Matariki's disappearance beneath the horizon;
Practice divination and/or spirit work;
Night journey outside to sit in darkness and face and name your fears;
Recognise and leave offerings those in your ancestry who have fought and perhaps fallen in the War
Inner Focus: What fears do you carry into the darkness?
What resources do you carry into the darkness to face your fears?
Contemplate the sacrifice of those gone before, in both times of war and peace. What is seeking to die or be released in your own life?
What lies in your shadows awaiting recognition?
