Blessed Samhain

This is the time of year when the final harvest has come in and the fields are brown and dry. Unfortunately, it is also the time for us in Southern California to experience the Santa Ana winds and the late October firestorms that rage every year. There is a connection: we have harvested everything we can for this year’s growing season and we must let go of what is left behind. If nothing died, there would be no room on the earth for new things to be born. There would be no change or growth. We have learned that some plants require fire in order to break open the seeds, which will provide new green growth in the spring. For many cultures around the world, this was a time of bonfires to celebrate endings and beginnings; perhaps Nature is providing for us what we have given up as “superstitious”.

Our inner journey reflects the process of Nature around us. It is the time of reviewing what we have harvested in our lives during the past year, of giving gratitude, and of releasing whatever is in our lives that is no longer needed, or is preventing us from new growth. It is a time to store up whatever is needed to get us through the dark winter months ahead.

This is the time when many cultures had celebrations to honor the dead, the ancestors. In Japan, the festival is Obon; in Vietnam it is Wandering Souls’ Day. Among the Dahomey of South Africa, it is the Festival of Setting the Table for the ancestors. The people of Laguna Pueblo decorated the graves of their loved ones at this time, as did the Aztecs. This was the beginning of what we now know as El Dia de los Muertos. In old Britain, this was the festival of Samhain (Sow-en), a celebration of the final harvest, a time to honor all those who had died, and New Year’s Day. The Christian church adapted this festival and it became All Saint’s Day and All Soul’s Day, a time to honor the saints and holy ones who have gone before, and to pray for all those who have died who might be in purgatory.

Questions for Reflection:
- What did your culture call this holiday? What do you know about it?
- How have you celebrated this season?
- How does an awareness of your ancestors help you define who you are today?
- Who in your family of origin has had the most spiritual impact on your life?
- As an ancestor to future generations, physical and/or spiritual, what is the most important thing you would like them to inherit from you?

Ritual for Honoring our Beloved Dead

Rather than fearing our beloved dead, we choose to honor their memory. Our beloved dead can be of any species; we acknowledge that the death of an animal companion is sometimes the most difficult.

Light a candle for someone whose memory you wish to honor today. Speak their name, and reflect on the gifts they have given you. Light a candle for as many beloved dead as you would like.

Speak to the spirits of the departed, saying:

May the air carry your spirits gently. May the fire release your souls. May the water wash you clean of pain and sorrow and suffering. May the earth receive you. **

Be free, be strong, be proud of who you have been, know that you are mourned and missed, that no one can replace you, that you have loved and are beloved. Move beyond form, flowing like water, feeding on sunlight and moonlight, radiant as the stars in the night sky. Pass the gates; enter the dark without fear, returning to the womb of life to steep in the cauldron of rebirth. Rest, heal, grow young again. Be blessed. **

In the memory of all whose names have been spoken, and for others whose living and dying has been a gift to us, we are grateful. Death is a part of life, just as Birth is a part of life. There are no endings, only beginnings, in this great Circle of Life. We are not isolated individuals, but invisibly connected to all of life.

** Prayers adapted from The Pagan Book of Living and Dying, by Starhawk.

c. Bansagart 2003

"Sounds of the Divine"

Sunday, Nov. 12, 2006 10:30-11:30am
Presented by Glory Vernon and Denise Allen

Connection to Spirit manifests in many forms. We use our voices to make sound...to whisper, speak and sing our intent to Higher Power. Our voices are not our only instruments. Sound takes on many forms from the gentle tones of temple bowls to the heart rhythms of the drum. Join us as we raise vibrations and create a rhythmic, healing experience.


Unitarian Universalist Church of Long Beach
A Welcoming Congregation

Glory and Denise are ordained priestesses of the Temple and Fellowship of Isis.

Magdalen Hallowmas

Greetins lovers of the Magdalen, her Mysteries and Rites:

Please join us on November 5 at 5PM for the Magdalen Hollowmas
Where: Wylder Hall of UUCLB
Bring: Hearts, hands, and light pre-dinner foods
Who is Waiting? The Ancient One, Shamana
"She Waits" the powerful meditation text of Rosamonde Miller
with the body artistry of Anniitra Ravenmoon and the sound artistry
of Miranda Rondeau.
"She Waits" illumined by the Full Moon of Samhain-tide
reaching to the dark and the depths..."She Waits" in the cave of Deep
Time, in the deepest recesses of soul and World Soul
She waits for our hearts, our extension of love, our vision.
She waits for us.
Questions and RSVP to Catherine at thearosa@adelphia.net or
call 323.982.9662.
Please pass the word to circles and lists and tribes. She waits for
all of us; men are welcome.
Blessing and Blessed Be!!