Writing with the Ancestors: Honoring the Celtic Feast of Samhain

In the ancient Celtic calendar, the days of October lead up to the sacred feast of Samhain, which begins the new year and is the time when the veil between worlds is especially thin. It is a threshold time, when the old falls away and the new is coming into birth. When heaven and earth kiss. As the nights grow ever darker in the northern hemisphere we are invited to listen across the threshold for the voices of those we are connected to through blood and bone, as well as those who inspire us through spiritual lineage and wisdom.

Our ancestors have lived through their own times of war, plague, and civil unrest. We can hear their whispers in our bodies if we quiet ourselves long enough. Join us for this series of four live sessions where we will gather in a virtual sanctuary space and honor those who have passed before us and listen for what guidance we might receive in these lengthening nights for the challenging times we live in.

Each week, the core of the sessions will be a series of writing explorations inspired by our reading of various poems. These are meant to be generative exercises. We are not here to workshop and critique, only to honor and discover. We will also engage in song, poetry, meditation, reflection, gentle movement, and small and large group sharing to listen for the threads that we are invited to carry forward. Whether you know about your genealogy or not, you can still enter into this process and begin to weave together the images your blood and spiritual ancestors inspire in you.