Saturday night bonfire, originally uploaded by heatherbirdtx.
In Becoming, it is known that Samhain is mine. It is my favorite holiday, the one that stirs my ritualist’s imagination.
When I create ritual, I usually start with the “feel” or atmosphere of the ritual, rather than a precisely worded intention. That comes as the ritual forms in my head. Usually a piece of the ritual will dance in my mind’s eye for a while before the intention and the whole ritual blooms from my subconscious.
I create ritual the way I create art, it seems.
This year, I was going to be “lazy” and use the ritual from last year with minimal changes. The ritual had other plans. A component from last year’s rite wanted a bigger role, wanted us to really dance and let loose more. A song suggested itself and wormed its way into my ear — over and over again.
When I bounced the idea off a Samhain co-conspirator, he loved it — much to my surprise! I really thought he would give me a reality check. Instead, I got a free ticket to the land of “why not?” and “f**k yeah!”
But the overall plan wasn’t gelling. Or should I say, I wasn’t sitting still long enough to write out the narrative to give the other co-conspirators an insight into my thinking.
Yesterday, I did just that. Opened my laptop on the commuter train and just typed out what I saw, what was flowing up from my heart and into my imagination.
And now….NOW, I am excited for Samhain. I can’t wait until we meet and start planning how we are going to do this and that! I am hopeful that my co-conspirators will be just as excited.
And with that, my Samhain season officially starts!
