A Small Samhain

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Much like our Mabon, Samhain was a quiet day. I didn’t decorate or bake this year. We weren’t sick, but we were low energy. We had made plans to go to a Spiritual Center’s open house, and it was tempting to just stay home. We went anyway and I am so glad we did. For one thing, we needed to get out of the house, badly. And when you have chronic pain, getting out of the house when you most need it is not an easy feat. For another, the person who runs the spiritual center is the same friend we had to cancel on during Mabon. We didn’t want to cancel a second time, and we hadn’t seen him since before the pandemic. 

After much mental preparation we hopped into our car, and accidentally took the scenic route to our destination. And I mean scenic! At that stage of fall, New England looks and feels like an oil painting. The colors of the leaves are all deep jewel tones, starkly contrasting with their neighbors over the green backdrop of chilly grass. We were not upset about having more time to take the sight in. 

Then we arrived at the Center, and saw our friend. It was good to see him and The Center still going strong despite the world being so rocked. The Center was where our coven used to meet, until we grew too large and had to relocate. We found a new location right before the shut down, then everything fell apart. Our coven has been inactive, and many members have gone silent since, but the little center that nurtured us was still here, and still felt a little like home. 

 As we caught up with our friend, we drank some mulled cider. He expected some new people to stop by, so he kept it simple this time. In past meetings he would mix all kinds of spices and juices to create bold and unusual flavors. He often got the critique “This is a lot,” but I always loved it. Even simplified, mulled cider is still a wonderful treat. 

We also watched the handful of adorable trick-or-treaters who stopped by. We met Spider man, a dragon and Princess Leia. Unfortunately, I left my pens and paper at home, so I did not get any autographs. A three year old befriended my bewildered spouse before becoming distracted by coloring over leaves at a kids table in the back. For any parents reading this, a fun small project you can do with your little ones is to gather some leaves, put them under a piece of paper and then color over the paper with crayons. It will capture an impression of the leaves underneath, and it looks really cool. Tell them it’s magic.

After we emptied our cups and headed out we realized we felt much better. Sometimes, when you feel really stuck and out of sorts, a brief change of scenery is really what is needed. I even had the energy to do a small Samhain ritual in the evening. The veil was so thin that journeying was easier than I have found it to be lately. We finished the day with Halloween treats and a witch show. Perhaps next year it will be in me to go all-out again, but for now, a small Samhain is enough.