Did you know that the dead had nothing to do with Samhain? Originally the Gaelic festival focused on the supernatural as around this time the membrane between the worlds thinned, the need for protection was heightened, fires were lit to ward away the darkness, spirits and other unspeakable creatures. Creatures that within Gaelic texts and mythology invaded our world, heroic and royal figures met their untimely demise by their hands and ancient capitals were laid siege to. This link to death and ancestors didn’t come into play till about 700CE when the pope moved the the holiday All Saints Day to November 1st, whereby the churchs many saints were honoured and prayed to. Divination was themed around death and marriage, did you also know that Halloween was massive rival for Valentines day in the victoria era? 

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Mabon/Autumn Equinox celebrates the second harvest that included wild nuts, fruit trees and berries - usually growing without human intervention it was seen as wild, sacred and often a divine boon, a miracle that could save entire communities from starvation as around this time of the year you could gage if you had enough food to survive the upcoming winter - which was potentially a very bleak realisation. What unites communities around this time is the absolute reverence they had for this harvest, how did they display this and how can we bring this festival into our modern era that's so far removed from our food sources and agricultural calendars?

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Lammas is essentially the pagan harvest festival and it doesn’t get a lot of attention - not as much as Beltane or Yule - but it's still a really important time to honour and hold space for. Traditionally ushered in the ending of hunger and to celebrate the abundance that the land had produced. It was also quite a sexually charged event with the sexes coming together to harvest the crops and we see marital fairs set up and temporary marriages arranged which could be made permanent after a year if the couple agreed to it. How is this festival relevant today in our modern world and what lessons can we learn from it? 

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