October 31
Ogham: The Koad: 
Keywords: The grove, the temple, the silence, the void, initiation, reconnection with spirit, communicating with and appreciating the dead, recommitment to your spiritual path
Totems: Your personal totems
Guides and Deities: Your personal guides and deities, Crone Goddesses, ancestors and loved ones that have passed over, Hecate (Greek), Cerridwen, Holle (Germany)
Practical Guidance: The veil between the worlds is thin. Pay attention to impressions, intuitions, dreams, visions, and synchronicities. Those beyond the veil may be trying to contact you.
Koad/Grove/Day Ceremony
Holiday
Samhain, Hallowmas, Halloween is October 31.
Please note that on this day you can either choose to use the Koad ceremony or to use the Samhain ceremony since they fall on the same day and have similar themes. The Koad celebration marks the end of the Celtic tree calendar and completes the tree theme. The Koad or the Grove, the Day, represents the act of making space to communicate with Source and our personal guides and totems. Koad lends itself to a solo ceremony of gratitude. This is the day to take time out from our busy lives, and sit in silence.
Samhain marks the six-week sun position on the Wheel of the Year between the autumn equinox and the Winter Solstice and marks the ending of the seasonal Celtic year. On this holiday we remember and communicate with our ancestors and our unseen helpers in the realms of mystery.
Purpose
To celebrate the Grove. To unite with the oneness, universal wisdom, and unity consciousness. To renew our spiritual path and understanding. To communicate with the otherworld and seek courage and guidance from our ancestors and our loved ones who have passed over. We contemplate passing over the threshold.
Preparation
Have some incense ready to light within a holder or abalone dish. Make copies of the “We Are a Circle” chant included on page 219. You will need a bowl or cauldron of soil, one large central candle, and smaller candles for your participants to light. You will need a translucent bowl filled with water that is easy to pass from one person to another, and a flashlight.
Welcome and Greetings
Welcome to our Grove ceremony. Introduce yourself and go around the circle having each participant share their name and why they came to the circle. Have them close their eyes and share a moment of silence to prepare for the ceremony.
Call the Directions
Call the directions and invite in the energies of the Grove and your own personal totems, guides, and deities. This is a day to honor our helpers. We give our gratitude for their support and guidance. This is the time of year when we contact loved ones who have crossed over, spirits, ancestors, and the group mind of our clan. This marks the end of the year, when we let go of outdated ideas and influences and prepare for new beginnings in November. We honor the crone aspect of the Goddess.
Teachings
The Grove was our ancestors’ church. In Britain, the Grove was called the nemeton, and in Ireland it was called the fidnemed. The ancients met in the Grove to give gratitude and to hold their ceremonies and festivals and celebrations as they moved through the seasons and the Wheel of the Year. The Grove was a sacred place or sanctuary, and an enclosure for the gathering place of powerful spirits and entry into the Annwn, the spirit world. These groves often sat upon natural springs and were enclosed or marked by circular or square trenches or fences. The goddess of the sacred grove was named Nemetona. Often local gods and goddesses were invoked as well.
We celebrate this last day of the Celtic year as a time-out space. We call it The Day. It also represents any time that you choose to set aside for meditation, ritual, or ceremony. It is a time to renew your commitment to your spiritual path. This is your inner door to the mysteries. It is your sacred path. It is your own phone line to the ancestors and to their guidance. It is the road to our many incarnations.
We die and are reborn. It is the teaching that death is not to be feared. Death is a portal to new dimensions of experience, soul growth, and spiritual evolution. This is a special threshold for communication between the seen and unseen realms as well as higher dimensions of love and light.
This is a day that represents an initiatory passage through death and rebirth. It represents a “mystical death” that is an important part of every transcendent/ecstatic experience and spiritual transformation. It is a powerful element of shamanistic traditions all over our world.
This day represents unlimited potential, open possibilities, and all that is. It is the unnameable face of the god or the goddess. It is all-magical and all-powerful.
See this day as a day of transformation. This day encourages us to drop ego and embrace our identification with spirit. We identify with our essential self that never dies. We are no longer afraid of death. When we enter our light body, we become one with the regenerative power of the mysteries. We converse with our higher selves.
See yourself as an initiate of the Grove. To undergo a mystical death/rebirth trance journey includes elements of dismemberment, reintegration and transformation. In the process, one receives the gifts of magical tools for healing and shamanic practice. These tools include songs, stories, poems, symbols, allies, and guides. As we enter inner space we gain mythical awareness. This is a time for self-initiation.
Chant
What is the teaching of the Grove? Love is our birthright.
Our freedom comes from remembering our true essence.
Behold! We are spiritual beings having a human experience.
And we are free to communicate with our loved ones and ancestors.
We seek to understand and participate in the mysteries.
What is the teaching of the Grove?
Higher consciousness and unity.
Sing
Choose songs that honor the mystery, ancestors, and the divine.
Read
Honoring the crone.
This is the night of our crone.
She is our ancient medicine woman.
She is a hag, a mother, and a maiden.
She is our shape-shifter.
This is the time of our crone.
She is our midwife at our birth.
She is our escort at our death.
She leads us into every transformation.
This is the night when the veil is thin.
The doorways between the worlds are open.
She holds the lantern.
She lights the way.
She stands behind us in the darkness.
As we scry for her touch.
She serves us all with love.
She is our antidote for our sorrows.
She reminds us that there is nothing to fear.
She helps us to trust the dark.
She fashions us a boat to travel through the mystery.
She is the beginning and she is the end.
She is our own ancient dark lady.
We greet her with love.
Guided Meditation
Close your eyes and place your attention on your breath. Let go of worldly concerns and breathe slowly and deeply as you enter a quiet space within. Simply allow yourself to just be, as you travel deeply within yourself … (pause)
You find yourself in the middle of a great forest. It is a cool autumn day and the leaves are falling from the trees. You find yourself enclosed within a grand Grove. The trees are bright with their red and golden leaves. They sway in the gentle wind. Take a moment to notice the Grove and feel the wind upon your face. Smell the autumn scents of the forest. Above the Grove you see wispy white clouds traveling across the blue sky. You feel welcomed and at home here.
Take a moment to feel the strength, protection, and sacred space offered by this Grove … You move to the center and find yourself holding a basket full of the stems and leaves of the fifteen trees we have worked with over the year. You sit down upon an altar cloth spread on the ground and you place the many leaves around you. You give your gratitude for their grace and teaching.
From the edges of the Grove, a grand elder comes forward. She is dressed in a long forest green cape and the edges of her silver hair show from beneath her hood. She is ancient yet young. Her body moves with grace and aliveness. Her face is radiant, and she comes closer to you. Her smile is infectious, and you feel a deep sense of well-being in her presence. She beckons you to stand, and she takes your hand. She is the grand dame crone, the midwife of death and rebirth. She knows you well as she tracks your life choices. She is glad to have this moment with you on this magnificent portal day.
She is here to cut and reap what you no longer need. Let her take that which is ready to go: burdens, sorrows, regrets, denials, grudges, disappointments, procrastinations … Allow her to take the whole year and cut it away as you prepare for the new. She will harvest the energy and return it to you for the new. She reminds you that every moment is the beginning of a new story. (Pause)
She places her hand on your heart. At that moment the wind rushes through the Grove and the trunks of the trees sway and the leaves and branches seem to have a language of their own. Let them speak to you. All their messages from the mystery come to you. Allow the strength and power and magic to enter. Listen to what the trees have to say.
Your own guides may show up. What do they share with you? Here you can touch truth and wisdom. Here you can regain your power and determination. Let it be so …
This is your special Grove and you can return anytime you want to. All they require is that you enter and let your fears go. The Grove invites you into the silence. Here you meet up with your intuition, your dreams, your visions, and your aspirations. Look around you and give your Grove your gratitude. Thank the crone. Thank your helpers.
Know that you are cleansed and purified. You are reborn. You are brand new. You are ready to enter the new year and create a whole new story on a whole new level. Begin to return to the here and now slowly. When are ready, open your eyes. Ground and center.
Sharing
Have the group share their experiences from the Grove meditation.
Activity: Scrying
Scrying is an ancient method of communicating with the mystery. Looking into a bowl of water or a mirror with unfocused eyes often brings visions and impressions. We enter a portal into the mystery and we can see, hear, know, feel, sense, and imagine messages from our loved ones, our guides, and our totems. I like to do this in the dark with a translucent bowl filled with water and have a flashlight or light source under the bowl as I pass it around to my participants.
Say: “This day is set aside for communicating with the unseen realm. Within that realm rests our regeneration and renewal. This is your time to receive messages that you require.”
Turn off the lights and pass the scrying bowl around with a candle or a small flashlight held underneath it to illuminate the water. Have a time of silence for each person to look in deeply. Play some meditative music as the bowl is passed around.
Sharing
After everyone has had a chance, pass the talking stick and allow them to share what they saw or heard or envisioned.
Read
Honoring the ancients.
We circle around the center.
We call in the spirits of our loved ones.
We feel their loving presence.
We offer them our prayers of gratitude.
We circle around the center.
We call in the spirits of the ancient ones.
We feel their loving wisdom and truth.
We offer them our prayers of gratitude.
We circle around the center.
We call in our spirit totems, guides, and deities.
We feel their loving support and guidance.
We offer them our prayers of gratitude.
We circle around the center.
We call in the spirits of the trees.
We feel their grace and protection.
We offer them our prayers of gratitude.
To the unseen realm where we come from.
And where we will return.
We depend on you as our source.
You feed our intelligent hearts.
You guide our way.
You write in our soul’s journey book.
We feel your love.
We give our gratitude.
(Light incense)
And so, we send our prayers with the rise of this smoke.
And so it is. Blessed be.
Sing
Choose a song that invokes the mystery.
Activity: Honoring the Mystery
Turn off the lights. Light the central candle in a large earthen container with soil in it. Go around and have your participants light a smaller candle from the central candle and place theirs in the soil. Have the group listen to music as they contemplate the mystery.
Chant
When all have lit and placed their candles, have the circle stand. Pass out copies of the following chant. Chant and repeat three times together:
We are a circle
We enter the void and let go of what has been created
We herald in the light as we die and are reborn
We create but again a new story
The end is our beginning
And the beginning is the end
We are a circle
Never-ending
We honor the mystery
Sing
Choose an ending song that has to do with our ancestors, the crone, or entering the darkness.
Ending
Place prayers for loved ones into the center. Give gratitude to the ancestors and your loved ones who have passed over. Give gratitude to this dark time of year and to the crone. Imagine your own inner bonfire. Take a moment to throw all that you no longer need onto it and watch it as the flames grow larger. Watch as the flame consumes that which no longer serves you. Know that you are now ready to begin the new year in a good way. Give gratitude to the Grove. Release the directions and open the circle.
The Grove Story: The Veil Is Thin
When I was in my early thirties, I used to feel totally alone and separated from others. That all changed when I had an opportunity to connect with my relatives that had passed on. I went to see a woman who could communicate with the dead. I was taking a class from her on how to increase my psychic intuition.
She closed her eyes and took a moment to enter a light trance. She began to describe a waiting room that looked like a hallway with two long benches on either side. And the benches were full of people who wanted to talk to me! She invited each of them into the room that we sat in, one at a time.
The first she described was a man with a pipe who only had one leg. He told her that he had diabetes as an older man and had to have the leg amputated at the knee. She asked me if I knew such an older gentleman with such a leg. “I did,” I said. That could describe my grandfather, my dad’s dad. I had only met him at the end of his life as he divorced my grandma and left her to take care of her four young children during the Depression years. He was a traveling salesman. I met him right before he died; I guess he showed up to make amends. We had always thought ill of him, I would say, shirking his responsibilities and leaving my dad to grow up without a father’s influence. My grandmother had struggled financially to raise her children. There was a family wound there.
The woman shared with me what he told her. First, he wanted me to know that he loved me and my son very much and that he watched out for us. I had taken photos that had a strange white shape in them—he told me that was him. (Indeed, I had three photos like this.) He said he was always very close to me and was my guardian angel. When I needed special advice and a warning, he sent me the message three times. I thought about it, and I did have to agree that in times of trouble I often heard the same words of advice or warning three times.
He also asked my forgiveness. He said there was a side to the story of his life with my grandmother that I had not heard. “Okay, what was it?” He said that he had made a mistake (I imagine that was an affair). He asked my grandmother for forgiveness and told her how sorry he was. She grew bitter and resentful and never let him forget it. She held his mistake over him. He wanted to make his marriage work and they had another baby. But eventually, he said (admitting to his weakness, or his pride), she could not move past her resentment or her withholding and he gave up. He found love somewhere else. After he divorced he remarried and lived a good life. I did not think to ask him why he didn’t help financially support the family though … that was a really hard thing.
Next in came my great-great-grandmother, Claire. She was very strict and came from my mom’s side of the family. I recognized her from the reader’s description. She told me that even though she seemed overly rule-bound, that she loved that I followed my own heart and my own path and was not locked into convention. That really surprised me because I would have thought she’d be the most judgmental family member of all. She reminded me that she too had gone through a divorce, in a time when that was unusual. She told me to keep on making a life that was my own. She wished that she had.
Next came her sisters, Aunt Maude and Aunt Ruth. I recognized these two from the reader’s description. They were just laughing and having a good time. They used to share with us their books about mushroom collecting and rock collecting. They shared with me that they loved that I was interested in so many things and that I took the time to do research and really learn about things I was interested in.
Then came their parents, and their parents before them, and soon the whole room was full of the Mylroie and Corneleus families. They all sent me much love. And I felt it.
When the session was over, I felt full. And I felt like I would never feel totally alone ever again because I have a whole waiting room of relatives and ancestors who were my fans and my cheerleaders. They hoped that I would do what I needed to live a full and fulfilled life, and that I wouldn’t hold myself back for lack of support, or because of convention, or because I didn’t pay attention to my own passions and my own heart.
The celebration of Samhain always confronts me with the reality of death. I have come a long way in my understanding of life and death and communication across the veil. And I have had many unexplained experiences. I have learned that our dead want to communicate with us. This was a strong Celtic belief. This communication was a source of support and renewal for the living.
And so, at this time of year, at Samhain, I think of those that have passed on and I know that communication is possible. I think of my parents and my relatives and of my dearly missed friends. I place pictures of my loved ones and of my loved animals upon my altar to draw them closer. I give gratitude for everything about the people I miss.
Whether we die in our sleep, suddenly in an unexpected accident, through a violent act of war or crime, through illness, or through our own hands … I do not put my attention there. I know that the dead do not die; they change form. Consciousness is ongoing. I choose to believe that death is simply a door. I believe that door leads us back into an expanded awareness of consciousness and love.
This is a day for you to take a time-out and contemplate the mysteries. This is a portal for you to seek guidance from those who have gone before you and returned home. Your ancestors and loved ones are very close. Invite them in. Sit quietly and let them whisper their messages to you.
This is a portal in which you can review your spiritual understanding of who you truly are and what your purpose is. If you have no idea, simply sit quietly and allow and invite spirit to share with you. This universal loving consciousness will attend to you and imbue you with courage and light if you but ask.
It is a day to think about the meaning of death. The teaching is not to fear the transition. You are never alone and always supported. The Grove teaches that there is no ending. There is no death. There is spiritual evolution as we die and are reborn, as we incarnate, or ascend. And before we choose our next destination, while we are in spirit we come to fully understand that we are multidimensional beings that can travel the universe of worlds and galaxies and spiritual dimensions. We are dancing in the great mystery of our cosmos and beyond.
Rest in the Grove. Get out in nature and be with the forest. She will hold you well. She will renew you and reassure you. Give your gratitude for all that is!