Every one of us is wounded, and yet each of us shares in the magic, mystery, and majesty of life. Wounds are visible and invisible: hurt by experiences, injured by accidents, wounded by relationships, bruised by loss, and scarred by life. We carry the marks on and within us. Without awareness, gentleness, and attention to healing, these wounds can fester and become toxic.
The burden of our wounds can become so heavy that we feel crushed: we suffer poor mental, emotional, and physical health. Whole areas of our lives feel numb—as though we are the “walking dead,” moving through life injured, limping, and decrepit. We wonder why we are prone to autoimmune diseases, why we sometimes weep inconsolably, what causes that deep-rooted terror that arises in seemingly simple situations, why this widespread depression?
The places within us where we have had to numb feelings, deny emotions, repress fear, forget abuse, and somehow process daily atrocities have become ancient and Crone-like.
Shining the healing light of attention, intention, and community on these wounds can actively transform them from toxic to treasured, from waste to wisdom. Undertaking an internal cleansing at Samhain can allow us to grieve what we have lost, heal our toxic wounds, and transform our attention to the bounty of what we are harvesting. Tonight, by using symbolic means to relieve us of our burdens, we can lighten our load and create space in our lives, welcoming new energy, activity, people, and pursuits.
At Samhain, let us lay the wounds to rest and connect the deep, powerful work of emotional transformation to the transformation of our symbolic lives that takes place at this sabbat. As we invoke death and dying, mourning and loss, we tap into energies that will enable us to excise old pain, resentment, and fear—lay it to rest and free ourselves, readying for the transition into the new year.
This ritual is designed to help you open your own gates of hell, let the demons out, and lay them to rest in preparation for the start of the new year. It’s not intended to be undertaken lightly; I urge you to do this ritual alone or with trusted guardians of your well-being. Let the veils between your worlds be thin. Give yourself permission to soften the barriers that contain your shadow self, and welcome those old demons up and out. This ritual will help you to identify difficult and outdated parts of your life, and literally lay them to rest, burying them.
Items Needed
Samhain needs fire, so plan a ritual around a campfire, a chimenea, or candles if you are holding your ritual indoors. You will also need:
Several sheets of newspaper
A lighter or matches
A sprig of sage, and a small bowl of water
And after: a feast, plus offerings of food, sweets, and drink
This ritual can be undertaken alone or in community. If working with other people, it is important to underscore the solemnity of the work and make plans to protect people’s vulnerabilities and pain, which may be revealed. Plan who you will invite, consider who might need and want this sort of deep-reaching, personal ritual, and have a wee chat about the nature of the ritual when you invite them, so they are prepared in advance.
Assemble your tools in advance around the fire or candles, and then “sweep” the space, clearing it of physical and psychic debris before anyone arrives.
As people gather, guide them to sit in a circle around the fire source. When working with deep emotions, I like to remind people of the limbic bond shared by humans—how our limbic brains connect, resonate with, and affect one another. From a physiology point of view, we are literally “never alone,” and tonight we invite the Crone.
Create Sacred Space
To prepare your ritual area, have everyone gather in a circle to watch as the group leader speaks while taking these specific actions.
Inspired with air, (crumple paper and place it under the assembled firewood)
Enlightened with fire (Light matches and ignite the fire)
Cleansed with water (Walk the circle, flicking water with the sage sprig behind everyone present, then return to your place in the circle)
Strengthened with earth (Gather a handful of earth)
Infused with spirit (Make a muddy smudge on your third eye, and then on the third eye of each person in the circle)
Invocation
In the name of the Goddess, the mourning Crone,
and in honor of the God who is gone but not forgotten,
I encircle you with sacred protection and consecrate this altar.
May Goddess and God serve here through wisdom, transformation, and magic.
Tonight, we are bonded and united by fire (or candles). This warmth reminding us of the warm support we enjoy in community, and the light reminding us of the bright burning path of the soul on its eternal journey, the circle enacts our community safety. We are between the worlds, and what happens between the worlds affects all worlds.
So mote it be.
A Ritual for Release
Gently touching the dark mark on your forehead, say:
This is what I have come to learn.
This is what I must heal.
This is what may die away.
This is what shall be reborn.
Raising and Releasing Energy
Standing, let the circle join hands and start to move the circle clockwise, everyone chanting:
I look within to find my pain, I name it and I tame it.
Let the energy build as you circle faster and chant louder.
I look within to find my pain, I name it and I tame it.
I look within to find my pain, I name it and I tame it.
Then stop, loudly stating:
I trust the process and the enduring wisdom of the journey of the soul. I release this ____________________________ (anger, guilt, grief, pain, suffering … insert whatever you need to release) to be consumed by fire.
Join with me, saying: I trust the process and the enduring wisdom of the journey of the soul. I release this ________________________ to be consumed by fire.
Now moving the circle counterclockwise, chant:
I trust the magic, I trust myself,
I release my pain, and embrace my health.
Circle faster and chant louder, until finally it culminates in a group scream, and the movement stops.
Arrrggghhhhhh! (Everyone screams together.)
Quiet and still, crouch down to the ground, touching the earth with both hands, urging the others to do so, grounding out the energy, releasing it.
Tonight we let old ways die, release outdated beliefs.
We cast out negative patterns, and in this we find relief.
We beg you Goddess, Mother, Crone,
take our pain and worry.
Heal our hands, our heads and hearts,
and restore us in a hurry.
We have named our pain,
released and confessed,
And we wear your mark
and know we are blessed.
Touch your third-eye smudge.
Later tonight, and as we feast,
let us remember the darkness and what we have released.
Standing, raise your arms wide:
We release the elements to leave this place
but take the darkness upon our face.
Up and out, into the light
we release all toxic emotion tonight.
Leaving the ritual space, be sure to douse the fire for safety’s sake, then lead your circle, community, friends, and family to the table to feast. Before you eat, fill a plate, make a space at your table, and welcome the ancestors to join you tonight, and know the darkness is always nearby.
Blessed be.