Samhain Samhain Moon
Javier delivered three wheelbarrows of two-year dry oak. I’ve cut up the ironwood and cedar, split and stacked them. This morning I cut five four foot lengths off the ironwood’s branches and upper trunk. They will not be split and will go on the outside of the bonfire. The heat of the fire will ignite them through the bark and they’ll provide a long-lasting flame.
Kate’s gathered together makings for smores, mulled cider and snacks. She’s also drilled pumpkins with arrows, clever and cute. She’s also found fall color napkins and plates. We’ll have bottled water and a warming house, complete with crystal chandelier that used to hang over the piano.
The center piece of the evening will be the fire. And I’m planning a big one. We’ve had a wet week so the fire danger is nil.
Doesn’t sound like too many folks can make it. Andover creates a good deal of resistance for city folk, the distance a good ways for an evening out. We’ve gone low key with this one anyhow, figuring we’d learn what kind of work is necessary to pull one off. We plan a winter solstice bonfire and one for Beltane, too. We may skip the summer solstice due to the potential for fire problems.
(welsh holy well)
Tonight the ancestors can move more freely from the Otherworld, as can the folk of faery. At least so my Celtic ancestors believed. It is interesting to consider that Mexican and Latino cultures also celebrate a similar idea as do some in the Christian church. The anthropologist in me says that means there’s something here, something the folk beliefs have recognized, perhaps in some precognitive way.
