Some time past, in autumnal mists of yesteryear – though in fact it was only last year (!) – we gathered at the appointed time and the appointed place – round about tea-time in Cilla’s front room (!) – to celebrate the ending of the cycle of the year and beginning of the new according to the tradition of the ancients who once walked this land.
There were a good number of people there – some regular faces, some new faces and some faces that we had not seen for a while. After catching up on each other’s lives, we did a round or two of talking sticks and assimilated all that we had learned about each other from that before deciding on the nature of our ceremony.
Cilla had proposed a ‘Ceremony with Tarot and Devas,’ which we were all looking forward to, and wanted to make use of her ‘Spiral pathway’ laid out in carefully placed stones in her garden in south London.
After the opening, Cilla took herself off behind a convenient bush and took the part of the Cailleach and, in turn, each of us went to her and drew two cards from the pack (her own design!) and we were given a reading to help us through the trials and tribulations that the long winter months might throw our way.
As we each rejoined the circle we then walked, as best we could in the cramped space, the spiral path round which we had formed our ritual.
After that came the point, as usual every year, when we honoured those that had passed on from our lives into the Summerlands and this proved to be an emotional time for quite a few of us.
As always for Samhain, we were accompanied by the bangs and whizzes of fireworks celebrating Guy Fawkes / Diwali and made a nice little accompaniment, celebrating the lives of those who had touched us.
After, it was inside for refreshment and various concoctions of tea infusions.
We would like to thank Cilla for the use of her home for the duration of our ceremony and apologise for the lateness of the posting of this write up.
