Astrology and Mythology: Samhain & The Gateway to Transformation

The werewolves of Connacht (Astrology Explored)

In the Celtic worldview, beginnings were shrouded in the dark, much like a child grows in his mother’s womb. Thus:

Samhain is the traditional celebration of the New Year within Celtic culture and since the Celts considered both solar and lunar signs for their calendar, the New Moon at Samhain marked the true beginning of the New Year.

This sets a moving target for this Celtic festival on our Gregorian Calendar. The Catholic Church, in its infinite wisdom, settled on November 1st as All Souls Day, a shadow of the Celtic festival, to continue its propaganda campaign of merging local celebrations into Church traditions. That gave us October 31st as All Hallows Eve, modernly morphed into Halloween.

In Irish folklore, Samhain was when the ‘doorways’ to the Otherworld opened wide. Supernatural beings and the souls of the dead could freely enter our world. This concept of a permeable boundary between worlds reflects the Celtic understanding of the cyclical nature of life, death, and rebirth, mirrored in the turning of the seasons from the abundance of harvest to the dormancy of winter. This belief in a thinning veil between realms is not unique to Celtic tradition but resonates with many cultures’ understanding of liminal periods, especially those marking seasonal transitions.

The New Moon at the midpoint between the Autumn Equinox and the Winter Solstice marks a fire festival known as Samhain, aligning this festival with the New Moon’s symbolism of death, rebirth, and transformation. It represents the old year’s death and the new cycle’s beginning. During Samhain, the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead is the thinnest. It marks the descent into the darker half of the year, where the Earth rests and regenerates. To survive, we must embrace the dark.

The Sídhe: Portals to the Otherworld

Central to the mythology of Samhain are the sídhe, fairy mounds or hills that serve as portals to the Otherworld. The Boyhood Deeds of Fionn, a significant work in Irish mythology, states that these sídhe “were always open at Samhain.” This belief highlights the unique nature of Samhain in the Celtic calendar, a time when the ordinary rules governing the separation of worlds were suspended.

The concept of the sídhe as gateways between realms adds a physical dimension to the spiritual beliefs surrounding Samhain. The mounds scattered across the Irish landscape serve as tangible reminders of the proximity of the Otherworld and the thin veil between life and death.

Owing to the Celtic penchant for angsty drama, you can always shake a good story out of the collective Irish soul. Many of the myths of the time when the veil thins between this one and the Otherworld persist.

One Irish Legend of Transformation

No moon rose on the night of Samhain—keeping the land in darkness as the veil between worlds thinned and the supernatural realm brushed against our own.

In the heart of Connacht, where the great cave of Cruachan yawned open like a maw into the Otherworld, an eerie stillness fell. The local villagers huddled in their homes, doors barred and fires stoked high, for they knew what terrors this night might bring. None among them dared to face the supernatural beasts, even though those creatures’ predations cost them dearly from the farm animals lost.

As the last rays of sunlight faded, a bone-chilling howl echoed from the depths of Cruachan. The cave mouth seemed to pulse with an otherworldly light, and from its depths emerged three fearsome creatures. Wolf-like in form but with an uncanny intelligence gleaming in their eyes, these were the werewolves of Cruachan, freed from their Otherworld prison for one night of feasting.

The beasts loped across the moonlit fields, their savage hunger driving them towards the nearest farmsteads. With brutal efficiency, they fell upon the livestock, tearing through wooden pens and devouring sheep and cattle alike. The night was filled with the bleating of terrified animals and the triumphant howls of the werewolves.

But this year, the two of the Fianna, Ireland’s legendary band of warriors, stood ready this night to face the terror. Among them were Caílte, known for his speed and prowess with a spear, and Cas Corach, a bard whose music was said to hold power over the supernatural.

Cas Corach unslung his harp, his fingers poised over the strings. “Be ready,” he whispered to Caílte, who gripped three spears tightly, eyes scanning the bloodstained fields. They had to catch the terrible werewolves unaware and avoid becoming victims of the creatures’ savagery.

The first notes of Cas Corach’s music drifted through the air, a melody both beautiful and terrible, filled with ancient magics and the turning of seasons, of the balance between our world and the Otherworld. The werewolves appeared as the music increased in volume.

But as they approached, fur receded, fangs shrank, and where once stood beasts, now three women stood, three sisters, alike in form, their eyes wide with confusion and fear. The magic of the bard’s music had broken their curse, if only for a moment.

Caílte did not hesitate. With three swift throws, his spear found its mark, and the women-turned-werewolves fell. As they collapsed, their forms shimmered, caught between human and beast, until at last they lay still.

As the first light of dawn broke over the horizon, the danger passed. The cave of Cruachan sealed itself once more. As the gateway to the Otherworld closed until the next Samhain. Caílte and Cas Corach stood silent. They had destroyed what other men had feared, and the Werewolves of Connacht ravaged the land no more.

Happy Halloween!

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