Samhuinn - A New Year

Well... it is that day. The day I will complete my initiation and become and actual apprentice with AODA. To say I am nervous is an understatement, but I am confident it will all go well. I have not fully read the ceremony, because I want to be surprised at how it unfolds. If I was completing it with someone, they wouldn't sit me down and walk me through it beforehand, so I won't do that either.

I am trying to take my mind off the upcoming ceremony and remind myself what today is. The New Year. The day in which the circle of life begins again. How fitting in my mind that it is today. Last night was the night of the Dead. The night in which the veil between the other world and ours was at its thinnest. Today it begins to repair itself and strengthen itself for next year.

And in my house, the day after Halloween is spent taking down the Halloween decorations and decorating with the fall leaves. The beginning of the true holiday season with the family. My family has been talking for a few weeks already of what they can't wait to eat on Thanksgiving day. It doesn't matter that I roast a chicken and make homemade mashed potatoes all the time. Doesn't matter that the husband just finished an apple pie. It is the thought of having all the kids under one roof; having our parents here; everyone together eating and making merry. That is the true meaning of the holidays. And the beginning of this season is a perfect time to celebrate.

January 1 to me was never anything to celebrate. When I was younger, it was another opportunity to get drunk with friends. As I grew out of that phase, it was a time to allow the kids to stay up late and play games as a family and wait for the ball to drop. Now that the kids are older... I am usually in bed well before midnight and could care less about it all.

But this time of year... I always feel so energized about the upcoming holidays, the familial feeling I always get this time of year. It is an internal transformation that I have always felt, so it is only fitting to celebrate this transformation with a New Year celebration.