November 2, 2014

Samuel: Greetings, dears

Hello, Samuel.

S: All right, you are moving into the most wonderful time of the year. Right? And it’s a wonderful time of the year because you have so many things coming up that provide you opportunities to be your best self. And one of my all-time favorite ones is coming up quite soon. Where is Kathy? And it’s attached to the full moon ritual, yes? Which is . . .

Friday [inaudible]

S: Ah! Volunteer to have a part in the ritual. Lovely, lovely, lovely. Because this particular full moon ritual happens to be at Samhain. How much fun is that? So if you are able to attend it should be a lot of very special fun. And the intent for this one is particularly good.

So take part. Now, as a whole, what is Samhain? Let’s see, it’s also Sahwein, it’s also Sowein, and it’s also Samhain. And only by more recent calendars is it also Halloween. That’s another one of those. [covers eyes] It is what kind of holiday? What’s it about?

It’s the Celtic holiday of New Year and it’s also the time when the veil between the worlds is at its thinnest.

S: The veil between the worlds is at its thinnest. And what does that mean?

We have greater access to those dimensions

Traditionally it’s a time where those who were no longer alive could come and visit.

S: That was nicely said. When those who were no longer alive could come and visit Let’s hold on to that a moment and let’s rearrange it a bit. Those whose lives no longer correlated with what you think of as living could come and visit.

It’s thinning the veil bet the dimensions.

S: And it is a time of many, many cultures celebrating that particular aspect, the day of the dead, for instance. The aspect of an opportunity to allow the ancestors to come and bless you with their presence. In this day and age, if your ancestors came and blessed you with their presence, what is likely to happen?

Call Ghostbusters.

S: You would call Ghostbusters. Bonnie is the first one who said that coming here is means you are a Ghost Truster. I’m not a ghost. I’m really not a ghost. What else can it mean? You might be frightened, you might think you are in some sort of horror film, because in this day and age, the idea of anything that doesn’t look like you, think like you, talk like you, act like you is thought of as something you cannot trust. And that certainly fits for those who are no longer alive. So where does trick or treat fit in this?

It’s the pause for a commercial.

S: It’s the pause for a commercial in all of it. There really might be something to be said for that.

Candy.

S: Any other? Are you on tonight?

A big part of that is the opportunity is always to dress up in costume, and to take on another persona, so to me that means that you are . . .

S: How does it fit in with the whole idea of Samhain?

Well, I think it means you are transcending who you are to take on a different personality. To me, that makes a whole lot of connection with the idea of the dead being able to make a connection without the assistance of a costume. So I see it working that way

S: Interesting, very interesting. Frank.

Maybe it originated at a time when they thought they were dealing with actual spirits. If you didn’t honor the spirits, they would trick you. They would not be friendly spirits to you. So you treated the spirits, and honored and respected them.

S: Which moved into the propitiation of spirit—gifts and sacrifices—and it became I will dress up as some kind of a ghoul and you will give me propitiation. “What will you sacrifice from your hoard to give to me so that I will not trick you?” And you let children do that. Never figured that out.

Now, I understood that there was going to be a costume.

[. . .]

S: When the time comes he has refreshed and is wearing that again, be sure to parade him over.

Okay

S: Thank you. I’ve been looking forward to that.

That’s what I was told.

S: I like it when you’re wearing costumes different than the one you’re usually wearing. I think it’s fun. When Cam walks in as Cambo, that’s great fun. I like it.

Halloween has almost nothing to do with Samhain. Almost nothing. And in fact, the earliest version of Samhain really was only about “the season has changed and that which has been alive has been put to bed,” so to speak, because it was a harvest connection, “and it’s time now to move into that place of rest.” And that is what I always go back to when I am talking to you about Samhain or the beginning of a new year. Now, in your calendar, the new year begins on January first, but in times before that sort of calendar, seasons were marked by the way the stars were in alignment—no, where they were in the sky at a particular time of year. Or it had to do with the moons, the way things were celebrated after a full moon, or after a new moon, very often. But it was all about harvest time moving into a time of rest. And you can very easily translate that into that time of rest as being a time of death once life has ended. So occasionally I will use Samhain as a way to talk to you about death. I’m not going to do that tonight because in the newsletter interview that we just had I talked all about death to somebody’s question. So you can get that there. What I’m going to talk about instead is using the rest to prepare for new life. Now . . . I have . . . what is this?

Butterfly

S: Wrong, it’s an ornament. Can I hang it here?

[Audience talking over one another]

S: Everything must be symmetrical.

Butterflies. Butterflies are a wonderful representation of what happens after Samhain. “So Samuel, why aren’t you giving us a chrysalis instead?” Well, the form couldn’t find any. Also because that’s really not where I want you putting your focus. I want you putting your focus on planning to become the butterfly. And by your having this little butterfly hanging somewhere handy that you will see it often, you can use it as a means to strengthen the work that you’re doing to become that butterfly. So front row, may I ask you—Gwendolyn, does it hurt too much to move around?

Once I get up, I’m okay.

S: So I won’t challenge you yet. What I would like for you do please, if you will is, to take a stack of “flutter-on-bys” and turn them around. If you scatter them too much, they will be impossible to pull apart. So send those around. They are the reminders.

Now everybody is going to not be able to wear what they have on anymore because they will be covered in glitters. Sallie and Bonnie are going for the earring effect. More? Everyone has? That went well. And you two were saved.

I’d like for you to take your butterfly and hold it between your hands, and tell it what its name is, and give it your name. “You are Gwendolyn,” “You are Elizabeth.” See? And tell it with words or thought—it’s going to pick up whatever it needs to—that it’s going to be a representation and a reminder of your release and renewal. So, “You are a reminder of my release and renewal.”

And once you’ve done that, I want you to start thinking about a potato.

Quite a switch.

What kind.

S: Doesn’t matter, just potato. And as you think about a potato, particularly those of you who grow food, I want you to think about how a potato grows. All right? Who can tell me how do you grow a potato?

A potato grows in the ground and is hidden. You have to dig them out to get the advantage of the potato. You have the green leaves above. But they are safe from the predators that have wings that come flying around.

S: Unlike many things. Very true.

You can take a potato and cut it in quarters, and where it has a little eye, you plant that piece of potato in the ground with the eye pointing out, and you cover it.

S: What is an eye?

It’s a sprout.

A bud.

S: And why does it have those little bud parts that push out with leaves?

To renew itself.

S: Right. Potatoes are great for that. Because it wants to renew itself. Its purpose is feed off of the old and become new. Isn’t that pleasant. And yes, if you have a potato that has many growth spots on it, you can cut your potato so that it has an area to feed on and that growth spot and put it into the ground and it will come forth, won’t it? But when you are replanting it, you’ve got to make sure it’s covered with dirt so that only the green is out, the new is out, but what you’re going to take advantage of is underground, and that’s very, very much a Samhain statement.

Right now you are moving into that time in which your greatest growth is going to be happening if—you do it from the inside out instead of from the outside in for a change—if you have covered over the potato seed so that it may rest unhindered while the life-giving force continues to grow, gather the sun, gather the nutrients, and what is underneath is growing. In your own life, there are issues—things, opportunities for growth, opportunities for empowerment, opportunities to become enough that you are capable of giving to others that are sometimes missed altogether because you have so much going on in your life that you are no longer able to hear the small things, to see those things that are not giant and flashy and grabbing for your attention. Learning how to be still is a gift you give to yourself, not needing to be surrounded with—and here you can start filling in your blanks—all the time because you don’t know how to—well, entertain yourself perhaps—but you don’t know how to use your time in a way that allows you to feel good about solitude. And I’m not talking about loneliness, and I’m not talking about simply being alone. I mean your ability to love you, enjoy you, to have the opportunity to refresh, regroup, renew in the quiet.

I’m going to use Stuart as an example because it’s an easy one. Stuart is a percussionist, yes? So among other instruments, he plays drums. The assumption that goes along with that is he has pretty good rhythm, yes? So music comes on and his starts going to it. [Drumming legs]. Right? A good excuse. But sometimes it’s not about “I’m listening to a song in my head, or coming through my ears.” It’s about “I’m just fidgety. I don’t know how to settle down.” How quiet can you be when you’re not sleeping, trying to go to sleep? The Form messes with her hands, so much in fact, that, if I’m not really paying attention to what the Form’s doing when I’m here, I’ll look down and it’s just messing with its hands. Pretty ingrained, wouldn’t you say? What’s yours? Maybe you get comfortable [rearranges self in chair]. Maybe you’re a tapper [taps foot], or a scratcher, or a hair mover.

Someone I know but will not name, cannot get into the car without turning on the radio or a TV. Can’t bear being in a silent spot.

S: Cannot have quiet. Lot of people like that, actually.

What’s your—what do you call it in poker?—your “tell”—that you are not quiet? Know it and pay attention to it because being quiet means overcoming the body that’s going to itch, that’s going to ache, that’s going to wish you had unbuttoned your pants first. It means overcoming the mind. Your mind might just chatter all the time. When you are quiet, what do you hear? Some people hear sound. Some people hear conversation. Some people hear music. Got to get those fillings fixed. Some people have learned how to ignore it and turn it off.

Do you know bellows that you work on a fire? Yes? You raise it up and it inflates. Push it down and the air goes out. Think of a bellows when you breathe. Breathe in, fill it up with air, pull it apart, raise it up. Breathe out. Focus on that for ten breaths and see if it doesn’t stop the chatter, stop the itch, stop the irritation and give you quiet, because you’re focusing on a specific way of breathing that takes your mind but not so much of it that it sends you off into conversation with yourself. Giving yourself one full minute of that, working up to five and, and—oh my gosh—the very best would be ten minutes of that, will truly give you the equivalent of half a night’s sleep insofar as the way your physical body and your mental self is rested. Particularly good for those of you who are sensitive to the huge amount of cosmic chatter that’s been going on lately and causing you to wake up at three a.m. saying, “No more sleep for me!” Try that. Get those breaths on that pattern—breathe in, breathe out—and just focus on that: breathe it in, raise it up, breathe out, let it go fall down. Breathe out. And give yourself one minute and slowly work up. Allowing yourself to be quiet is going to have an anti-aging effect. I don’t mean how you look, but I can see that it would affect how you look. I mean how your body functions. When you learn to be quiet, you literally are putting your body into a healing mode that you usually only get when you are asleep. It’s very, very powerful.

Come on, show me. [Quinn, the dog, in a devil costume]

This is his alter ego. You know he’s angel dog, but this is his alter ego.

S: Oh my, Quinn. Oh my, Quinn. Look at you. You’re a wee devil.

It doesn’t stay on very long because he’s got so much hair.

S: Can you see? Can you see this? Wings.

A tail with a heart on it.

S:This is grand. This is glorious.

One of the things that’s required of him as a therapy dog, they have to dress up in costumes one night at the nursing home, so I had . . .

That’s fabulous. Look at that. That’s fabulous.

S: I needed that. Thank you, love. He says, “I’m not finished up here. I want a little more.” He did not want to go.

He’s just getting started.

S: Did he get any candy out of that?

Out of just now?

S: Out of having to wear a costume. Isn’t that the idea; if you put on a costume, you’re going to get something for it?

He got little chocolate pieces of apple because that’s his treat. He loves that.

S: How many of you’d wear a costume for chocolate pieces of apples. And I’m hearing people say “I’d wear a costume anytime. I’m happy to.”

I’d like to speak to effectiveness of that technique. For years, when I do my field hockey games, there are stressful situations a lot. And if I felt like l I’ve made a mistake, people are yelling at me, I immediately go to three deep breaths. It quiets my mind. It’s a fabulous technique. So your instructions are good . . .

S: Good. Very good. Of course that requires your having done it enough that you’re able to trigger your body with those breaths, that you’ve taught your body how to be quiet, how to relax.

Now, how this fits with Samhain: Your tension is one of the things that you need to release in order to renew. Looking around this room, and knowing that you are a sampling of humanity, knowing however that you have the advantage of many tools for treating yourself well, and growing wisely, even so, in this room, most of you live in so much stress from breathing, from eating, from functioning with others, that you have become used to it and don’t even recognize what causes you to move into stress mode. And that in fact when you are aware of it, it’s often because it is so big, so hard on you, that that shows up through all you have allowed yourself to consider normal. Let’s change that.

And here’s how you change it. It’s very simple. You just let go of all the things that stress you.

Well, that is pretty much it, but to get there in a more realistic fashion, what I would like to encourage you to do is a little bit of homework. And that homework is to create a paper that has two columns on it. And one column is those things I can change, the next column is those things I cannot change. And you think about all the things that stress you and you determine what column it goes into. Those Thing I Can Change. Those Things I Cannot Change. You’re very likely to find the stresses that have to do with other peoples’ behavior goes under the “things I cannot change” list. You will also find the “things I cannot change” list will be a lot of your stress.

Guardians particularly hate being unable to fix things or people. They really don’t like having things that don’t involve their great wisdom and skill. They are, for some of you, where ninety percent of your stress comes from. For others of you, you’re going to find in that column of “things I can change” they’re all about things you change about yourself, ultimately.

“I have too many things to do in a day. Well, can I change that or not? Well, actually I can change this and this and this, but I can’t change that and that.” You’re going to give yourself a view of what needs to be released. And right now, when you are moving in to this time, particularly now and Thursday through Saturday, you are moving into the energy of “release what isn’t working, release what isn’t growing, release what isn’t needed, and renew.” The renewal requires that ability to quiet yourself and think through what you want.

Now, what do you want? Because that’s what the butterfly is about. What do you want your renewal to be about? What do you want to grow with that potato in the ground? What do you want the new you, the new year, to bring you?

Renewal might relate to passion. Do you remember when you had the outrageous joy at just waking up? Maybe it’s time to introduce yourself to your joy guide. Passion, of course, very definitely includes also sexual passion, but what I’m referring to right now is that sense of I-can-do-this passion. Have you lost that in your life? Do your fears keep you from fulfilling it? Do your years of abusing that keep you from trusting it now? And what I mean by that is constantly telling yourself, “I can do that!” and taking a giant step when what you are really ready for is a baby step, and as a result, sabotaging your own dreams.

Passion. Renew the passion.

Renew also—and I’m getting alliterative here—the pleasure. Some of you don’t even think about what you’re eating and how it tastes, and what’s involved in it. In fact—telling on the Form again, I guess—the Form tends to say, “It’s just food. It’s just to fuel the body.” Do you do that? Do you just feed yourself? Have you forgotten what a good, crispy, juicy apple tastes like? Maybe you need to ask Quinn. He considers them treats. Pay attention when you eat; pay attention when you dress. Pay attention. Experience the pleasure of what you do have in your life. The pleasure of petting your cat and hearing it purr. The pleasure of the beautiful blue sky, the wildly colored trees, the warmth of the sun, the brisk chill of the air that you’re complaining about now even though I watched you in July.

What do you need to release in order to experience renewal? As a Guardian, a lot of the things that will come into your mind are things like old habits or beliefs that are no longer needed. And those are good. But what about stuff? Is it time to go through your coat closet where there are ten different coats and maybe find . . . where does Phoenix give its coats?

The Hope Center is a good place for coats.

S: Hope Center. And take them to the Hope Center.

Maybe it’s time to look at all of the lovely trinkets you have collected over the years and see which ones give you pleasure. And if there’s not pleasure there, let it go to a home where it will bring pleasure. Time for Phoenix to have a big trade-off, yes? If you don’t use it, it’s taking up space in your brain as well as your house. So think about releasing what does not have a use for you, what does not bring you pleasure. Of course it once did, but you’re not the same person you were yesterday. How could you be the same person you were ten years ago when you picked it up? Renew friendships. Your willingness to try something new.

Pause for advertisement here. For instance, the full moon ritual. It’s a great time not because this is a remarkable coincidence—the full moon and Samhain—but because it’s your chance to come together with others who are wanting to enjoy it, to renew a friendship, to start a friendship, to get involved. And right here, the end of this week, that quick, the opportunity.

Renew your pledge to yourself to grow internally and to be a better person externally. Renew your mind, renew your body, renew your spirit. I promise you, your old self does a darn good job haunting you. And those are not the ancestors you’re supposed to gain wisdom from.

You are like so many butterflies—only here for a very short time. And within this version of life, you actually have many lives. Who you were last month is not who you are this month. Every day when you wake up you have the opportunity with that new day to be a new person. You have had time in very many different . . . hmm, what’s the plural of chrysalis? You have been in a many chrysalises. You have been wrapped up in the womb of your own making for a very long time. It’s time to emerge—new, whole, passionate, happy. But that is going to require a little letting go of the old to take on the new. Don’t put it off, don’t wait until January to decide you’ve got a new year happening. Use the ancient magic of Samhain.

Release what was, renew what can be. Become the magic.

Glochanumora.