Samhain - Your Experiences

[qos]

Dear Friends List:

In your experience, is the veil between the worlds thinner around Samhain?

Comments

[rainstardragon.livejournal.com]

This is my honest opinion:

We perceive it as thinner, but it actually isn't any thicker or thinner than at any time of the year. It just seems thinner to us because we expect it to. So then because we expect the veil to be thinner, it is... though it's really just us paying more attention.

At least, this is what I think right now... I might be wrong too.

[starfrosting.livejournal.com]

When it starts to feel like fall-- which can be late August, or sometime thereafter, it changes-- I do start to feel a shift. I feel different energies and spirits swirling. Because of the lore associated with the veils at Samhain (and, in my tradition, Beltaine) the time calls out to me for ancestor work. And, actually, now that I think of it, this year it's called out for rekindling some work with the good neighbors. So, however we're conceptualizing this veil and these otherworlds, I would say that the porosity is different at this time of year.

[elinox.livejournal.com]

I don't know if it's because of our preconceived notions of this time of year or not, but I feel something change around October. It's something in the air besides the crisp autumn breeze.

[die-uberfrau.livejournal.com]

Depends on which worlds.

Between our world and "The Black Building" (realm of the dead, various Underworld Deities) - absolutely yes. The Wild Hunt also begins at this time (in the Northern Hemisphere), reaching its peak at Yule.

Between our world and worlds I can actually access (i.e. Vanaheim) - no.

We do exist in a Multiverse, so depending on which world you speak of, there are some worlds that are more palpable around Samhain.

Incidentally, there has been some research done that indicates more people cross over the last week of October/first week of November, no matter where they are in the world. This time of year was not just significant to the Norse and the Celts, but also to the Aztecs and the Japanese. o_O

[erl-queen.livejournal.com]

That's a really good point - depends which worlds.

I agree - between here and various realms of the dead (though probably not all of them), it definitely feels like the veil is thinner around this time. I would say also that the veil is thinner between here and other worlds at other times (certain 'fae' places, for instance, around Beltane or Midsummer, and there's something about mid-February that has always been powerful to me and corresponds with the Greek Anthesteria - festival of flowers, wine and the dead - and there are plenty of other examples).

I also think that to a degree it depends on where on earth you are - not so much because of the original pagan culture (in other words, people didn't just make this stuff up), but because of actual forces at work that do vary by place. In other words, this is a thin-veil time of year in Northern Europe not because the Celts or Vikings thought so, but because they recognized the forces that were and *are* actually at play during that time.

Does that make sense?

[lupagreenwolf.livejournal.com]

This is about what I would have said.

[druidharper.livejournal.com]

Most definitely.

[die-uberfrau.livejournal.com]

Yes, it does.

The forces are definitely in play, no matter who you are. ;)

[jcalanthe]

I don't personally perceive it as thinner - I work with Ancestors year-round. I agree with others that it's more to do with people's expectations & focus. But everyone wraps this stuff up in their own unique way, so who am I to say it's not thinner for someone else?

[morrigansword.livejournal.com]

Since childhood and long before my "Spiritual Awakening" I have always noticed what I have accepted in terminology as the "Thinning of the Veil" in the fall season. Noticing spirit activity in overdrive during this time, from souls that have passed beyond to Otherworld guides in both human and animal form. So, yes, absolutely... the Veil thins during this season!

[rainstardragon.livejournal.com]

It does make sense, and may actually explain why I have the perceptions that I do of the thinning of the veil being based on expectation... It may very well be that where I am, the veil seems the same all the time (to me anyway) for the reason that perhaps it just is... and since I live near a holy place (Mt Shasta) and to my knowledge the natives of this area didn't notice a time of year where separation was thinner or thicker, maybe that's just the way this area works.

[queenofhalves]

i think it's thin when the seasonal change kicks into high gear, myself.