The Veil is Thin Everyday

One doesn’t have to wait until Samhain to speak to the Ancestors or to feel their presence. The veil is thin every day.

Traditionally, the Three Days of Samhain represent the time when the veil between the worlds is thinnest. While I have no way in measuring the width of the veil or its function at this time of year, I do acknowledge that as we enter the so-called “Dark Time” in the Northern Hemisphere, Samhain acts as a transition point between the expansive time of the year and the contracting, or withdrawing, time of the year.

Seasons Change

It isn’t hard to see that a change is afoot. As an early riser, I relish the arrival of the earlier and earlier appearance of the Sun at Dawn every day. By the same token, it is noticeable that by the time that Lughnasadh comes around, that the dawn is arriving later than it had been previously.

By the time Samhain arrives, the Sun graces the horizon much later than it did a mere four months before. The sunset, as well, comes earlier and earlier. Samhain, to me, indicates that there is more darkness to come, before the light, ever so slowly, begins to increase again after the Winter Solstice.

I believe the significance of the veil may have to do with one of a couple of possibilities. In one sense, the veil is a recognition of season’s end and a designated time to honour and remember our ancestors. Perhaps, if we forget about them for the entirety of the year, this is the one time that we purposefully remember them.

A Passage in Time

The second possibility is that the veil represents this time of the year. It may be that the passage to a specifically darker time arrives at this precise point. Perhaps, it is astrological; perhaps, it is astronomical. In any event, we recognise this time as the final turn of the wheel before the Winter Solstice. It is the get-ready-for-the-coming-longest-night season.

There is a pastime that I have observed at many rituals entitled the Silent Supper. This is a beautiful act of offering to the Dead / Ancestors. One makes a meal to offered to them at Samhain to commemorate the fact that we still honoured them now.

The Ancestors are near every day

Yet, does such a devotional act have to be just once a year? Don’t you think of your ancestors more often than just at Samhain? Here a few devotional and offering acts that are performed by individuals on a daily / weekly / whenever-ly basis. Here are a few of them:

• Offering a portion of the morning’s coffee or tea to the Ancestors. As a good host, I would always offer the first portion of coffee or tea to the Ancestors. Put in a cup – their cup – and leave it until you feel they have interacted with it. One offering may become another. Pour the offering outside, to be absorbed into the Earth, our Mother.
• Much like the offering of coffee or tea, make a small offering of breakfast, lunch, or dinner, or make an offering of a combination of the meals. Place it on a plate, offer it to the Ancestors, with your blessings. You may want to say something to them out loud.
• Remember the Ancestors by saying their names aloud. I do this every day and it helps to remind me of who they were. I believe that they will hear their names, and understand that they are not forgotten and still in our lives.

The veil is thin every day. The Ancestors will hear you regardless of the season or the time of day. Samhain may be their special time, but everyday can be an Ancestor Day. Just reach through the veil to them. Today.