By the Rev. Mark Gallup,
Samhain (pronounced SAH-win) is the ancient Celtic festival celebrating the end of the harvest season and the turning of the year. It was also the Celtic New Year. Samhain was a time when “the veil between the worlds” of the living and the dead was believed to be very thin and is the basis for our Halloween. Old friends and ancestors were often said to be encountered on Samhain, and the ancient Celts left offerings and often set a place at table for them. At the very least, the ancient Celts remembered and commemorated those who had passed.
The 1977 song Old Friends by singer-songwriter Mary McCaslin reminds us to likewise remember our deceased friends and ancestors.
Lately word’s been coming back to me.There’s a few I will no longer see.Their faces will we see no more along the road.There’ll be a few less hands to hold.
But for the ones whose turn is ended,Though they started so much the same;In the hearts of those befriendedBurns a candle with a silver flame.
Remember old friends we’ve made along the way.The gifts they’ve given stay with us every day.*
It came to mind recently when I came upon a picture of my fiftieth high school class reunion. At that time ten out of my class of sixty nine had died. Since the photo was taken, two more have moved on. But the friendship which they all gave me was and is truly a gift.
This Samhain take time to remember those in your life that are no longer there to hold your hand along the road. And light a candle Samhain eve to symbolize the silver flame that still burns in your heart in remembrance of the gifts and the friendship they gave to you.
Calen Gaeaf Llawen! Happy Samhain!
*Old Friends © 1977 Mary McCaslin
The Rev. Mark Gallup is a Pagan high priest, interfaith minister, spiritual seeker, mystic, and diviner of the Natural World. Mark has been a practicing Pagan for over thirty years. He is a graduate of the College of Wicca and Old Lore as well as being trained in Feri. Mark was ordained in 2013 as an interfaith minister by the Chaplaincy Institute of Maine. Along with his wife, Mary Gelfand, he leads Earth-centered spiritual events and serves as an elder for White Pine Programs in York, ME.
