Join us as we celebrate the ancient Celtic holiday of Samhain (pronounced “sauw-win”) with a Potluck Feast, Poetry Readings and a Bonfire. On November 1, in the space between years called “no-time,” we will gather by the fire to share stories, poems and a potluck feast. This is the last hurrah before winter sets in when we hunker down for the season of darkness and cold.

We invite you to revel in the enjoyment of Autumn’s bountiful harvest with us at Kinstone. The wheel of the year keeps turning; the sun has already begun to sleep in later each morning and leave us in darkness earlier each evening. We will emulate the ancients with a community fire and potluck feast. We will take time to remember our ancestors and those who have died. We will celebrate our children and those who are new-born. Everyone who wishes to may share their original poetry by reading it out loud around the fire. Costumes are encouraged, but optional. Dress warmly! Wear a headlamp! Hot beverages will be served!

What: Samhain Potluck Feast, Poetry Readings and Bonfire at Kinstone

Date: Friday, November 1, 2019

Time: 5:30pm  (Note: the end time is flexible and dependent upon the number of poets; likely ending by 10pm)

COST/TICKETS:  $10/person – a ticket is required for entry! Tickets are available through EVENTBRITE click HERE. Limited attendance, get your ticket early!

Location: Stargazer Circle at Kinstone – OUTDOORS!

What to bring:  this is a potluck feast; bring a dish to pass as well as a serving spoon/ladle, etc if required for your dish; there will not be electricity for plugging in any appliances, so plan accordingly!

What is provided by Kinstone: 

• a sacred space in which to gather
• water and hot beverages including coffee, tea, and cider
• plates/bowls/cups/forks/spoons/napkins (ALL are compostable!)

What to wear:  Costumes are welcome (disguise yourself so the monsters that roam across “the veil” do not recognize you and take you off to the Otherworld!) and wear very WARM clothes, wool socks, boots, mittens, hats, scarves! Wear a headlamp! 

IMPORTANT: This event will be held rain or shine! If weather is bad we will meet around a small firepit on the Porch and also open the Kinstone Education Center. No refunds!

Read on to find out more about Samhain and our Samhain Celebration!

Samhain is a festival originating from ancient Celtic spiritual traditions. It is the time between the old Celtic year and the new Celtic year.  It is usually celebrated for 3 days and 3 nights around All Hallow’s Eve (Halloween, Oct 31), All Saints Day (Nov1) and All Soul’s Day (Nov 2). It is also called the Feast of the Dead. Since this short time period does not seem to fall into either the old or the new Celtic calendar year, it has been called “no-time”.  Some consider the time between Samhain and the start of the new year as a time which does not even exist on the Earthly plane. The “time which is no time” was considered to be both very magical and very dangerous. This was the time to bring home the harvest and usher in the “dark half of the year.” It was a time when the veil between this world and the Otherworld was thought to be so thin that the dead could return to sit at the hearths of the living, and some of the living – especially poets – were able to enter the Otherworld as well.

Other Interesting Tidbits about Samhain:

• Samhain is one of the four quarterly fire festivals on the ancient Celtic calendar. The others are Imbolc, Beltain, and Lughnasadh – these are also called cross-quarter days as they take place at the midpoint between Equinoxes and Solstices. Samhain takes place at the midpoint between the Autumnal Equinox and the Winter Solstice.
• In ancient times, loved ones who had recently died were remembered and their spirits invited to join the living in the celebratory feast. It was also a time at which those born during the past year were formally welcomed into the community. A community fire was lit and participants took a flame or coal from the communal bonfire back to their home to re-light their own hearth which had gone cold while they were out harvesting. People prepared offerings for the ancestors and for any fairies or other beings of the Otherworld. They would dress in disguise as animals or monsters to no otherworldly being would kidnap them. This is a major source of our modern day Halloween traditions.
• In the Middle Ages bonfires were lit to protect families and farms from fairies and witches and carved turnips with a glowing coal were made and called jack-o-lanterns! A supper was prepared and enjoyed after inviting ancestors to join the meal giving families a chance to interact with the spirits of the dead and update them on the past year’s news until after the meal was over when the spirits left.
• Trick-or-treating is said to come from ancient Irish and Scottish practices in the nights leading up to Samhain. In Ireland, “mumming” was the practice of putting on costumes, going door-to-door and singing songs to the dead. Cakes were given as payment. Pranks also became popular and were typically blames on the fairies.

On this day we will rejoice as we gather to enjoy the fruits of summer labor and all that has been gathered, preserved and stored up in preparation for the chill of winter. In “no-time” at all the land will be asleep under a crystal coverlet of white. Join us!