Reflections

 So, the beginning of October has arrived once again. I have a lot of plans for the blog this month including more discussion of who the Druids were, as well as who I feel Druids today would/should/could be (and are of course), a post on Samhain, and one on traditional types of Celtic divination, and also a post on seidhr and the ancestors...but to start off the month I'm feeling generally reflective.
  Everything right now seems to be at such a pivotal point. October has long been my favorite time of year and I am excited to celebrate both Samhain and Halloween, as well as eagerly anticipating all of the holiday specials that will be on TV over the next few weeks. Tomorrow is my 33rd birthday, and I can't help but feel there is a certain significance in the number, the big "double 3", that deserves being noted. Or maybe it's just that I love birthdays, mine or anyoneelse's.
  Tomorrow is also my friend's handfasting, a ceremony that I will be officiating at. I am honored that she asked me and excited because it is at a Renaissance Faire. I like being able to be there when a couple starts out on this new adventure that is marriage, but more so when it is friends. So here we have a new beginning, something just starting, and a reason to celebrate.
  Of course another thing that is common to this time of year that I have definitely noticed is the increase in spirit activity. My household is not unfamiliar with spirits, both ghosts and faeries, but in the last week or so the activity level has increased dramatically. The biggest reason this is worth noting is that this year I am not the only one seeing it. My husband has started seeing the spirit of a young teenage girl standing in the hallway and my oldest daughter has commented on seeing "lights" dancing in her room, and claims to have also seen the goddess Freya in the shape of a yellow cat and a large pig. I can't say one way or another whether she did or whether it was imagination, but she is very connected to Freya; the lights and ghost aren't new to me but they aren't anything I had spoken about to anyone either. I learned awhile ago that talking about that sort of thing around the house made everyone jumpy so I just keep it to myself now. The increased activity has upset my oldest daughter quite a bit and we have had to reassure her that none of it is bad. It does make me wonder what is up this year that has everything so stirred up - or perhaps the energy is just especially strong this year?
  One thing that occurred that did concern me, that I worry might be an ill omen involves my grandmother. My grandmother is 93 and still healthy and living on her own and I love her very dearly. She has never had any psychic experiences or seen anything Otherworldly, nor does she particularly believe in it. The other night she fell asleep in a chair in her living room and when she woke up she saw my grandfather, who passed away in 2000, standing in front of her. She said he was clearly visible from the waist up but there was nothing there below the waist and that when she stood up he vanished. I had a strong gut feeling about what this meant as soon as I heard it, but I hope I am wrong, if only because I am too selfish to give her up.
  So here we stand at the beginning of the month, approaching the turning point between summer and winter, between light and dark, with a high tide of Otherworldly energy swirling around us, and I can't help but find myself reflecting on life and death and change. This past year has been full of wonderful highs and heartbreaking lows, and I feel, somehow, like now is the time to sort the chaff from the wheat to choose what to let go of and what to carry forward...