Fall – the big Letting Go, giving in, dying.
Huge amounts of biomass (organic material) are taken care of by the destruents (decomposers). Nothing in nature is ever wasted. Everything is perfectly recycled and prepared for nurturing the new life – when it´s time comes.
As Beings of the Earth our bodies also follow that natural process once we die. Everything our earthly body is made of, perfectly fits into this cycle of nature.
Earth to Earth – Ashes to Ashes – Dust to Dust
Life, as we know it, ends here. Not so easy for us humans to agree to this part of the cycle. We miss our loved ones and grieve deeply. Our own transience and mortality may come into our awareness and be scary.
The first breath of the approach of death brings a chill to our hearts.
We protest our willingness to die, we refuse our content to this great and terrible image of darkness and despair.
We run to and fro and bewail the hour of our birth, since it has led us to this wall!
Ruth St. Denis, The Lamp
Possibly we don´t agree so easily as we feel that we are multidimensional beings and that there is more to us than our earthly bodies. Wisdom teachings help us dive into the mystery of the threshold of life. Opening to a broader view on the journey of the soul, the poem from Ruth St. Denise continues,
But Behold! The hope and faith of all the ages has not failed.
For there upon the high horizon of the soul
Appears the lamp of eternity...."
Ruth St. Denis, The Lamp
Maybe death`s hour too will send us out
New-born towards undreamed-of-lands
Maybe life´s call to us will never find an end.
Courage, my heart, take leave and fare thee well.
Hermann Hesse
Everything changes but behind it rests an eternal one“ - Goethe
And you thought you were dust now you find you are breath - Rumi
Many of the great beings have spoken about the souls journey as it enters life – journeys through life – and then leaves this earthly body behind to travel on. So we celebrate the last farewell on earth. Naturally we wish well to those who have gone, and send blessings with them on their journey. We really don’t know what is behind the horizon, but we hope that new worlds arise and that life continues for them in a new form in a new way.
In these days around Samhain it is believed that the veil is thin between the worlds. Possibly our inner senses become more open and receptive when we open to the deep letting go of the season, and when we allow darkness to open our eyes in a new way.
In celebrating the cycle of the seasons, Samhain always has been an important ritual for me. Traditionally I go out alone, or with a group, into the dark woods and sit there in stillness. I light a little candle to honour our ancestors and spend time in this atmosphere. As I look out into the dark woods and see other little lights here and there, it feels so appropriate to me that humans sit in the dark and open to this deep mystery. For me it is an experience beyond words, and one that keeps living within me. It draws me out into the dark every time Samhain comes around. It is a ritual where I always feel my ancestors close.
When my father died he left me some woodland. In one graveyard I came across this inscription from Goethe, "What you have inherited from your ancestors, realize it in order to come into your own!" As the new owner of this land, I took on the responsibility of becoming familiar with it and all the living beings who had lived there. I attune to the soul of the land and feel my ancestors who have been on this land for generations. The trees they planted are huge by now. All forestry that I do will be seen by those who come after me. What a blessed connection with this multidimensional web of life!
Beings of the earth – Beings of light
You who have have gone before – you still to come
We are all part of the one living Earth
Together we weave the web of life.
Alima, on behalf of the Ziraat Council
