Samhain and the Cycle of Life, Death, and Rebirth
Samhain happens during the time of the year where we celebrate the end of the warmer, lighter season and head into the cooler, darker one.
Leaves start to die and fall from the trees, the days get shorter, and the nights get longer. With all of this change comes more time spent contemplating the loved ones we’ve lost and the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. Although this may sound slightly morbid, Samhain is also considered the start of a brand new year which is sometimes called the Witch’s New Year.
Pagan Approach
It is always hard losing loved ones, and being Pagan doesn’t make any of that easier. However, Paganism does foster a slightly different outlook on death and dying than many other, more modern religions.
Instead of looking at death as the end, it is viewed as simply entering into a new phase of existence. While the living miss the physical presence of the dead, there is also the understanding that their loved ones will eventually be reborn.
In The Pagan Book of Living and Dying, by Starhawk, the author speaks of “the sacred cycle.” She relates the life and death of humans to the way that all life exists on Earth. “This cycle of birth, growth, death, decay, and regeneration is the basic life-sustaining process on this planet,” she writes.
