HALLOWTIDE 2015~ THE GIFT OF SILENCE

Going for a walk in my valley this week, I become aware of the quieting of the voices of the Green World all around me. Golden leaves of chestnut and sycamore are already forming burnished heaps on either side of the lane, and I sense my favourite beech trees ready to shake out their coppery hair and settle down for a long winter's sleep.

Whether known as Samhain, (Ireland) Samhuinn, (Scotland) Nos Calan Gaeaf, (Wales) or All Hallows Eve, (England) this is the time to celebrate the hushed time of the year, for one of the blessings of the Old Woman of Winter, the Cailleach as she is known in Scotland and Ireland, is the gift of silence.

There is a vast solace in silence, in the deep peace of emptiness, the fathomless mystery of the Void, where all things arise and where all return. In a mechanized world in which silence is increasingly rare, and it is almost impossible to find a night sky which does not reflect electric lights, these are gifts to be cherished. The fallow time, the unfilled schedule book, rest, sleep, quietude, less rather than more, are held of little value in our constantly on-the-go modern society. 

Unlike ancient and indigenous cultures, modern society has no comparable ritual practices that allow for the experience of return and renewal by going into the deep silence found within the earth. Yet yearning for this experience is indicated by the number of white westerners who have appropriated the Native American sweat lodge ceremony for their own rituals. This is why entering the Silence is so important in all Mystery work. If you do not regularly quiet your mind in silent meditation, even if only for a few moments, you cannot engage in the all-important deep listening to the wise voice of your soul, your inner guides and teachers, and the Divine Source.

If possible, try to have in your home one room, however small, that you reserve for silence. Choose beautiful, clear colours full of light for the walls and some symbolic or mystical pictures to put in it, and dedicate it to the Divine, in whatever form is meaningful to you. Do not allow others in and do not go in yourself unless you feel able to maintain an inner silence, so that you can hear the underlying voice of the Universe.

As you are preparing your quiet room, try also to prepare it within yourself, in your heart and mind. In this way, no matter where you find yourself, even in the midst of chaos, you will be able to enter your inner room to find peace and light in the silence of your soul.