Samhain

Samhain is a Gaelic festival marking the turn into winter, an invitation to sit with our ancestors and our grief. It was an honour to hold space so that others could connect with their ancestors, the seasons, and their personal grief. Living in a southern hemisphere settler colony, our seasonal celebrations are often upside down and disconnected from real meaning, so honouring an occasion my Gaelic ancestors would have marked for generations felt deeply nourishing. It was still something of a mismatch as it had been 27 degrees the week before but I approach many of my rituals with a spirit of experimentation.

Part of what I grieve is the loss of First Nations' seasonal celebrations in Australia but in celebrating Samhain, I did feel a deep connection to nature, and to place.

The ritual was held at the experimental space Extrasensory. https://www.extrasensory.com.au/