Samhain Meditation: Transition & Connection (With Music)
A deep guided meditation and ritual for Samhain (October 31st), the Celtic New Year. You will be guided into the meaning of this time: connecting with ancestors, letting go like the trees release their leaves, and planting an intention for the new cycle. A journey through stillness, light, and balance. Music: Alex Wit van Light_Music
Transcript
Welcome,
Dear listener.
Before we begin,
I invite you to create a small ritual for yourself.
Light a candle and place it safely but nearby as a symbol of warmth and inner light.
You may also prepare a drink and perhaps a small piece of food,
Like a cookie,
Some fruit or a few nuts to enjoy after the meditation.
These simple offerings will help you mark this time as sacred and personal.
Today we gather in a special almost sacred moment of the year.
It is Samhain,
One of the oldest Celtic festivals.
Celebrated for thousands of years by people deeply connected to the earth and her cycles.
Samhain marks the end of harvest time.
It is the moment when fields lie empty.
The fruits have been gathered and the land slowly begins to move into its resting state.
My name is Charlotte Ruitenberg and I invite you to join me on this journey.
A guided meditation to honor the power and meaning of Samhain.
The old stories tell us that in this time of year the veil between worlds grows thinner.
That means that connection with our ancestors,
With those who came before us,
May feel closer,
More tangible.
It is a time of remembrance,
Of reverence and of gratitude.
And it is also a time of reflection.
A moment to contemplate the cycle of life and death.
To face the impermanence that autumn so clearly shows us.
And to honor the promise of new beginnings born in winter's quiet.
You may feel curiosity rising.
Perhaps a soft melancholy or a deep calm.
Whatever comes up within you now,
Let it be welcome.
Everything has a place in this moment for yourself.
It is an invitation to lay aside the busyness of the day.
To grow still and to open yourself to the deeper meaning of this threshold in the year.
I invite you now to gently close your eyes.
Let the outside world fade just for a while.
Bring your awareness inward to yourself,
To this moment.
Breathe slowly in through your nose.
And gently out through your mouth.
Feel how each breath carries you deeper inward to a place just for you.
A place of rest,
Of presence.
Please lift your shoulders high up towards your ears.
Hold them there and let them drop.
As if the heavy burdens you've been carrying can finally slide off you.
We'll do this two more times.
Shoulders up.
And release.
One last time,
Shoulders up,
Hold them there and let them fall.
Let the heavy burden slide off you.
Let your hands rest softly in your lap or on your thighs,
Wherever feels right.
Notice the ground beneath you,
Steady,
Supportive,
Unshakable.
Breathe in through your nose.
And out through your mouth.
With each breath,
Feel your body settling more deeply into this moment.
You are being held by the beautiful earth herself.
Steady.
Trustworthy.
Safe.
There is nothing you need to do.
Nowhere you need to go.
Only this.
To be here,
In this moment for yourself.
In this time of Samhain.
Samhain is a threshold into the dark half of the year.
A sacred turning point,
Where nature invites us to slow down.
To follow the movement from outer to inner.
And to rediscover the quiet power of darkness.
Imagine now that you are standing on a still,
Crisp autumn night.
The air is cool and tingling on your skin.
Above you,
The sky stretches wide and deep,
Scattered with stars that seem to whisper that you belong to something infinite.
Around you stand the trees.
Powerful and enduring.
Their leaves have fallen and their bare branches reach up towards the heavens.
Naked,
Yes,
But not weak.
Strong in their simplicity.
Conserving energy,
Rooted deeply in their core.
Beneath your feet,
The earth.
Solid.
Alive.
Quietly preparing.
Though the surface seems still,
Life continues below.
The harvest is complete.
The fields rest.
What remains now is restoration.
Gathering strength for renewal.
Bring your awareness back to your breath.
With every inhale,
Draw stability from the earth.
Feel how she nourishes you.
How she connects you to her eternal rhythm of growth.
Rest.
Renewal.
With every exhale,
Release what weighs you down.
The tension.
The worries.
The patterns you no longer need.
And now,
Notice the darkness around you.
Feel how it wraps around you softly like a warm blanket.
This darkness is not empty.
It's not threatening.
This darkness is full of promise.
Full of possibility.
Like a seed resting deep in the soil,
Waiting for the right moment to sprout.
Let yourself rest in this darkness.
Let it remind you that stillness is as essential as motion.
That night is as sacred as day.
And that every ending is but preparation for a new beginning.
Out of this darkness,
A glow begins to appear.
Before you,
A small flame awakens.
A candle.
Simple,
Yet profound in its presence.
Its warm light flickers and dances,
Greeting you,
Inviting you closer.
You step toward it.
And with each step,
The glow wraps around you,
Warming your skin.
However deep the night may be,
This flame burns steady.
It is the symbol of your inner flame.
That indestructible essence within you that never goes out.
Even when life feels heavy.
Even when you wander in sorrow or doubt.
This flame remains,
Steady and bright,
Deep inside you.
Now,
Take three deep breaths,
And with the first inhale,
Draw this light into your heart as if it becomes a part of you.
With the exhale,
Let it spread through your chest,
Your arms,
Your hands.
With the second inhale,
Feel it grow stronger,
Brighter,
Filling your whole body.
With the exhale,
Let it flow down into your belly,
Your legs,
Your feet.
With the third inhale,
Embrace it fully.
Become one with this flame.
And with the exhale,
Radiate it outward,
Forming a protective circle of warmth around you.
And as you stand within this light,
You sense that you are not alone.
So,
When is the time when the veil between worlds grows thin,
As delicate as mist drifting across the fields on an autumn night?
It is a sacred time of connection with those who came before us,
With their wisdom and lessons,
Their mistakes and their love.
Keep your inner gaze on the candlelight before you.
Slowly,
Shapes begin to emerge.
At first,
Faint,
Like shadows moving in fog.
Then clearer,
Until forms begin to appear beside you.
They are kind,
Warm,
Loving.
Their presence fills the air with tenderness,
With a sense of memory and belonging.
You may recognize a face,
A grandparent,
A parent,
A sibling,
Or perhaps an ancestor you never met,
Yet whose blood and spirit live in you.
And maybe there is no face at all,
Only a soul.
A soft presence,
A field of love,
A knowing that you are held.
Feel them draw near,
Not to judge,
Not to demand,
But to support you,
To remind you,
You are never alone.
Their love is a blanket around you.
And as if in whispers you hear,
We stand behind you.
We clear the path for you.
You never walk alone.
Take a moment to thank them.
You may whisper silently or softly aloud.
Thank you for the path you opened for me.
Thank you for your strength,
For your love,
For your life that lives on in me.
I honor you.
I carry you with me.
Let this sense of connection sink deep into your heart.
Feel your heartbeat merge with theirs,
With the countless hearts that have beaten before you flowing into your own.
Wherever you go,
You carry them with you.
Their wisdom,
Their love,
Their light continues through you.
Samhain is also the season of release.
A sacred moment when nature teaches her greatest lesson.
Nothing lasts forever.
And in letting go,
Renewal is born.
See the trees around you in this inner vision.
Their branches shimmer with autumn's colors,
Red,
Gold,
Orange,
And slowly they let go.
One by one,
The leaves fall.
No tree clings.
All trust that the earth will receive what drops down.
Now imagine yourself standing in this forest.
The ground beneath you is soft with fallen leaves,
Rustling at every breath of wind.
In your hands,
You hold everything you no longer wish to carry.
Worries that chase you.
Patterns that hold you back.
Fears that keep you small.
Habits that drain your strength.
Acknowledge them.
See them clearly.
And know this is the moment to release.
Take a deep inhale.
And with each exhale,
Let one of these burdens go.
Watch as it slips from your hands,
Transforming into a leaf.
Carried by the wind,
It dances freely,
Drifting down to the earth.
The soil welcomes it.
It is not lost,
But transformed.
Broken down.
Turned into nourishment for new life.
Breath by breath.
Leaf by leaf.
You grow lighter.
Your shoulders loosen.
Your chest opens.
Your breath flows free.
The trees remind you letting go is not losing.
It is making space for what is waiting to be born.
So when marks the Celtic New Year,
The harvest is complete.
The earth rests.
And in the silence and darkness,
New life is carried.
From this stillness.
From this depth.
The seed of the future is born.
Everything begins in the dark.
Pause here.
Feel how this truth is not only outside,
In the earth and the seasons,
But also within you.
You are part of the same science.
You are part of a cycle.
Within you,
There is a place of stillness,
Where darkness is not threatening,
But fertile,
Full of possibilities.
Take this moment to set an intention for the year ahead.
Ask yourself,
What do I wish to carry with me into this new cycle?
What wants to grow within me?
What wants to bloom?
What do I wish to nurture?
If words arise,
Let them.
If an image,
A colour or a feeling comes,
Trust it.
If you seek inspiration,
You might choose,
I trust the cycle of life.
Or,
I release what no longer serves me and open to the new.
Or,
I live from light and love,
Even in times of darkness.
Choose the words that resonate.
Repeat them softly within yourself.
Let them root,
Not just in your mind,
But in your heart.
Now imagine this intention as a seed.
See yourself bending to the earth.
With your hands,
You make a small hollow in the rich,
Dark soil.
You place your seed inside.
Your intention.
Your wish.
Your vow.
Cover it gently with earth.
Trust that here,
In the quiet and the dark,
It will rest.
And in the coming months,
While the world outside sleeps,
This seed gathers strength and when spring returns,
It will open and bring forth new life.
Feel that this seed now lives safely within you.
You carry it.
You protect it.
You nurture it with your presence and your love.
Slowly return to your breath.
Feel the coolness of the inhale,
The warmth of the exhale.
Breathe deeply in and slowly out.
Notice again the strength of the earth beneath you,
Holding you,
Always steady.
And feel the candlelight still burning in your heart.
The reminder that there is always light within you,
Even in the deepest night.
Invite gentle movement back into your body.
Wiggle your fingers,
Your toes.
Roll your shoulders,
Shaking off the last traces of heaviness.
And when you are ready,
Slowly open your eyes.
Notice how you return changed,
Carrying the wisdom of someone,
The strength of your ancestors behind you and the softness of your intention before you.
You return with balance,
With trust,
With a sense of new beginning.
Someone blesses you and through you the new year flows in.
In the silence of darkness,
The seed of new life is born.
What we release makes space for what longs to come.
As we close this journey,
You may choose to gently blow out your candle or let it continue to burn for a while longer.
Take a sip of your drink and a small bite of the food you prepared.
Let this simple act nourish you,
Grounding the insights of this meditation into your body and your everyday life.
Thank you so much for listening and for allowing me to guide you.
I wish you a wonderful Samhain filled with balance and new beginnings.
