Sacred Samhain | A Cross-Quarter Festival Ritual Retreat
October 30, 2024
12:00-2:00pm PST
a virtual retreat offered via Zoom
“Blessed be the sacred paths our ancestors tread, Spirits of the Earth, we offer our call.
As the Wheel turns and the veil grows thin,
We honor those who walked before us all.
On this hallowed night, we remember and keep,
The stories and wisdom they lovingly shared.
Their legacy flows within our veins,
In the rustling leaves and the cool, crisp air.
Blessed Samhain to the spirits passed,
May your eternal light ever gleam.
We welcome you with open hearts,
As we dance beneath the harvest moon’s beam.”
Connect with the rhythm of the sacred seasons
and the calendar of the Earth that is on-going
within you and throughout the world with
Sacred Samhain | A Cross-Quarter Festival Ritual Retreat
Samhain, celebrated on the first of November, is a revered Celtic festival marking the halfway point between the Autumn Equinox (Mabon) and the Winter Solstice (Yule). As the veil between worlds grows thin, Samhain is one of the most sacred days in the Celtic Wheel of the Year—a time to honor the ancestors, embrace the dark, and prepare for the deep wisdom of the Crone. It is a festival of introspection and release, where we turn inward as the Earth slows its pulse, and nature enters its time of rest and renewal.
The word "Samhain" comes from Old Irish, meaning "Summer’s End," and it was traditionally marked with rituals and bonfires that symbolized the passage from light into the darkness of winter. Just as Beltane celebrates the fire of life, Samhain honors the sacred fire that guides us through the shadows, offering protection and the light of inner knowing.
During the Sacred Samhain mini-retreat, we will explore these ancient traditions and reconnect with the timeless practices that still resonate today. We will turn to the plants and the Crone’s wisdom, understanding how fire and herbs were used to cleanse and protect, as well as to bless the way forward through the dark season.
We will gather in a temenos circle—a sacred space of clearing and intention—where our hearts are open to the mysteries of Samhain. Here, we will craft our own Crone’s Broom, a powerful symbol of the Crone’s authority and wisdom, to sweep away what no longer serves and sanctify our path ahead. This broom, infused with the energy of the season, will be our companion in rituals of protection and blessing throughout the winter months.
To Register:
Click on the provided registration link on this page. No previous engagement with retreat content required. New practitioners and curious seekers welcome! Registered participants will receive a preparation list of what to bring to this mini-retreat to ensure they have the proper materials to create their own Crone’s Broom, as well as to foster their own sacred retreat space within their homes to enjoy this time personally within our virtual gathering.
The program will be recorded for those who register and cannot attend. ZOOM links are sent two days prior to the program to paid registrants.
This virtual, live ritual retreat will include:
Officiated ritual and blessings;
An overview and teaching on the significance of the Celtic Wheel of the Year, and Samhain;
Lineage and Ancestry Connection;
Grief Work;
Guided personal reflection time;
Live instruction for making your own Crone’s Broom or besom;
Facilitated space to hear from and connect with one another;
Support to create your own personal ceremony to deepen into the sacramentality of this festival day.
Our time together will be a potent set-apart time, a time dedicated to the seasonal energies that are moving within and throughout us, in our own inner-nature, as well as throughout the wild world.
Sacred Samhain is a time for you to reflect on the summer energies within you, and to meaningfully engage with the plant community as aids and guides to support you as you cross the various thresholds of your own life.
Retreat Leader: Mary DeJong will guide and facilitate the Sacred Samhain Ritual Retreat. She is a spiritual ecologist, eco-theologian, urban naturalist, and practitioner and guide of place-based pilgrimage. She specializes in the spiritual companionship of “rewilding.” Mary facilitates retreats and pilgrimages in the Pacific Northwest and in Iona, Scotland that strengthen the unique and mystical interconnection of participants, the sacred, and the natural world. She has studied and practiced within the Celtic Christian spiritual tradition, her own maternal line heritage, for over twenty years, and is influenced by the lives of Celtic saints, the post-Heroic Journey, and the emerging field of eco-psychology, eco-mythology, and, Christian animism.
A ceremonialist and ritualist, Mary is masterful at creating temenos circles, sacred clearings where one can expect to be met by enchantment and holy mystery. She has facilitated online retreats and webinars on subjects related to sacred rewilding, eco spirituality, eco theology, and more. She hosts workshops and retreats where she delights in bringing people into the round of the Wheel of the Year as a spiritual practice and soul formation journey.
