Brief Sabbatical from Writing

To all my readers, I regret that I have not been writing much as of late. Life and its complexities has intervened to interrupt my typical regimen. It has been the happenstance of both happy events and also one that is very sad. The happy events have been the hosting of some of my closest friends over the last two weekends. However, on the first day of November, which is All Saints Day, my mother passed away from this world to the next. She was a very gentle and compassionate soul who taught me how not to judge people before knowing them. Her influence in my life had been very subtle but also very powerful. Perhaps one could say that my tacit love and respect for this woman had something to do with my search for a religion that would venerate and love the divine feminine. Although she has been in a nursing home for the last two years and under hospice palliative care, and has been unresponsive and barely conscious during much of that time, her passing has had its impact on me, even though I had already accepted her immanent passing as a likely occurrence. This is the sad event that I am dealing with, even though I am surrounded by friends who love and care about me.

Samhain was a wonderful experience for me. The presentation was performed better than I had hoped, and it was well attended. I was thrilled by the acting of the main members of the cast, and the attendees came dressed up and made up to look like the dead. There were a lot of made up skull faces, pale skin and hallow eyes absorbing all that happened. The dance portion was successful (even the children got involved) and the feast was well received. Even though we only had two and a half hours to finish all of the acts of this presentation, including the feast, we managed to complete it on time, and there were enough hands to straighten and tidy things up at the end. The critique of the rite that happened the next had a number of attendees and the negative criticism was light (some basic logistics) and the praise was heavy. I was delighted with the whole process and grateful for everyone who contributed to making this one of the best public rituals that I have ever developed, written and conducted. The brightness of that moment has not been dimmed by the death of my mother, and perhaps the one event presaged the other. In a sense, perhaps, I have acknowledged her passing with the presentation of a rite that glorifies living and honors death.

With all of these events unfolding and taking up so much of my time, I will likely not post very many articles in the next couple of weeks. I have many outlines and ideas for writing future blog articles, but I will just need some time to get all of the important mundane things in my life squared away. So please stay tuned to this blog and I promise you that there will be some very interesting articles coming later this month and throughout the winter. I am grateful for your reading and responses to my past articles. I hope that everyone had a great and wonderful Samhain, and that winter doesn’t come too early so that the fall may more gently descend into the coming months of darkness, cold and the soft covering of snow and ice.

Frater Barrabbas