Samhain – October 31st

Magical Toddler morning session, where Mel enlightened the fire for the last time this Celtic year, on the day of Samhain, end of harvest and beginning of dark half of year. Sage appeared, and we all got a nose blessing. Ant trampolines, Troll fingernails,  Ivy almost and Leela making the spell with a witches hat, to light the fire with water! were the highlights.

The Home Eds arrived full of knowledge of Boudica, the warrior queen, who led an uprising against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire in AD 60, and died shortly after its failure, having poisoned herself. (And so I realised how little I knew of this great warrior woman, but was equally pleased to learn from the Forest School students).

We called to the North for the wisdom, the East for air, new beginnings, new growth, the south for fire and passion, and the west, the Wild Woman and soothing water.

We recalled our ancestors, Mel’s nan aged 95, our friends who have gone (Kind Uncle John), a Great Grandad who died of age, a Granddad map maker of the Faroe Islands, a Navy Seal of the 2nd World War, Adam and Eve. We recalled our natural ancestors. Our entire earth is everyone’s ancestor, said one. We all decay and go back into the earth. We journeyed to reincarnation and said what we’d like to be reincarnated as. One said a cat, another a Scottish wild cat, one a ferret, one a snake, and one a kestrel. We gathered objects from the wood that represented that ancestor special to us and added it to an alter to Samhain.

There are more living organisms In a handful of soil than people on the planet.

Eloise introduced us to a WORMERY, where worms would decompose our waste food into the fertiliser of our future.

One caught an Albino Ladybird and named by Luis Pumpkin, and Luis  thinks he was the first to discover of this species! One found a Hawthorn Shield Beetle – Mel have you got that photo?

We visited the newly hazel framed pond, inspected the good work of John Elsing

After countless games of IT, we rounded the day where we began, talking of ancestors. Michael came and reminded us that we all have to die – otherwise the earth could not fit us all in! There were 7.5 million people on the earth, imagine if no one died how many would there be? What is left of us is dust and memories.

Today felt like 2 minutes, said one leaving.

Our last session was in the twilight of the day, with two stalwarts, who taught us how to enjoy the wood in the darkness. We had the place to ourselves, so after some tool making, we snuggled in sheepskins (donated by Michael) around the fire, and cooked pumpkin and apple, and sweet bread and told stories to each other.