Samhain - A New Year

I am always comforted by approaching Autumn. There is something mentally re-energizing to know that for the next few months I will cocoon myself in warm clothing, heavy blankets, and ultimately my warmed house. Society will not expect me to be out in the world because the days are cold and darken early. I am granted reprieve from the frenzied social activities of spring and summer with which I can never keep up. 

Obviously my thoughts are influenced enough by new age philosophy to know that beginnings are born from endings, life born from death. January seemed far too late in the season to account for this philosophy. How could I enact life changes, sustainable even after the birth of spring, in just a few months without feeling rushed and out of sorts? 

Prior to last year I was vaguely aware of Samhain, the day after All Hallow's Eve. I was not aware enough to know how pleasantly the holiday buttressed with my inner resolution clock. 

Patty Wigington describes it as follows:

"Sunset on Samhain is the beginning of the Celtic New Year. The old year has passed, the harvest has been gathered, cattle and sheep have been brought in from the fields, and the leaves have fallen from the trees. The earth slowly begins to die around us.  

This is a good time for us to look at wrapping up the old and preparing for the new in our lives. Think about the things you did the last twelve months. Have you left anything unresolved? If so, now is the time to wrap things up. Once you've gotten all that unfinished stuff cleared away, and out of your life, then you can begin looking towards the next year."

So, like my Pagan friends, I retreat and think during Autumn months. I take a long hard look at the past year and celebrate the good of it, while vowing to fix the bad. Last year - shortly after Samhain - my resolution was to overcome binge-eating (the last vestige of my depressing childhood), which I successfully did.

I'm not quite sure what this New Year's resolution will be but I'd love to hear yours whether it's made in November or January.