WELCOME!
Samhain: We Are Shadows
Come in, come in! I’m so happy you’re here. The season of Samhain (pronounced SAH-win) is upon us — an ancient Gaelic festival marking the last harvest and the beginning of the darker half of the year. It’s also known as the Celtic New Year.
On Samhain, time stands still and the threshold to the spirit world is flung wide open. The earthly world of the living becomes entangled with the spirit world. It is the perfect time for transformational magic and inviting your inner wisdom to take center stage. Samhain begins on the evening of October 31st and ends on the evening of November 1. This bundle is an exploration of mystery, magic, creative incubation, and the shadow self.
((Just a note that our next bundle is Yule: We Are Light, a lovely compliment to the darker themes of this bundle.))
All Creative Alchemy Cycle bundles are self-guided. I’ve created this landing page as a home base for us as we journey through the season of Samhain. We’ll also meet in person on the fourth Sunday of each month (scroll down for links.) Feel free to reach out if you have any questions!
Table of Contents
PART ONE: DIGITAL CONTENT
Story of the Season: a Homily for Samhain (audio & PDF)
The Great Wide Open (video)
In the Studio (video)
Collaborative Alchemy Podcast: with Torie Wiggins (audio)
Fuel for the Fire: Writing prompts, reading lists, Spotify playlists, etc.
Further Connection: Monthly Community Zoom Call / Recording (links)
PART TWO: FOR FULL SUBSCRIBERS
CAC Network: Online communication platform
Altar Box: Description of your seasonal care package
NOTE of ENGAGEMENT:
Please do not share the link to this page with others. This content was created just for you. Thank you for your respect and understanding.
Seasonal Focus: Grief Practice
It’s time to peer into the shadows and welcome the coming dark. Samhain invites us to celebrate mystery, honor our quiet creative time, and make some space for our darker emotional cosmology. On Samhain, time stands still and the threshold to the spirit world is flung wide open. The earthly world of the living becomes entangled with the spirit world. It is the perfect time for transformational magic and inviting your inner wisdom to take center stage. The question we’re holding this season: “What within me is longing to transform?”
Calling You Home — A Homily
This is a great place to begin. For each of the eight bundles that make up the Creative Alchemy Cycle, I write a seasonal story to set the container for the bundle. These homilies are my way of practicing alongside you and using the creative alchemy tools to create my own work. You can download a copy using the button below and/or listen to the audio.
The Great Wide Open
My creative process always begins outside. This is where I weave the outer landscape with the inner one. Follow me into the high desert of Eastern Oregon, where we’ll explore the incredible botanical variety of this seemingly barren landscape, gathering teasel and sage. Then we’ll head into Eagle Valley for the last apple harvest of the year.
In the Studio
After viewing The Great Wide Open, let’s head into my studio. This is where I metabolize, incubate, and process all the elements which make up my current state of creative alchemy. We’ll chat about your Samhain care packages, talk about some themes of this season, and create a watercolor seascape as a meditative practice in releasing perfectionism.
Collaborative Alchemy Podcast
Collaborative Alchemy is a series of conversations with artists, thought leaders, activists, farmers, educators, creatives, and other polymaths where we tell our stories, expand our histories, and hold space for new ways of being. In this episode, I talk with multi-hyphenate artist and entrepreneur Torie Wiggins about creative wellness and the joys of solo performance. Listen in as we discuss our dreams about stories of Black joy, a culture of mutual care and rest, and a thriving future beyond the cumulative pain of the pandemic. More about Torie at www.sarahgreenman.com/podcast-wiggins.
FUEL FOR THE FIRE
Writing prompts and further exploration, links, reading lists, spotify playlists, etc. Click on the images or buttons below to view, visit, or download.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Invitations for Further Connection
CREATIVE ALCHEMY COMMUNITY CALLS occur consistently on the fourth Sunday of each month from 10:00—11:15am PST. These gatherings are recorded and posted right here the day after. Sarah will send a reminder email the week before and the day before each gathering.
RECORDING OF NOVEMBER 2021 CALL: During this call we explore themes of resilience, impermanence, risk, and surrender.
RECORDING OF OCTOBER 2021 CALL: During this art-salon-style Zoom call, we explore the Celtic understanding of “the otherworld”, the idea of both an external and internal wilderness, and what it means to tell stories and create art at our learning edge.
PART TWO: For Full Subscribers
The Samhain Community Network & Gallery
The community network & gallery is a communication platform for those who are full subscribers! It’s like Facebook but WAY better: no advertisements, completely private, and built collectively. As a member of the Cycle you received an invitation to join our Creative Alchemy Cycle (CAC) online network via Mighty Networks. The button below will take you to the network.
About Your Samhain Care Package
For those of you subscribing to the full Cycle through Patreon, your care-packages will be arriving between October 23-27. These love-filled packages contain natural objects, local Eastern Oregon flavor, and art ephemera to inspire your journey, and adorn your seasonal altars. (This probably goes without saying, but please do not eat any of the herbs or lichen in this care package.)
CONTENTS of the SAMHAIN PACKAGE:
✦ welcome letter and poem by Khalil Gibran
✦ shadow votive
✦ botanical aromatic blend
✦ dried leaves
✦ dried Fuller’s Teasel head (Dipsacus fullonum)
✦ Wolf Lichen (Letharia vulpina)
✦ a 5 x 5 inch signed archival mini-print
ABOUT THE WOLF LICHEN:
This bright chartreuse, shrubby lichen grows on the bark of living and dead conifers in parts of western and continental Europe, the Pacific Northwest and northern Rocky Mountains of Western North America. This species is somewhat toxic to mammals due to the yellow pigment vulpinic acid, and has been used historically as a poison for wolves and foxes. It has also been used traditionally by many native North American indigenous groups as a pigment source for dyes and paints. Adorn your altar with this lichen for a pop of color!
ABOUT the AROMATIC BLEND:
Ingredients: These ingredients were combined to capture the unmistakable scent of Eastern Oregon’s unique mix of forest floor and high desert, so dominant at this time of year. Ingredients include wild sagebrush leaves and blossoms (Artemisia tridentata), juniper leaves and berries (Juniperus communis), rosemary, lavender, wild thyme (Thymus serpyllum), red clover, purple culinary sage (Salvia officinalis), and rose.
Source: The wild sage, red clover, and juniper were all sustainably foraged and gathered in Richland and Halfway, Oregon. The rosemary, culinary sage, thyme, lavender, and rose were grown in Sarah’s garden, then harvested and dried in her art studio.
Directions: This blend can be used in a variety of ways. But my favorite way to scent my home is to simmer it in water. Use crockware (or a pot) that you do not cook food in. Add the dried blend to one or two cups of boiling water. Simmer on the stove or in a simmering pot. The scent will last for hours. (Don’t be alarmed when the herbs turn black. That’s normal.) You can also keep the dried blend in a fabric bag to scent a drawer. Squeeze it periodically to release the scent. Another way to enjoy the smell is to sprinkle it on the coals of an open fire.
Gratitude.
"We have seasons when we flourish
and seasons when the leaves fall from us,
revealing our bare bones.
Given time, they grow again.”
― Katherine May, from Wintering