Samhuin 2011

Samhuin 2011. The end of the Celtic year as everything wraps up in an agrarian society. Harvest, slaughter and the closing of deals. Man in balance with nature as it waxes and wanes in the solar cycle. A measure of creation and destruction, not too much nor too little. Tis best to keep the ravenous cat-witch in her cave lest the Maeve destroy it all. But give her her due.

Man needs magic. Without magic man is trapped in a dreary existence. He needs to know that a deity looks out for him, that love can blossom and shine and that dreams can come true if one works at them. Cold rationality isn't enough, man needs to see that the impossible can happen. At least occasionally.

Man needs dreams. Dreams of finding one's place in the world, finding The One Love of his life, raising fine children who live their dreams and, finally, living a full life with meaning then going to God. Attaining our dreams is not easy and often they come with mixed, and even surprising results. But reaching out for them is the fuel that drives us forward and gives our life meaning.

As I grow older both magic and dreams grow dimmer. I still look for both everyday. But both become more elusive. The world has become colder and it's nearly impossible to find your place in it. Love is rare and becoming impossible for far too many. And there is no meaning in most work, and many lives today. The ravenous Maeve is loose on the land tearing place, love and meaning to shreds.

It breaks my heart to see my grandsons without fathers and daughters without husbands in their lives, men without work and so many disconnected lives without meaning. It sickens me to watch divorce, outsourcing and foreclosure as the value of civilization collapses. It robs me of my full life and meaning as I helplessly watch everything fall into ruin.

The Maeve has been loose on the land for more than a decade spreading havoc. Her hell-spawn increase by the minute tearing at the natural order, seeking to destroy everything. Sinews ripped from bone, man from woman, father from son, man from work and meaning from life until we wander like the dead on the lifeless land.

Perhaps this Samhuin some unblemished, noble wise men can banish the Maeve to that cave in Connaught and seal her up. Ask the Tuatha da Danaan to render their magic to help make a dream that restores the Good God to His place.