New moon in Scorpio

I trust you all had a great Halloween/Samhain weekend! If you're Catholic, you celebrated All Saints Day (Dia de Los Santos) on the 1st, and All Souls Day (Dia de Los Muertos) today. That's how the term Hallowe'en came to be -- it's the "e'en" (evening) before All Saints (or All Hallows) Day. I'm not sure when it was affixed to Oct. 31st -- Celtic Samhain or Third Harvest was actually celebrated on the new moon, so it would be the New Moon in Scorpio in astrology. That was the time when the veil between the worlds was thought to be at its thinnest. It was a limnal (threshhold) time. So when we left behind the lunar calendar and opted for the Julian calendar, or the Church calendar (not sure which) the closest thing to that limnality was October 31st, the end of one month and the beginning of another, and the night before All Hallows.

That new moon will occur this weekend. It's when Tucson traditionally celebrates its All Souls Procession. I hope all of you will be able to participate -- if any of you haven't previously, you're in for a fabulous surprise -- the parade is often compared to MardiGras. It's a time to remember our mortality (Memento Mori) and to remember our ancestors, and to celebrate them both.

Saturday and Sunday (the 6th & 7th) I'll be in Phoenix for a Shamanic workshop with the Foundation for Shamanic Studies. Not surprisingly, this particular workshop is on "Dying and Beyond." The purpose is to understand the Shamanic view of death and what's on the other side of it, and to teach participants psychopomp work. A psychopomp is one who conducts spirits or souls to the Otherworld. The word comes from the Greek -- "psyche" meaning soul, and "pompe" meaning a sending. Since the workshop was coordinated with this new moon, this new threshhold (it's also the old Celtic New Year), it should be an excellent time for journeying between the worlds.

I became interested in working as a psychopomp, first as a chaplain and pastor visiting folks in the hospital, then after having dreams and experiences of the Otherworld. The desire became really strong after working in the medical setting with terminal and hospice patients.

The first MindCast on the 12th is going to be about experiences "beyond the veil." There won't be a guest that first night, but I'll have lots of stories to tell, both old and new (and the old ones are wild!). I will open up the lines that night for callers to share their own experiences as well. Perhaps you'll have something to share with us.