Samhain Series, Part 1
I don’t know about you, but I love how my psychic abilities seem to go into hyperdrive this time of year. Just about every day I’ll get a vision – sometimes I don’t mean to, but it’s still exhilarating when I’m right (of course it’s bittersweet when I see an undesirable outcome for someone, I wish that I could change their fate but a persons’ future is up to them).
Halloween countdowns are all over the place, so I thought I would jump on the bandwagon, so to speak, and provide my lovely readers with a Samhain Series. In case you missed my last post, these articles will all be discussing various topics that are related to Samhain, or the time period leading up to it and directly after. The Veil takes its’ time to thin, so of course it doesn’t just slam shut on November 1st. One of the most popular Samhain activities is divination, because it’s so easy to communicate with the Other Side. As a Morrigan Priestess Initiate, I wanted to start this series off by sharing with you advice about connecting with the Morrigan in her guise as the Seeress. My readings are much more powerful when I request the Morrigans’ help, and thought I would share with you the rituals, invocations and exercises I do with Her.
Halloween countdowns are all over the place, so I thought I would jump on the bandwagon, so to speak, and provide my lovely readers with a Samhain Series. In case you missed my last post, these articles will all be discussing various topics that are related to Samhain, or the time period leading up to it and directly after. The Veil takes its’ time to thin, so of course it doesn’t just slam shut on November 1st. One of the most popular Samhain activities is divination, because it’s so easy to communicate with the Other Side. As a Morrigan Priestess Initiate, I wanted to start this series off by sharing with you advice about connecting with the Morrigan in her guise as the Seeress. My readings are much more powerful when I request the Morrigans’ help, and thought I would share with you the rituals, invocations and exercises I do with Her.
The Morrigan – The Seeress
The Morrigan has several guises, names and faces. Her abilities are vast. One prominent ability is her second sight- her ability to see the past, present and the future. Ancient Irish texts are abound with anecdotes of the Morrigan seeing into the future, seeing past the Veil, knowing a person’s entire life with one glance. The Washer at the Ford is the Morrigan (often considered to be Badb) as a phantom who appears to men on their way to battle. They see her washing their bloody clothes and armor in the river, sometimes crying, or even wailing as she mournfully washes away their blood. They could turn back and save themselves, but most men that saw her kept pushing on, driven by courage, pride and love for their people and their land. Macha died of a broken heart in one of her myths, because she saw the Battle of Ulster, where the men were slaughtered. They were slaughtered because of a curse that was actually cast by Macha, in another life form.
[[In that incarnation, Macha knew nothing good would come of her husband revealing that she had extraordinary talents, so she made him promise not to tell anyone when he went to the feast at the kings court. After getting inebriated, her husband forgot about his promise and boasted that his wife could run so fast that she would beat the kings’ horses, the fastest in the land. The king was a proud, and vengeful man, so he ordered his men to bring Macha to court at once – to prove that she was as fast as her husband said. The reason Macha didn’t attend in the first place was because she was going to give birth to twins soon. She went into labor, and the king still insisted she raced. No one – not even her husband – stood up for her, so she raced, won, and gave birth to her twins at the finish line. As she lay dying she cursed the men of Ulster for their ignorance and cowardice, dooming them to suffer the pains of labor when they needed their strength the most. Fast forward some time, a battle was about to begin and the men fell with labor pains. Since they were all doubled over in pain the opposing army easily killed them all.]]
[[In that incarnation, Macha knew nothing good would come of her husband revealing that she had extraordinary talents, so she made him promise not to tell anyone when he went to the feast at the kings court. After getting inebriated, her husband forgot about his promise and boasted that his wife could run so fast that she would beat the kings’ horses, the fastest in the land. The king was a proud, and vengeful man, so he ordered his men to bring Macha to court at once – to prove that she was as fast as her husband said. The reason Macha didn’t attend in the first place was because she was going to give birth to twins soon. She went into labor, and the king still insisted she raced. No one – not even her husband – stood up for her, so she raced, won, and gave birth to her twins at the finish line. As she lay dying she cursed the men of Ulster for their ignorance and cowardice, dooming them to suffer the pains of labor when they needed their strength the most. Fast forward some time, a battle was about to begin and the men fell with labor pains. Since they were all doubled over in pain the opposing army easily killed them all.]]
These are only a few of the many stories of the Morrigan foretelling the future. If you want to learn more check out Stephanie Woodfield’s book Celtic Lore & Spellcraft of the Dark Goddess: Invoking the Morrigan. Hands down my favorite book! (and pretty much the main source of information I got for this article).
The Morrigan does not only foretell the future, but she has the power to form the fates of men (and women). She can bring misfortune, even death, to those who have earned her wrath while good fortune, success and triumph are what people who gained her favor are destined for. She is the Seer and the Weaver of Destinies.
As the Seeress, the Morrigan can help us to peer into the mysteries of the past, present, and future in order to seek our own truths and weave the threads of our own fates. (1)
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| Ogham |
Divination with Help From the Divine
How do we peer into the mysteries of the past, present and future? With Divination, of course. Everyone can learn divination, because everyone is naturally psychic. Most people will try to explain away, justify, or straight up ignore their intuition. As witches, we must harness this ability. It will help us plan for the future, learn from our past, connect us to our ancestors by revealing ancient memories locked away in our mind. Divination is practiced by every culture and religion all over the world. Here in the US, the most common methods are cartomancy (divination with a deck of cards), scrying with water or flame, pendulums, and by using Runes or Ogham. Since the Morrigan is a Celtic goddess, I like to use Ogham, but she will help you all the same if you prefer Runes.
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| Elder Futhark Runes |
Runes and Ogham are great, but my favorite is using Oracle Cards, or Illuminated Tarot. (If you would like for me to do a reading for you, check out my Etsy shop Enchanting Endeavor! Only $5 for a 3 card spread!)
Whatever method you prefer, the Morrigan will help – all you have to do is ask. And speaking of questions, when performing divination the question plays a major part – no matter the method. You should be specific, and include a time frame when it’s applicable. For example, instead of “Will my business be successful?” try “How can I improve my business sales over the next three months?”. Divination tools yield answers based on the energy surrounding the situation. They don’t really predict the future, but show you a possible outcome of a situation if the contributing factors remain the same. Stephanie recommends keeping time related questions to no further than 6 months out, because the read would not be accurate. Too much can change in six months, so the tools -even with the help of the Morrigan – can’t accurately give you advise on the situation.
Requesting Help from the Morrigan
I perform a 3 card Illuminated Tarot reading for myself almost every morning – to find out how my day will go, or to find out what I should focus on. Before doing the reading, I will go to the Morrigans’ altar and say the following invocation, which requests the Morrigans’ energies to assist with divination.
Hail Morrigan
Poet and prophetess
Keening banshee
Goddess of vision
Mistress of Fate
Your gaze pierces the Veil
Seeing into all realms
The past and present and things yet to be
Come to me, O Mighty Seeress
Grant me vision and second sight
Part the Veil for me this night! (2)
If I am attempting to scry, or perhaps perform an automatic writing exercise, I feel that a divination chant is more effective.
Morrigan
Goddess of prophecy and might
Guide my hand
Grant me Second Sight (3)
Be sure to subscribe by clicking the Subscribe button so you are notified when the next article is published for the #MagicalMusingsSamhainSeries! Next time we will be doing a fun activity!
Until next time my lovely readers!!
1. Woodfield, Stephanie. Celtic Lore & Spellcraft of the Dark Goddess: Invoking the Morrigan (p. 217). Llewellyn Worldwide, LTD.. Kindle Edition.
2. Woodfield, Stephanie. Celtic Lore & Spellcraft of the Dark Goddess: Invoking the Morrigan (pp. 235-236). Llewellyn Worldwide, LTD.. Kindle Edition.
3. Woodfield, Stephanie. Celtic Lore & Spellcraft of the Dark Goddess: Invoking the Morrigan (p. 236). Llewellyn Worldwide, LTD.. Kindle Edition.
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