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Those who practice Tarot and/or are readers of my blog, know this charming fellow as Death- Key 13. In the British Isles, he was known as LORD DREAD or DREAD LORD and the end of October is his Holy Day! He is also known as the Semitic version of the Asiatic Sana, Samara (Aryan), or Samarium,"the leveler" And most of us know that you can level things very well with a skillful usage of a Scythe; a very particular harvesting tool of this dancing fellow.
The Celts know him as the god of SAMHAIN, the Feast of the dead, Christianized as All Souls day. The Medieval Gnostics called him SAMMAEL or SATANAEL or at least they were accused of worshiping him as such. But the Worshiping concept is suspect as that was the accusation of those who accused them of heresy.
He is the JUDGE OF THE DEAD, identified with the underworld King Yama and in the Sama Veda (Hindu), he was called the "Storm god", clothed in black clouds. In the Rig Veda, he was Rudra, the god of storms and medicine (often shown with three faces) , as one knows, medicine of the ancients was particularly nasty!
In Europe and Asia, the black clouds of storms became the usual depiction of this deity, dressed in a hooded black all encompassing robe. The later version of him is called Satan, he was Prince of the Power of the Air, another way to say he has a "Stormy" nature.
What is interesting, in early Britain, Samuel had a female counter part, SAMOTHEA (Death Goddess) who seems to have been another form of SKADI or SCATHA. Samothea, was considered to be the goddess of the mysterious (Arcane) land of Hyperborean, the land where Pythagoras traveled to learn the arts of letters, astronomy, and science from this All Wise Lady.
Qabalists know that Hermes/Thoth is the Magician (Magus) of letters, words and sound, while the Art of Forms (astronomy) is definitely the Domain of Binah as the Star card and science from The Art Card...(Alchemy) where He and She combine to make All, making the Dread Lord a Hermaphrodite.
Thus one might say that Hyperborean was the Supernal Triangle of the Tree of Life, known as the World of Aziluth., which is across the Abyss and a place you can only reach after a death of your human realities.
According to the pagan lunar calendar, festivals were celebrated on the "eve' rather than the day. Thus Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, was the original festival that was later displaced to the following day. The Irish called this Holy Night, the Vigil of Saman.
Christian's of the day, described this night as heretical practices, where magic charms and divination', reading the future with Witches mirrors and nutshell ashes and other objectionable rites: Even the unholy act of ducking for apples in tubs of water, which was said to represent souls in the Cauldron of Regeneration.
But Halloween is not just limited to past superstition, even today it is believed that if a girl peels an apple before a mirror, on Halloween, she will see the image of her future husband in the glass.
However, today's celebration of parties, and candy/gift giving actually follows the original version of Samuele's day, as the original divination was considered to be Oracular utterances by the Elder dead (Ancestors) who came up from their tombs on Halloween, bearing gifts for the children of their living descendants.
Sicilian Halloween tradition, states that, " the dead relations have become the good fairies of the little ones." There are many more traditions across Europe. Even in Lithuania, there were burn offerings of domestic animals to their god ZIMIENNIK ( Samanik) , believing that if the Lord of the underworld accepted the offering on behalf of the dead, the spirits would do no harm.
The Fact That Death is seen as an active force, relates to the fact that Death, acts like the Dark Energy that pushes the Universe outward, by pushing Life forward.
The objective Self, the Mortal Form, may fear it's own demise, but the Subjective Self, that is 99.6% of You called "space" and/or Spirit does not. Spirit knows Death to be but a tool that transforms, as is Life, which Transforms Self Concepts in to Self-Reality. Our bodies are only the .4% of the Self, we call ourselves. One has to remember that the Infinite Spirit, is infinite, which means unmeasurable. So for this One Will of Energy "to be", it had to invent "measurement", which we call light. From light all things are made, including "self -image". Now the I Am, which is existence, but not of any one thing, can measure itself as a "me". Death is a necessary operation for self-awareness progression.
On that note : The celebration of Halloween, should be a celebration of the Spirit whose immortality survives mortality, knowing full well, that by owning your own beast-body, you can push your Identity forward into the Invisible Universe and be Lord over Life and Death. Thus, the Thoth Tarot Death Card is a rebirth Card of spiritual transformation, where we drop the old, and become the new.
So Party on this Halloween, all you "Sam's and Samantha's", you are really celebrating your mastery over death on this Hallows Eve day! It is only the Fear of Death that enslaves your Soul to the superstitions of the fear-based thought of the body! I am Spirit, and I use death to transform "my self".
Thank you for your interest, comments,and supportive donations. May you outlive your body and prosper the Universe! Say hi to old Sam and Party hard, so that spring may be full of bounce! Thank you for your interest, comments and supportive donations. May you live long and prosper!
