October 2025 WATERritual:

Hallowed Be the Turning into Darkness

with Diann Neu and the WATER Community

Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83285953460

Preparation: Place photos of your deceased loved ones near you. Have a candle, matches, apple slices, and honey on a plate nearby.

Welcome

            As the wheel of the year turns, light declines and darkness increases in the northern hemisphere.  This is the time of year for the annual meeting of the many worlds, when past and future are at ease with the present, when those of us with bodies get together with the spirits of those who preceded us. We come to the crossroads between the season of life and the season of death.  

            Festivals at this time invite us to think about our own mortality.  October 31 is Halloween, Samhain, the season of the dead.  November 1 celebrates The Feast of the Dead in Mexico and All Saints Day in the Christian calendar.  November 2 memorializes All Souls.  This trilogy of feasts honors the ancestors who have gone before us and still live among us.

            During these nights the veil between life and death is thin; the two worlds come close together.  There is much movement back and forth through the veil that makes it possible to get in touch with the spirits on either side.  Tonight we hallow this turning into darkness, spend time with those who have died, and remember our own mortality. To everything, there is a season.

Song: “To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)” Lyrics: Ecclesiastes; Music: Pete Seeger, Sung by: Judy Collins and Pete Seeger https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0xzyhoeu1Y

            Refrain: To everything (turn, turn, turn) / There is a season (turn, turn, turn)

            And a time to every purpose, under heaven

A time to be born, a time to die / A time to plant, a time to reap

A time to kill, a time to heal / A time to laugh, a time to weep. Refrain:

A time to build up, a time to break down / A time to dance, a time to mourn

A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together. Refrain:

A time of love, a time of hate / A time of war, a time of peace /

A time you may embrace, a time to refrain from embracing. Refrain:

A time to gain, a time to lose / A time to rend, a time to sew / A time for love, a time for hate

A time for peace, / I swear it’s not too late. Refrain:

Reading: “When Death Comes” by Mary Oliver

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CwbVW-tjBo&t=71s 

Light a Candle

         Light a candle in memory of someone who has died. Speak their name out loud in your own , type it into the chat if you wish, and invite them to be with you now. (Candle lighting) Let the candle represent warmth and light during these somber days.

Reading:  “Listening” by Margaret Randall, an excerpt from Memory Says Yes

Last night I dreamt of death.

Sudden, blatant, jarring.

And when I searched for morning’s meaning

(sensing it on some other plane)

someone told me “you can’t make death

a synonym for anything else.”

I can.  Yes I can.  And I do

Choose to say now

Death builds a bridge, another

And one more.

Death builds bridges

As long as we still hear

The living words, the song. 

Song:  “Breaths” by Sweet Honey in the Rock

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qaa-LRJV_TQ&list=RDQaa-LRJV_TQ&start_radio=1

            Refrain: Listen more often to things than to beings (2x)

                        ‘Tis the ancestors’ prayer when the fire’s voice is heard.

                        ‘Tis the ancestors’ prayer in the voice of the waters.

            Those who have died have never, never left.

            The dead are not under the earth.

            They are in the rustling leaves,

            They are in the growing woods,

            They are in the crying babes,

            They are in the morning light.

            The dead are not under the earth.  (Refrain)

            Those who have died have never, never left.

            The dead have a pact with the living.

            They are in the woman’s breast,

            They are in the waiting child,

            They are with us in the home,

            They are with us in the ground.

            The dead have a pact with the living.  (Refrain)

Reading:  “Retrospect in the Kitchen” by Maxine Kumin, from Our Ground Time Here Will Be Brief 

After the funeral I pick

forty pounds of plums from your tree

Earth Wizard, Limb Lopper

and carry them by DC 10

three thousand miles to my kitchen

and stand at midnight – nine o’clock

your time – on the fourth day of your death

putting some raveled things unsaid between us into the boiling pot

of cloves, cinnamon, sugar.

Love’s royal color

the burst purple fruit bob up.

Crystal Sharing

            Crystals are believed to magnify, store and focus energy. I personally have about 20 crystals in my collection. I collect them because I believe that they bring healing and serenity into my life and the lives of others. Plus, they are very nice to look at. Regarded in Japan as symbols of eternity, they are used to transmit and direct energy.  Hold your crystal; I’ll hold mine for all of us. Let’s connect with the energy of loved ones who have gone before us.  (Sharing) 

Quotations by Ancestors

“It is the denial of death that is partially responsible for people living empty, purposeless lives; for when you live as if you’ll live forever, it becomes too easy to postpone the things you know that you must do.”

            Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Death: The final Stage of Growth (1975)

“I hope the exit is joyful—and I hope never to come back.”

            Frida Kahlo (1954) om Hayden Herrera, Frida (1983)

“I should like to believe when I die that I have given myself away like a tree that sows seed every spring and never counts the loss, because it is not loss, it is adding to future life. It is the tree’s way of being. Strongly rooted perhaps but spilling out its treasure on the wind.”

            May Sarton, from Recovering (1980)

“Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely.”

            Edna St. Vincent Millay, “Dirge Without Music,” The Buck in the Snow (1928)

Reflection

 

            There is a season. Endings and deaths, beginnings and newness mark life’s cycles.  Hallowed be the turning… Let us share in groups of 3 or 4 whatever we wish from listening to the readings and songs.  Share what you got in touch with, what insights you have gained.  (Sharing)

 

Blessing Apples and Honey

            We bless apples and honey tonight, fruits of the harvest, to taste and see the wisdom of our ancestors. Taste the sweetness of the harvest and enjoy community with each other. Extend your hands over these harvest foods and let us bless them together.

            We bless you, Wisdom of our Ancestors,

            For giving us these apples that are symbols of women’s wisdom and

            connect us with the Communion of Saints who have gone before us.

            We remember Eve who reached for knowledge,

            took a bite of the apple, and found that it was good. She was a wise woman!

            We remember the Promised Land as a place of abundance, “a land flowing with milk and honey.” Honey that adds a touch of sweetness to our wisdom.                       

            Let’s dip apples in honey, take a bit, and remember our ancestors, those wise and courageous ones who have gone before us.

Blessing One Another

            As we spiraled into the center of death and dying, let us now spiral into life and new beginnings. Listen to the words of Polingaysi Qoyawayma (Elizabeth Q. White) in No Turning Back: A Hopi Indian Woman’s Struggle to Live in Two Worlds (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1964)
.
“I grind with gratitude for the richness of our harvest, not with cross feelings of working too hard. As I kneel at my grinding stone, I bow my head in prayer, thanking the great forces for provision. I have received much. I am willing to give much in return, for as I have taught you, there must always be a giving back for what one receives.”

Take Action

            Let us put our prayers into action and give back for what we have received. Here are some possible ways:

. Create an ancestor altar. Spend time with photos and mementos of your loved ones and remember their love and care for you.

. Enjoy food and drink that your ancestors enjoyed during their life.

. Reread one of the reading from tonight and listen to its message for you.

. Express gratitude to wise women in your life by giving them a call or writing them a card.

. Take a nature walk outside, observe the season and contemplate the cycles of life, death, and rebirth.

Sending Forth

            As you continue your evening, go carefully and cautiously. The spirits are with us in a special way these days.  Pay attention to your dreams. The veil between worlds is very thin.

            May your dreams connect you with loved ones.

            May your loved ones connect you to your power.

            May your power connect you to your mortality.

Song: “Witch Song” by Bonnie Lockhart

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUvXg7VhKsI 

Refrain: Who were the witches? Where did they come from?
Maybe your great, great, grandmother was one.
Witches were wise, wise women they say.
And there’s a little witch in every woman today.

Witches knew all about flowers and trees,
How to use all their roots and the barks and the leaves.
People grew weary from hardworking days,
witches made them feel better in so many ways. Refrain:

When women had babies, the witches were there
To feed them and help them and give them care.
Witches knew stories of how life began.
Don’t you wish you could be one? Well, maybe you can. Refrain:

Some people thought that the witches were bad.
Some people were scared of the power they had.
The power to heal and to help and to care
Isn’t something to fear. It’s a treasure to share. Refrain:

2025 Diann L Neu, dneu@hers.com, WATER