Tune in at 12 a.m., Monday, November 4th, and hear the Gypsy Scholar present the second installment of the Orphic Essay-with-Soundtrack series for the Celtic cross-quarter festival of Samhain, entitled “Samhain & Hallowe’en,” an autumn harvest celebration marking the start of the dark half of the year on the Celtic Wheel of theYear, which is celebrated on the eve of November 1st, October 31, our Halloween or “All Hallows Eve” (but is also celebrated on the astrological and astronomical date of Nov. 7, “True Samhain,” the time when the sun reaches the fixed sign of 15% Scorpio at the exact midpoint between the Autumnal Equinox and the Winter Solstice), a time when the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead is at its thinnest and the dead can return. Part 2 of the musical essay begins with a continuation of the origins of Hallowe’en in the festival of Samhain, again briefly discusses the relationship between Samhain and the Catholic “All Saints Day” (Nov. 1) and All Souls Day” (Nov. 2), which were at one time part of “All Hallows Eve,” and the Mexican “Dia de los Muertos” (anywhere from Oct. 31 to Nov. 1 and 2, or Nov. 6), and then turns to aspects of the Samhain festival itself with a discussion of the magical “spirit night” of Samhain, the “Otherworld” (the land of the sidhe or the faerie), and ending up with witches, phantoms of the night, and their “Wild Hunt” ride on Samhain night.
Be sure to check out the “Samhain” webpage which is dedicated to this musical essay series, at revradiotowerofsong.com.
Update: This extended program is now available for listening on the “Archived Musical Essays” webpage, along with the corresponding playlist on the “Program & Playlists” webpage, of the Tower of Song website at revradiotowerofsong.com
