I was browsing through my collections trying to decide what to share with you on my blog and decided on Celtic Women’s Spirituality by Edain McCoy.
This is without a doubt one of my favorites books.
So grab yourself a cup of tea and sit for a spell.
Here is a small copy of her writings on Samhain, the italicized parts are me.:)

So much has been written about this popular festival that it seems redundant, as well as daunting, to try to compress it all into a brief description emphasizing the women's aspect. This is primarily the celebration of the new year and a feast of the harvest ending, and a reaffirmation in our beliefs in the eternal cycles of death and rebirth. On Samhain we celebrate the spirit world and honor our ancestors. This festival may even have roots far back into pre-history, to a time when unity through mother blood bound tribes together, and worship of female ancestors formed the basis of their spiritual orientation.
The crone, as Goddess and ancestor, is the supreme deity of this festival. Samhain is the night when the old God, her son and lover, dies, and she goes into mourning for him until she can transform herself into the virgin who gives him rebirth. The images of her as the Halloween hag stirring her bubbling cauldron comes from the Celtic belief that all the dead souls return, like the God, to her cauldron of life, death and rebirth to await reincarnation.
To celebrate this Sabbat you can follow an old Irish custom and place candles in your windows to illuminate the spirits travels. "This is one of the traditions that I also incorporate into my own celebrations as well"
Because the doors to the other times and places are wide open on this night, it is a goot time to try some past-life work. This can be done alone or with a group. If you are not familiar with any of the methods for doing this, now is the season for discovery.
You could also mourn the dead God with the traditional women's keening wail, and offer comfort to the grieving Goddess.
"Now this last suggestion really called out to me, give comfort to the grieving Goddess? I could actually offer her something beneficial? Something other then worship? It made me realize that I pray to the Goddess, I show her love and praise. I trust in her and I request aid from her as well. However I had never thought to offer my comfort to her! So, this Samhain I will incorporate this into my ritual in my own way. Just some food for thought ya all...:)"

I also thought you would enoy these poems...
(poem by: Elspeth Sapphire)

It is the time of burning leaves,
The crispness of the air has awakened
Memories both dark and hidden,
Memories of past feasts partaken.

I sit comfortly in this silent room
Computer keyboard beneath my fingers
Yet...my mind is never frozen here
In times past it wants to linger.

I 'see' a bonfire raging on a hilltop
With my people all gathered around
Our prayers to the Gods I shout,
Yet, in my dreams I hear not a sound.

The drums beat, the people dance
Wildness fills the autumn night.

The Other Side is so very close--
The Veil just beyond the fire light.

I reach, I feel, I almost touch...
Spirit fingers entwine with mortal
Then dawn's first light appears
And seals again the fragile portal.

I turn away from the cold ashes
Let the wildness leave my aching soul.

Another year til another Samhain...
On that night again I'll be whole.


(poem by: R. A. Melos )

A Witch's Words To Her Familiar On Samhain

Still your mind,
and still your soul,
heed the words that make you grow,
listen to the winds of the sages,
learn the wisdom of the mages,
handed down to us from the ages.

Time is ours,
but only fleeting,
hear the wings of eternity beating,
soon enough we'll all be meeting,
and each of us merrily greeting.

The moon will be full,
and round,
and bright.
And we'll be wisked away,
in the dead of night.
To the place we are meant to be,
to learn and grow,
and maybe see,
a spectre of what we should be.

Time is ours,
frozen, but brief,
allowing us to release our grief,
to open our hearts and minds once more,
and step through the sacred door,
of time and space, and futures past,
to teach us the spells to cast.
So we may once again be free,
to live and love and blessed be.

So still your mind,
and still your soul,
and open your heart,
and set yourself free,
on this Samhain, I challenge thee.
Learn the truth from mages old,
the truth which was foretold.
The time is right, the night is new,
we can learn what not to do.

Warnings from the great beyond,
we'll heed them or all cry,
for lies can no longer be told,
when you look me in the eye.
I've learned a lesson, bold and true,
and now there are but a few,
who understand the depth of change,
and how we all must rearrange,
our thinking and goals,
for times anew,
if the world is to survive,
for me and you.

We've got our work cut out for us,
my friend.
And we must not fail,
before the end,
or all will be lost,
and fate will be no more,
and finally the great beyond,
will close the door.

Time and space will exist no more,
my friend,
my familiar,
we must work to prevent war.
Peace must prevail for ten thousand years,
and we must make sure it does.
Our souls eternal bond will hold,
as our bodies grow old.
Fear not the great beyond,
my friend,
for it is a beginning,
not an end.

Our work will continue for eternity,
until everlasting peace shall set us free.

(poem by: unknown )

Dear Ancestor

Your tombstone stands among the rest;
neglected and alone
The name and date are chiseled out
on polished, marbled stone
It reaches out to all who care
It is too late to mourn
You did not know that I’d exist
You died and I was born.
Yet each of us are cells of you
in flesh, in blood, in bone.
Our blood contracts and beats a pulse
entirely not our own.
Dear Ancestor, the place you filled
one hundred years ago
Spreads out among the ones you left
who would have loved you so.
I wonder if you lived and loved,
I wonder if you knew
That someday I would find this spot,
and come to visit you.
So that was the latest edition of the Samhain blogs.
Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your read.
Kat