The Hallows: Sermon
The sermon completes the section on the Hallows (Hallowe’en) in The New Pagans’ Handbook:
The Sermon
Because, of all the festivals, The Hallows is the most structured and has the most ’set’ speeches and prayers, it requires less in the way of a sermon. Nevertheless, a summary of our main themes and a few observations about its significance as a marker in our annual cycle may help to reinforce and enrich its message.
At the Hallows we meet the Crone, the Goddess in Her death aspect. The festival recognises our own dark side, the fears and terrors we must know, in order to be made whole in ourselves. It honours our ancestors and all others who have joined the ‘Mighty Dead’. We dance with outstretched hands to welcome these powers, for, properly understood, they are not against us, but of us and can be our help. At the Hallows we hope to learn how to walk from the top to the bottom of our minds and be undismayed at what we find there. This is an heroic enterprise. Each must harrow his own hell. Each must pay due honour to the Crone, for She will claim us at the last; and we should love and respect Her, for only through love and respect can we reach trust and be unafraid in understanding.
