Reborn & Rising

𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐂𝐔𝐌𝐔𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐄𝐂𝐇𝐎 𝐎𝐅 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐂𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔, 𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀 𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐒𝐓

We don't ever descend alone 👣❤️🧬

Yesterday marked 2 years since my dad's passing...I still whisper a prayer for you every night before bed, praying that wherever you are, you are safe and happy ♥️

'Tell Augustine that he should by no means destroy the temples of the gods but rather the idols within those temples. Let him, after he has purified them with holy water, place altars and relics of the saints in them. For, if those temples are well built, they should be converted from the worship of demons to the service of the true God. Thus, seeing that their places of worship are not destroyed, the people will banish error from their hearts and come to places familiar and dear to them in acknowledgement and worship of the true God. Further, since it has been their custom to slaughter oxen in sacrifice, they should receive some solemnity in exchange. Let them therefore, on the day on the dedication of their churches, or on the feast of the martyrs whose relics are preserved in them, build themselves huts around their one time temples and celebrate the occasion with religious feasting. They will sacrifice and eat the animals not anymore as an offering to the devil, but for the glory of God to whom, as the giver of all things, they will give thanks for having been satiated.'

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The above is an excerpt sent to the first Bishop of Canterbury by Pope Gregory I who headed the Church from A.D. 590 to 604. He sent a missionary to England with the task of converting those with pagan beliefs. The letter advises that the Bishop allow the pagans to continue their worship and practices, but frame these practices in a Christian context.
The night of Samhain became All Hallows Evening, the night before the Saints were venerated. That name eventually morphed into Halloween. The Christianization of pagan traditions, or the outright slaughter of those who worshipped differently, is a long held strategy utilised by the church for millennia, to persecute and suppress those who did not conform to their religious view.

Today, reflect on the countless women whose magic was seen as 'sin'. 🙏

Samhain marks the time of year when we remember our dead. We remember that we are but one small link in a long chain of people extending back throughout time. We have a history, a lineage of people we are still connected to. Having that sense of history and connection gives us strength, it's why to this day, society still goes a long way in attempting to destroy and uproot our connection to our history, our culture, our land, our origin. Being disconnected from our roots makes us weaker, the weaker we are, the more easily we are taken advantage of.

Being conscious of the support and vastness of our bloodline gives us a powerful sense of being bigger than just ourselves. We really do stand on the shoulders of those who came before us.

Let us not forget their contribution to the world. Or the gift of life that they gave us. Make them proud.

'My ancestors are always present, alive in every cell of my body, and I play a part in their immortality'