Helen spoke to Kathy Jones, co-founder of the Goddess Temple, and Georgina Sirett-Hardie, a Priestess of Avalon, about Samhain on Tuesday 31 October, 2006. You can listen to what they had to say about the festival, together with some music and singing from the celebration, by clicking on this audio link: An old festival, traditionally celebrated at the end of the harvest, Samhain, says Kathy, is about preparing us to go into winter and honouring the earth. "It's also about letting go of old things that no longer serve us, as well as being a time when we honour the dead; our loved ones who have passed over before us.
 | | Goddess expert, Kathy Jones |
"As the old goes, the new comes in so it's a time of celebration too." Samhain in the Goddess Temple is an event of much grief and sadness, but it's also an opportunity to move forwards and cut away much of the past. For Georgina, whose role in the ceremony is to call in the Mother of Earth and bring Her qualities into the temple, Samhain represents a chance to look back on what we've done throughout the year. "It's about honouring our achievements and understanding what we don't need to take into the new year." So, what about all the ghosts and ghouls? Do they have a place in Samhain? "This is a time when you can move into the world of enchantment and mystery quite easily, a time when our ancestors and passed-over loved ones can appear to us," says Kathy. "People can be frightened by that, but we choose to honour and remember them instead." | 
