Mourners Moon

The Mourners Moon of November is the first full moon after the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain that marked the end of the Harvest and nature’s decent into the dark months of winter. During this transitional period, whilst preparing for Yule and the beginning of the new year, people mourned their loved ones, seeds that never came into fruition, and all the past failures and disappointments that had taken place during the year, but most importantly through the act of mourning people cleansed themselves of any attachments that they were carrying, such as negativity and grief. Every year in the town of Ottery St Mary on November the 5th, the Flaming Tar Barrels ritual takes place that, according to myth and legend, was a ritual once practiced widely across Britain at the time of Samhain, where spirits of the dead returned to the mortal world and bonfires were lit, and flaming tar barrels were carried through the streets to chase away any evil spirits, and to spare the people of their negative forces..