Uncolonising & Liberating Winter

15 min readOct 21, 2022

http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/frost/frost.htm

last updated 4/12/2023 removal of ‘decolonisation’ as metaphor thanks to the work of Tres Rosas, Eve Tuck, and K. Wayne Yang.

“Using the term decolonization as a metaphor, tokenizes Black and Brown people while actively participating in the erasure of Indigenous peoples, completely bypassing what decolonization actually is. Decolonization is not a label, or a description of an event. [Decolonization is] Indigenous rematriation of culture and tradition as well as repatriation of land and sovereignty to Indigenous Peoples. — Tres Rosas”

Based off the work of Tres Rosas, the uncolonized term for “decolonizing winter” is Liberating Winter.

When i started writing these, i didnt intend to be where we are today.

So far, ive written about uncolonising Spring and Autumn, but both have a very different feel while having some of the same points.

Looking back it would have been better to organise these as a four-part series, focusing on the 4 main Irish Pagan Fire Festivals of Imbolg, Bealtaine, Lúnasa, and Samhain.

But here we are… and it is almost Samhain, the start of gam (the cold period) and geimhreadh (winter), along with our approaching Halloween cultural phenomena riddled with appropriation and faux paus.

In our common understanding, Halloween is seen within Fall especially now with global warming, winter snow and frosts seem to be later and later (or sooner and sooner with climate change). Halloween is reminiscent of autumn-style nostalgia where winter doesnt really begin on Turtle Island until after The National Day of Mourning (Thanksgiving) and not until the Winter Solstice.

But it is seen and felt before the Winter Solstice. I can always remember snow by Halloween in the Chateaugay Northcountry of New York State. Three days ago, October 17th, snow fell in Wisconsin and smelled in Michigan. And this morning, we almost got our first frost.

And that for me has always been when Winter comes…

Growing up (as i have said before) close to Quebec on the NY border, within the St. Lawrence River valley, we grew alot of extra food and hunted turkeys and deer — bow season hunting normally begins the end of September and almost always on October 1st.

This in my lived experience and memory: winter has always correlated with the First Frosts. And im happy to know that the Farmer’s Almanac can back me up.

Boston on the other hand… whelp in Boston, the first frosts don’t normally come around until November 1st: Samhain.

Geimhreadh Cultural Authenticity

Like i asked in Earrach (Spring) and Fómhar (Autumn): what are the Indigenous plants & animal migrations, cycles and patterns of the lands (& waters) you are currently residing/settling/calling home, and what are the Indigenous plants/animal patterns of Geimhreadh (Winter) for you and in the cultural landscape of your pantheon? What Indigenous social practices are culturally taboo & encouraged? What folk stories are told about these times from the tradition you practice? What Indigenous cities/places/structures align with these times and the equinoxes/solstices? what might these sacred places teach us about the Otherworld should we finally choose to listen? And what are all of these called in the proper non-English Indigenous languages?

Turtle Island Plants, Animals, Practices, and Taboos

Each area on Turtle Island will have different flora and fauna movement patterns and cycles that are important and signify the season. Also, every Indigenous Nation has their own specific taboos and practices to ready for winter. Check your local Indigenous community center or Indigenous activist group that focuses on rematriation, and revitalisation movements for more information.

Full Moon Names we use in the Almanac come from the Algonquin tribes who lived in regions from New England to Lake Superior who were forced to live mostly in Quebec. Those specific moon names are the names colonisers adapted the most to suit their farming/hunting/exploiting needs and then lumped and universalised the diversity of the many Indigenous Nations into one generic “Full Moon Name list”. Please note though that with 576 federally recognized tribes, Native Hawaiians and even more state-recognized tribes throughout the country there is a nearly limitless supply of moon names. I find it very helpful & important to know the culturally specific moon name for the Nation’s Peoples i am currently colonial-settlering & calling home.

The AITC Moons list is “provided by members of the various tribes listed and i too offer my deepest thanks for all who assisted with this story, with a special shout out to Gerry J. at Seneca Nation of Indians for going above and beyond”.

This time of year is filled with important cultural dates that will be community/region specific, so in addition to those you may want to add to your calendar:

OCTOBER:
Oct 10: Indigenous Peoples Day. Oct 22: National Day of Protest Against Police Brutality since 1996. Oct 25: New Moon & Return of the Pleiades beginning of the 4 month long season Hawaiian Makahiki New Years Festival. Seraphine Warren (Diné/Navajo Nation) plans to finish her walk from Arizona to Washington DC which started June 14th by the end of October. Her journey hopes to bring awareness and attention to all Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Two Spirit people, which was the sparked by the disappearance of Seraphine auntie Ellamae. You can be in right relationship & solidarity with her along the way by following her along the way and helping with what you can.
NOVEMBER: First Peoples Native American Heritage Month. Navajo Night Chant Ceremony, Hopi Wuwuchim Ceremony, Zuni Shalako Ceremony.
Nov 24: National Day of Mourning. Nov 30: Indigenous Women’s Equal Pay Day.
DECEMBER: Dec 1: World AIDS Day. Dec 3: International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Dec 21-Jan 9: Hopi & Zuni New Years or (Soyaluna Ceremony).
JANUARY: Jan 16: MLK Jr. Day Holiday, Jan 22: Lunar New Year (Year of the Rabbit/Cat). End of Jan: Hopi Powamu (Bean Sprout) Festival.
FEBRUARY: Black History Month. Kwakiutl (Midwinter Ceremony). Feb 19–27: Iroquois (Midwinter Ceremony).

Acculturating Authentic Irish Right Relationship

In order to uncolonise, we must let go of what we have already learned and encultured from our own culture (stereotypes & things stolen or misappropriated), and exchange it for an acculturation process — that leads us towards either a syncretism where both cultures coexist and are bridged together living in harmony, and/or an adoption that takes place where you have the choice to convert — a scenario where we are welcomed and become a part of an accepted community. And we do this by living authentically to the culture we hope to acculturate and be adopted into.

And yes, there are power dynamics here, open and closed practices we need to respect and honour. The goal isnt to keep colonising and culturally imperialise and assimilate… Assimilation is the cultural absorption of a marginalised culture into the main cultural body. That aint what right relationship is about.

And right relationship also isnt just about what to do. It’s what you’re culturally not supposed to do. It’s how you do it and why and the contexts in which you do it. It isn’t just a one-time list of generic neopagan “correspondences” or “associations lists” with no real meaning in the very real living culture(s)… Right relationship is found in a lived and shared experience truly embodied in authenticity.

And this my friends TAKES YEARS AND DECADES, and yes, whole LIFETIMES. And this is NEVER DONE SOLITARY in a vacuum, it must be SHARED.

So, starting with those questions i asked above: what are some of the Irish Taboos and Encouraged Practices for Samhain and Winter? what are some of the most culturally significant plant & animal migrations, cycles, and patterns?

Irish Indigenous Plants & Animal Migrations, Cycles & Patterns

The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1039, Page 8 Image and data © National Folklore Collection, UCD.

1. Stars twinkling very brightly.
2. Stars shooting in the sky.
3. The Northern lights.
4. A very bright clear night.
5. Cold wind especially from the north.
6. A red sunset.
7. When the lamp globe splits.
8. A very red sunrise.
9. A sharp cold wind from the north at night.

Winter…

Some have even added: “To see cob-webs on the whin bushes in the morning or late in the evening”. And what says Winter/Samhain more than frost and cobwebs??

In the Irish tradition, there are three kinds of frost: grey (rain), black (cannot be seen, but felt), and white. It is said that “When the wind comes from the North, it is a sign of either frost or snow.”

Also, “when the swallow line up on telegraph wires and fly away”; “when the plover is seen flying inland”; “when flocks of starling come from foreign countries, it is a sign of winter” and “when wild geese land in our country it is a sign of winter and when they fly over the house it is a sign of snow and hardship”, and a “North wind on a November morning is a sign of a cold frosty winter”.

Irish Winter “is the time of maximum abundance for waterfowl — swans, geese and ducks — and spectacular wading birds like curlew and sandpipers…when some of our largest and most dramatic birds of prey roost together in quite large numbers, sometimes with elaborate pre-roosting flight displays, or are more easily spotted while hunting than in the summer.”

Ireland’s Hidden Medicine by Irish Herbalist Rosarie Kingston

One of my newest books on my #LittleIrishPaganLibrary is Rosarie’s informative text published in 2021.

In chapter 4: Utilising Irish indigenous medicine today” pp. 87–127, we get a look into “the Irish calendar year based on the cyclical nature of agriculture, which creates an awareness of the cycle of food production on which we are all dependent” (p.89) and see what ways we can work with in relationship with “Irish vernacular medicine” during the Winter. From page 117–127, we can read about Halloween, Christmas, New Years Eve, and an in-depth look into the “valuable food and plants in winter” (p. 120–125).

Kingston says: “the traditional time for picking roots is during the waning two weeks after the November full moon…before December solstice…and it is even better if there has been a frost before harvesting roots as the cold causes the complex starches in the root to convert to sugar. This makes them sweeter and easier to digest” (p. 121).

The five most important roots for winter domestic medicine that Kingston says are: Leamhach (Marshmallow roots), Lus na gCnamh mBriste (Common Comfrey), Cnadán (Burdock root), Caisearbhán (Dandelion root), and Sailleach (Willow).

Irish Taboos & Encouraged Practices

The Photographic Collection, N013.06.00026 Image and data © National Folklore Collection, UCD.

First things first, Samhain begins at sunset and is at least 3 days long:

Oct 31: Oíche Shamhna (Samhain Eve/Samhain Night) or Oíche na Sprideanna (Púca Night/Night of the Spirits/Eve of the Puca/Eve of the Spirits) also called Snap-apple Night too. There are several more documented by Michael Fortune, folklore.ie.
Nov 1: La na Naomh Uile (All Saints Day)
Nov 2: La Fheile na Marbh (Hallowmas/Feast of the Dead)

Secondly, Samhain is also celebrated by some around Nov 11, 12, and 13th instead to make up for the Gregorian calendar shift. Third and lastly, Samhain is also considered the entire month of November as Gaeilge and is more modernly observed Dark Moon before to Dark Moon after by some Irish Pagans with an ancestor altar.

By now, youre probably wanting to know about those taboos i’m always so fond of. So, here some of them are:

DO NOT pick blackberries/rosehips/fruits/veggies after Samhain because growing season is now done and the púca either pisses or spits upon any fruits or vegetables unharvested.
DO NOT burn ragweed
DO NOT break or transgress any laws
DO NOT EAT MEAT on Oct 31st (though this is perhaps a Christian carryover in observation of a day of fasting before the All Saints Day feast)
DO NOT PUT SALT ON THE FIRST PORTION OF COLCANNON FOR THE AOS SIDHE (Duchas.ie)
DO NOT LOCK THE DOORS AT NIGHT so that the dead may revisit us for supper
DO NOT BLOW OUT OR QUENCH the candles lit for the dead.
DO NOT PUT OUT THE FIRE IN THE HEARTH at night once relit from the bonfire to keep the dead warm during their visit.
DO NOT TRAVEL OUT ALONE for this is a night when the Aos Sidhe and ghosts of the dead are about, and especially feared by those who have wronged the souls of the unquiet dead.
NEVER THROW OUT WATER ON ALL SOULS NIGHT as “souls were walking the earth that night and you’d “drown them” with the water. They grew up in houses without running water or sinks so the basin would be emptied normally out in the yard, however not on this night.” (Michael Fortune, folklore.ie)

Some Irish Samhain Customs include:

https://visualartists.ie/puca-festival-2019-creative-development-workshops-meath/

Blood, health, and protection: survival magic. Lora O’Brien has a couple amazing courses on Draíocht and Ogham Magic; and Orlagh Costello has a fabulous course on Menstrual Magic! Check them out!
Apple & pumpkin & gourd picking beginning in October
Harvest sally-rods in November during the Dark Moon for weaving baskets, wattle fences, and sculptures and the work is done on long winters nights (Kingston, p. 124).
Gather firewood for winter and prepare for first snow
Herds return to the homestead — some are kept and some are slain for food stuffs: meat, lard, bones, and blood.
Home hearth fire is extinguished before attending the community bonfire and relit from upon return with the stingyjack
Community Bonfire (bone-fire: made with the bones of the animals).
Stingyjack turnips called Móg na bliana seo used to carry hot burning coals from the community bonfire to guard against spirits on the dark walk back home
Gather rowan branches and twigs for Parshall crosses made out of straw
Rosehip and rowan berry necklaces for protection
Offer Aos Sidhe a rich porridge & food is pored into a dug hole with honey, or other offerings of appeasement are left out for Themselves to remember to be Good Neighbors. I highly recommend Morgan Daimler & Lora O’Brien’s books on the Fairy Faith and Aos Sidhe.
Storytelling about The Cath Maige Tuired Battle of the Fomorians, the Púca and other scary Sidhe and attending the Púca Festival! Though, there is some grey area with this one.
Attend the annual Galway Macnas Parade! “The event was traditionally the largest free event in Galway for Halloween bringing over 70,000 people onto the streets of Galway for one of the highlights of Ireland’s cultural events calendar… orchestrated by the hundreds of performers from the Macnas Young Ensemble, Youth Ballet West, the Macnas Youth Drummers, The Hit Machine and the Public participation programme. Spectators are encouraged to wear costumes too! The delivery of this wondrous chaos is the work of the Macnas Creative Ensemble, comprised of 45 professional artists and 300 volunteers.”
Get the house ready for any dead family members who’d be coming to visit for the Ancestors/Dumb supper which includes cleanly sweeping the floors and the hearth (Danaher, The Year in Ireland, p. ?).
Ancestor altar (this one is sort of done all year by keeping the photos up and around — though offerings during this time are a bit more substantial) set up from Dark Moon before Samhain to the next Dark Moon. (O’Brien, Samhain in Ireland, 2016)
Prayers to An Mórrígan, An Cailleach Bheara, Badb, Queen Medb, and Donn.
“Snap-apple” Game: Apple biting & bobbing games and divination.

Here is a great photograph from The Belfast Telegraph Archives of two children in Portadown, Co. Armagh with their carved turnip lantern as well as a display of fireworks and Hallowe’en masks. The photo was taken in 1958. Text: Michael Fortune Credit: The Belfast Telegraph Archives/NI Photographers Page

Playing with sparklers and fireworks.
Children dressing up in costume and go house to house singing and dancing for apples & nuts, and sometimes money. Please note: this does not mean to go out and get your kids any old costume riddled with appropriation. CULTURE IS NOT A COSTUME. People’s lived traumas too ARE NOT COSTUMES — so please don’t buy the Jeffery Dahmer, Pocahontas, Day of the Dead, Geisha, etc. etc. crap!
Make spiced mulled wine, barm breac with tokens, colcannon, apples, nuts, and sweet cakes.
Pranks: like stealing your neighbors gates and doors (hence calling Hallowe’en “Gatelifting Night”), tying door handles , and throwing cabbage stumps, lol.
Go to bed early on Samhain Night, leave the door unlatched, the hearth fire burning through the night with the poker and tongs placed in the shape of a cross on the hearthstone, and leave ready a supper of colcannon and a bowl of spring water on the table with a chair for the visiting dead from the past year before they leave for the Otherworld (Danaher & O’Sullivan). The same is often done the night of All Souls Day, which is why i tend to like to observe for all 3 nights.
Nov 1: For All Saints Day it is custom to go to church, and also visit the cemetery to pray for not only the martyred saints but also those who died in your parish over the last year. Between noon on the All Saints’ Day and noon on “All Souls’ Day” Catholics made nine visits to the Church to offer prayers for the suffering souls in Purgatory. Schoolchildren were encouraged to visit all the local graveyards and pray for the souls of the dearly departed.
Nov 2: Visit and clean up the cemetery during All Souls Day and light a candle there while praying and also one for every family member who has died in the home during evening prayer for those who have died and leave to burn out.
Nov 11: Martinmas when any animal is killed and the blood is sprinkled on the threshold and four corners of the house to exclude any evil spirit dwelling in the house (Danaher, p. 230). Ive added this here because it seems more to me to possibly connect more with the whole month of Samhain, and again lines up with the later Nov 11–13 observances. Martinmas would also be the last chance to dig up Sloe wine that was buried to cure mid-September. Normally, this would be dug up and tasted on Hallowe’en night too if you didnt want to wait for St. Martin’s Day (Michael Fortune, folklore.ie).

Some other Irish Winter Customs include:

The Irish Full Moons are seen and observed very different than moon-worshipping neopagans would have us all believe. They are times to be weary of Aos Sidhe and thus require extra sense about going out at night.
Fast during Advent, and gather holly & ivy for Christmas decorations. Shopping was called “bringing home the Christmas”, youngest child lights the red Christmas candle on Christmas Eve and placed in jar and all other candles are lit from it to place in the windows, cut Christmas cake while serving tea and punch. On Christmas Day was for family only, and a turkey/roast beef was the dinner centerpiece.
St. Stephens Day was more about community with visits from Wren Boys and children again visiting homes with song for gifts of treats and mone (Kingston, p. 125–126).
New Years Day was later added with the Gregorian Calendar in 1752, but still held a special place for Irish weather divination.
Nollaig na mBan (Women’s Christmas) is celebrated on January 6th reserved for women & femmes as a day of relaxation out with friends or family.
Christmas decorations removed January 7th and saved to heat the pancake griddle for Shrove Tuesday. If they arent taken down, it is considered bad luck to take them down after and so must be kept up all year until next Christmas. When i dont get around to it, i just keep them to burn in the Samhain fire.

You can read more (for free) about Irish customs with Kevin Danaher’s A Year in Ireland.

Irish Indigenous Structures

https://www.rathcroghan.ie/discover/discover-rathcroghan/

All Aos Sidhe mounds and ringforts, both large and small, are said to open up again and the good neighbors move again to the other hills for winter — they revel but they also seek revenge — so extra wards and protections should be taken and extra appeasements made (especially if you are a singer, poet, or young person fit for abduction or worse…)

Cruachain, Hill of Tara, Hill of Tlachtga, Hill of Ward (and others); each are thought to be an Óenach (all inclusive community centers for political-assembly-inauguration, official-meeting place, marketplace-fairs, and tribal cemeteries) would be special places where Samhain celebrations would take place and no doubt sites for community bonfires.

For Grianstad an Gheimhridh (winter solstice), according to Monumental Ireland, the Brú na Bóinne Complex (Dowth, Knowth, Newgrange, and more), Dubhadh (Dowth), Síd in Broga (Newgrange), the Church of Móg, or Kilmogue Dolmen in Co. Kilkenny all have alignments with the winter solstice sun. There are probably more, but this is a good beginning to begin your own research.

Conclusion

Oíche Shamhna Shona Daoibh and I hope your frosts come with a smile!

Especially, i should say… Truth & Reconciliation must be part of our practices — this is why De/Uncolonial Authentic Paganism(s) is/are so important.

Please join me in (at the very least) with Honouring the Beloved Dead, Observing November as the National First Nations Heritage month, and stand in solidarity with #AbolishColumbusDay #ItaliansForIPD #NationalDayofProtestAgainstPoliceBrutality #NoThanksNoGiving #FuckThanksgiving #NationalDayOfMourning!

“Finally, Winter comes and though the weather is very cold we love to see it coming as we know that we are at last going to have a long rest after a years work. With it comes long cold nights and short days. It also brings snow, sleet and big turf fires with which we can warm ourselves. The moon glitters on the frosty roads and the sky winks with stars. When Winter passes away Spring is hard on his heels and then the years round begins again.”

Uncolonising & Liberating Winter

Geimhreadh Cultural Authenticity

Conclusion

Resources & Bibliography

Written by Derek James Healey