When the fire begins to whisper, it wraps itself more quickly around the bundles. It then suddenly flares up, creating all-around a kingdom of emptiness, suspended and unfathomable. Wonder, fear, pure power give that sense that cancels the present and takes us back to a time without beginning.
In the slice of infinity that ‘burns’ between summer and winter, the Pleiades – the stars of the night – rise. For the farmers, it is time to put the crops in a shelter, to return to the hearth. According to Celtic tradition, from this moment, the cold, the blanket of snow and the dark sky will have supremacy over the lights and colours of the day.
Samonios is a contemplation and passage ritual. The veil that divides the two worlds becomes subtle. The fire burns, consumes, reducing wood to ashes. Destruction of cosmic time and reconstruction, in the enveloping and fruitful silence of the great womb.
Ten years ago, I participated in the ancient and powerful Samonios ceremonial in Ameno in the woods around Orta Lake. The following day, I would begin my training in family constellations. What I had understood and now felt in waves of shivers that ran through me as if to purify me was that that great fire marked an essential step for me.
I had recently lost my mother after a short and fatal illness. Faced with the inevitable course of cancer that she had discovered, I had the desire to dissolve all our misunderstandings and be able to embrace her as I always wanted before saying goodbye.
So, I participated in my first circle without knowing how the technique worked. A friend of mine had told me about it, and that day it was raining so hard. The mighty work done had transformed specific heavy ‘distant’ energies to smooth, in the flow of slow days at the bedside, sure edges between mother and daughter, transforming them into precious moments of sweetness. My desire was also to accompany my mother in the moment of passing away, even if I was not sure I was worthy of such an important task. I was blessed to be with her.
Mom wanted to stay here; she fought like a warrior to always be our ‘Momi’, caring and attentive to the needs of each of us, children and grandchildren. She was now breathing heavily, dry puffs that kept her alive as when she made long strides with her cross-country skis in the white snow of Val Ferret.
Now she called me Duckie and stroked my hair. I can never forget it again.
In the last moments, I visualized us, together, hand in hand; her, with large white wings, as we lightly climbed the sugary slopes of Mont Blanc. Then, finally, we reached the top; she seemed tired but serene.
A moment of indecision. That suspended, terrible and magnificent moment. Her soul looked at me with transparent and infinite eyes. “Go, beloved mother, now you can trust me. We have come this far together. I have to stay. You fly away calmly.”
One last bright and beautiful look until the veil of sadness is gone. Then, I walked over and blew like the wind into the mountain gorges, and my mother’s soul soared, light as a feather.
In front of the Samonios fire, I had brought her a very soft shawl in which I wrapped myself to smell her perfume still and keep it close to me. I thought of her, of her fresh and simple way, of her beautiful white hair when at a certain point, it was as if the fire had whispered to me that it was time to let her go, to dissolve that last embrace and transform that love into new energy. So I immediately entrusted the beloved shawl that became fire, then embers to that great bonfire.
The next day there was a magnificent sun. We, new friends in a circle, with a beautiful desire for lightness and a great purpose: to learn to let go, transform for ourselves and others those chains that do not allow love to flow in its abundance and beauty.
On October 31, 2009, with my teachers Marco Massignan and Elena dell’Orto, I started a journey to become a facilitator in family constellations and Trauma resolution. For them and the precious journey made together so much and luminous gratitude.
Tonight, please, let us evoke energies of good and entities of light together. The world needs a lot of love.
I wish a good life to all of you, sharing this beautiful journey.