Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Pagan
The Veil Is Shredded

The Veil Is Shredded

Last updated on: November 6, 2016 at 6:00 am by John Beckett

The Veil Is Shredded 2016-11-04T18:50:00-06:00 John Beckett

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

In last month’s post Samhain – Burning the Old Year I said “Samhain is the time when the Veil Between the Worlds grows thin” and also “the Veil is pretty much ripped to shreds these days.” That has raised the questions of just what this Veil is, and why some of us think it’s not nearly as solid as it used to be. That’s worth some exploration.

What is the Veil?

The Veil is the boundary and the barrier between the ordinary world and the Otherworld, the world of the Gods and ancestors. That’s all I can say about it with certainty. It’s what keeps most of us from communicating with spiritual beings and all of us from doing it easily. It’s what keeps the dead from returning to our world.

I can’t find the origin of the idea, but I strongly suspect the term (though not the concept) comes from Christianity. Immediately after Jesus died, the New Testament says:

Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose. Matthew 27: 50-52 KJV

This was a physical veil separating two portions of the Jewish temple, but the next verse mentioning graves opening and dead rising created an association that likely resulted in the term being appropriated for the boundary between the world of the living and the world of the dead.

There is one book on the Veil I can recommend: The Veil’s Edge: Exploring the Boundaries of Magic (2003) by Willow Polson. It’s a good intermediate level book that deals with more than just the Veil, and it’s about the only book out there that spends more than a page or two on the subject.

The Veil is a metaphor – the boundary is real

In Celtic traditions, it’s not a veil but mists that separate the two worlds. I like that imagery better, and it more closely matches my first-hand experiences. While a veil – a curtain – has thickness, it’s essentially a two-dimensional object. Mists have both density and depth. Sometimes the morning fog is so thin you can barely tell it’s there – other times it’s so thick you can barely see taillights in front of you. Sometimes you drive though it into clear skies in a mile, other times it obscures a whole city.

Likewise, sometimes the mists between the worlds are so thick we cannot see or hear our beloved dead. Other times they’re so thin we can practically touch them. And when we wander into the mists – as some of us have been known to do – sometimes we can get through quickly, while other times they’re so dense we can’t find the first landmark.

Mists are a better description than a veil, but they’re still a metaphor for an Otherworldly reality – the boundary between this world and the next.

Boundaries are an important feature of life, both spiritually and materially. If I drive east into Louisiana, all I see is a sign that says “Welcome to Louisiana.” But if I drive north into Oklahoma, I have to cross a real boundary – the Red River. One boundary is arbitrary, the other is tangible. We can argue that the difference between Texas and Oklahoma is also arbitrary, but whether it is or it isn’t the Red River is real, as you’ll learn first hand if you attempt to cross it without a bridge in place.

The boundary between the ordinary world and the Otherworld is real, regardless of which metaphor we use to describe it.

Why I think it’s shredded

Modern Pagan tradition says that the Veil Between the Worlds is thinnest at Samhain and Beltane, at the liminal times when Summer changes to Winter and vice versa. At these times we can most easily communicate with the dead, and various spiritual beings can more easily cross over into our world.

But many of us are seeing this kind of crossover year-round. In June, I saw a creature that could not exist, but there it was. There have been reports of ghosts, spirits, and demons. There have been accidents with no good explanation. There have been more reports of missing items turning up in impossible places than I can count – including one in my own office.

There’s a meme going around Facebook that says “killer clowns are terrorizing the streets and a billionaire villain is running for President. Batman, we need you!” Stop and think about how much truly weird stuff is going on. Once or twice is random chance. A few times is a short-term trend. But read the comments to The Otherworld Is Bleeding Through – you’ll see report after report after report. This has been going on for at least five years and it’s getting stronger all the time. That’s not random chance. Otherworldly beings and influences are bleeding over into the ordinary world at an ever-increasing rate and many of them aren’t particularly pleasant or benign.

What caused the shredding and can it be reversed?

I’ve seen some people speculate that malevolent magicians are working spells to shred the Veil and allow more spirits to cross over into our world. That sounds too much like opening the hellmouth on Buffy the Vampire Slayer to me. Very few people who would do malevolent magic have the focus and discipline to develop the kind of skills it takes to be truly dangerous… not that they can’t make a nuisance of themselves from time to time.

I tend to think that like much in Nature, the Veil waxes and wanes in natural cycles… albeit very long cycles. The stories of our ancestors tell us that the Otherworld used to be much closer to the ordinary world. If the Veil became thicker and harder at the same time as the rise of civilization, perhaps it’s time for it to become thinner and softer again.

If it’s a natural cycle, then it can’t be reversed, and what we’re seeing is only the beginning.

So what do we do?

In June, I recommended four actions: recommit to daily spiritual practice, firm up your spiritual relationships, firm up your this-world relationships, and most of all, pay attention. Those four actions help build a foundation that will support you in good times and bad.

But as the high weirdness continues to grow, I have one more recommendation: learn to fly.

This is the new reality. The ideas and skills that served your parents and grandparents (and for those of us of a certain age, ourselves) so well for so long are no longer enough. They could afford to pretend they lived in a rational world where progress would carry us onward and upward and the bad guys could be spotted by their black hats, a world where if you played by the rules things would work out OK, and maybe more than OK.

We need new skills, and most importantly, a new way of looking at the world.

The Veil is shredded. The Otherworld is bleeding through. Magic is rising.

Ignore it at your peril.

Foundations and Context

the Veil Between the Worlds

Willow Polson

Previous Post

November 3, 2016

Context For Being Yourself

Next Post

November 9, 2016 We Don’t Have Time For Blame

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Books Community CUUPS Druidry Foundations and Context Gods and Goddesses Magic Myth Nature Ritual Spiritual Practice Theology Travel Uncategorized Videos

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What material was the Ark of the Covenant made from?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Acacia wood Gold Cypress Silver