Samhain is celebrated on October 31, the same day as Halloween, although it pre-dates Halloween.
What is Samhain
Samhain (pronounced saah-win) is an ancient Celtic harvest festival. Little is known about the original festivals, however, it is known that the Pope moved All Saints Day to coincide with Samhain. This happened sometime in the 7th century, after Rome had invaded the Celtic lands. All Saints Day was the Roman holiday to honor the saints and martyrs.
This may have been a way to convert the pagans to Christianity, the Church did a lot of that or it could have been convenient because it was a harvest festival and those big holy days tended to attract a lot of Pilgrims that would need feeding.
All Saints Day or All Hallows Day falls on November 1rst. The night before was called All Hallows Eve which later morphed into Halloween.
Many of the original pagan practices have been lost to antiquity.
What we do know of ancient practices has been painstakingly gilded out of the little evidence we can find. Some came from archaeological studies, some from historical studies deciphering and decoding Christian writings on the pagan people.
I also believe a lot of what we know comes to us intuitively from the spirits of our ancestors.
That being said, we have quite a few years of reclaiming our path and a general feel for why we celebrate the way we do.
Celebration of life and death.
Samhain literally translates to “Summer’s End” in Gaelic. It marks a cross-quarter day in the wheel of the year. The cross-quarter is half way between the Autumn Equinox and the Winter Solstice.
At this point in most of the northern hemisphere, we are fully into autumn and quickly approaching winter. Samhain marks the beginning of the dark time of the year
Samhain is also known as the Witch’s New Year. The growing season is over, the days are getting shorter, the animals are migrating or hibernating. It’s a time for us, as well, to retreat inward for rest and reflection.
It is a time to honor the death, darkness and those who have gone through the veil.
The Thinning of the Veil
Witches talk a lot about the veil thinning. Picture a piece of fabric separating the living world with the spirit realm. Now imagine that fabric getting thinner and thinner until its a gauzy fabric you can see through.
This is what we mean.
This is the time of year that it is easiest to communicate with the dead.
We are not the only culture that believes in ghosts. In Japan, they think of the veil as a shoji, the sliding door covered in rice paper. When a person dies, its as if they stepped through the door way and closed the sliding door. The people left in the room can still see and hear the spirits on the other side, just not as clearly. Although, in Japan, the shoji is always thin and spirits are always available year round.
In contrast, here in the west, Samhain is when that veil is the thinnest and that means that we can more easily interact with the spirits. An I have noticed that to be true. more spirit energy is around from mid September through Thanksgiving.
Here’s the thing though, some people, irregardless of location or culture, are just more sensitive to the spirit world and can speak with spirits year round. I myself have had wonderful conversations with my grandparents at various times of the year.
Be Wary
Now would be a good time to remind you about Spirits; just like humans some are good and some aren’t so benevolent. Don’t just welcome any old spirit into your home!
The ancients recognized that not all spirits are good. There is clear evidence that they held rituals to honor their ancestors such as lighting candles and leaving out food.
They also did plenty to protect themselves from more malicious spirits, such as dress up in costume and carve faces into turnips to scare away spirits that weren’t welcome. They would leave food offerings to appease the fairy folk who were believed to wreak havoc if offended.
Modern Practices
Two sides to Samhain
My ancestors brought their customs when they migrated from what is now called the British Isle. Those practices adapted to the new world and became traditions we recognize. Some of the sacredness was lost for revelry. The scary parts were emphasized and the sweetness was diminished. Logic and reason replaced intuition and much of the old ways were dismissed as superstition.
Honoring the Ancestors
Honoring our dearly departed is still practiced today. Every year I set up an altar to honor those wonderful people I loved that have recently passed. I add pictures, trinkets and special items the display. Then we’ll light candles and tell stories of the people represented.
I’ve also been known to cook foods that my deceased relatives loved; Granny loved Swedish Rye bread and grape pie. Aunt Joy had a favorite cookie in a family recipe book.
The Villagers are also encouraged to pay homage to the ancestors we don’t remember; some we don’t even have names for. A lot of people have lived, loved and died in order for us to be here now. They deserve a little recognition.
Warding off evil spirits
The custom of Halloween costumes came from the idea that we needed to be scarier than the scary malevolent spirits that would be walking the streets.
Turnips were exchanged for carved pumpkins, which are much easier to carve than turnip, speaking from experience. The scary faces we carve into jack o’ lanterns protect our homes from the bad spirits.
I smudge a lot during this time of year. The smoke from the sage repels any negative energy that might be lurking, including unwelcome spirits.
Its also a good time to reinforce your magical protection. Salt windows and doorways. Bury tourmaline in the 4 corners of your property. Hang a new cinnamon broom over your front door.
Setting up Samhain Altars
An altar can be any surface that can be left untouched for a specific time. My seasonal altar is the top of a tall dresser that I use to hold office supplies, located in my living room. I change the decorations every season.
I have other table tops and shelves that can pose as altars for specific Sabbats.
For our Samhain Altar, I add pictures of our loved ones and other things to represent them such as Nani’s glasses and Fefi’s collar. (Pets are people, too). I decorate it with autumn leaves, flowers, and pumpkins. We will light votive candles around the altar on Halloween.
Candles
Candles have a dual purpose. First its to honor the dying light as we enter the dark time of the year. From now until Yule (and a few weeks after) We keep extra candles available for this purpose.
The other reason is because it is said that the spirits are drawn to natural light. Lighting candles help them to find their way to us or where ever they happen to be going.
Time outdoors
Another practice is to spend time outdoors, preferably quiet and reflective time but hiking in the woods and cleaning up garden beds is still time outdoors.
Reflect on the nature of plants. Notice how they pull their energy back to their roots this time of year. Marvel at how they shed their leaves and seed for next spring. Take these reflections as a tip for our own lives. We too, should be pulling in, slowing down and preparing for the future.
Take some time to appreciate all the good things that have come into your life this past year. It’s been a rough year for most of us which make finding a sense of gratitude even more important.
Samhain Meals
Like all celebrations, food is usually a big part of our festivities. Once again, I prefer serving seasonal vegetables. Some traditional foods include apples, root vegetables, winter squash like acorn, butternut and pumpkin, cabbage, kale and roast pork.
We hold our celebrations on Halloween and we also take the kids trick-or-treating so my celebratory meals have always been easy to cook meals that are warm for fighting off the chill of being outside and hearty to keep them full and combat all the sugar they’re sneaking. In other words: soups, stews, and other foods that will keep in a crockpot.
One year I made a beef vegetable soup with cabbage. I made everyone come in and eat a bowl in between trips through the neighborhood. After serving the kids, I set down a bowl at the end of the table where no one was sitting.
Dark&Twisty: Who’s soup is that, mama?
Me: It’s for the ancestors.
Dark&Twisty: Which ancestors?
Me: I’m not sure. But someone will be visiting tonight.
The Renaissance Man: Mmmm…cabbage soup! If you smell something later, it’s just ghost farts!
I’m sure he was thinking of his own grandfather or just looking for someone to blame later.
Ancestor Meals
Ancestor meals are actually a lot more common than you think. The idea is that you ‘invite’ the spirits of your ancestors to dinner and set them a place to join you for a meal.
I worked in a family restaurant for 11 years. Every Halloween we had at least one party who would request a larger table and order an extra plate of food.
The first time I experienced this was a family of 5; a dad and mom, two small kids and a baby. They looked a little travel worn and tired.
They insisted on a table for 8, ordered 2 kids meals and 4 adult meals. I was instructed to set the extra meals in front of empty chairs. At first, I assumed that two more people would be joining them and offered to keep the meals warm. The couple exchanged a look and dismissed my suggestion with a smile.
At the end of the meal they collected their kids to leave but not before the dad handed me a hefty tip and a genuine thank you. You know the kind, where they make eye contact and you feel the gratitude emanating from them.
Every year, I serve an empty chair at my own table but I’m not sure if I’d be willing to pay for an extra meal at a restaurant, but then again, I’ve never had to travel on Halloween.
The Dumb Supper
I’m not talking about soup for dinner because its not dumb, no matter what the Padawan says.
The Dumb Supper actually refers to a Silent Supper.
The idea is to make it a more solemn feast. It is a formal affair. As such, the table is dressed in black and the room is lit with candles. A ceremonial circle is cast around the table before the patrons eat together in total silence. Every living guest is asked to bring a note written with all the things they’d like to tell the deceased.
Ideally, there should be a place setting for everyone, although it’s not always practical. A tea light is lit to represent each of the deceased individuals being honored. However, the chair at the head of the table is dubbed the Spirit Chair and sits empty.
As each living guest enters the room, in silence, they stop at the Spirit Chair to offer a prayer to the deceased. When everyone has finished eating, the patrons take turns burning the note that they wrote and then they exit the room in silence.
I would never be able to keep my brood quiet that long but I think its a beautiful idea.
The Samhain Bonfires
The word ‘bonfire’ is old English and refers to ‘a fire of bones’, making it especially appropriate for Samhain. Fortunately, there are no record that those bones were the human variety. Instead,there are accounts of the people throwing animal bones into the fires to ward off evil spirits.
We love a good bonfire, although our isn’t ever very big. We have a small fire pit and a few lawn chairs where we sit around telling stories and playing name that song.
The bonfire is also a great tool for releasing things we don’t need.
A two part fire ritual
Two years ago, The Renaissance Man was leaving a job he hated. It caused a lot of stress and in my opinion, he stayed a lot longer than he should have. He had two weeks between ending the one job and starting the next.
During that time we had a bonfire, I collected all the paper work from the old job, the manuals, the handbooks, the random memo’s and printed e-mails and made him toss them in the fire, one by one. It was a liberating experience.
As Samhain approaches, take some time to review the past year. Write down all the things you’re ready to let go of; things that are holding you back or things that you never wanted in the first place.
I’m not talking about physical things. You don’t need magic or ritual to get rid of junk you don’t need. Think more along the lines of emotional things or paradigms.
For example, seeing my sisters last month brought up some emotional baggage from years ago. My first reaction was to push it away but it’s not going anywhere, so I’m writing it on my list.
Every one has some baggage to unload.
At some point in your festivities, take that list and toss it in your bonfire. Well, not that casually, I like to actually focus on what I’m doing and imagine those issues dissolve into ash with the paper.
A second part to this ritual, is to write down what you want for the future and burn that as well. I don’t usually do the second part. I like to mull over it for a few months and give my list to the Universe at Yule.
Altar Decorations and Offerings
Flowers: Sunflowers, Calendula, Marigold, Pinecones
Food: Acorns, Pumpkins, Gourds, Celebratory Meals
Colors: Black, Brown, Yellow, Gold, Orange, Red, Silver
Other: Burlap, Cauldrons, Skulls, Mementos & Pictures
Gemstones: Smokey Quartz, Obsidian, Carnelian, Amber, Tourmaline
Prayer/Chant for Samhain
I found this on the Witches of the Craft site and plan to incorporate into our bonfire ritual. It’s beautiful and I had to share.
The veil grows thin at the time of the dead
As we honor our long-gone ancestors
In whose footsteps we tread
Life retreats into the bulbs and roots
The time has past for flowers and fruits
As the leaves fall thick and carpet the ground
The Dark Mother waits in silence profound
Now is the time for the apple feasts
Time stands still for humans and beasts
Seek the wisdom of days gone by
To deal with the past and let it lie
Face your shadows and except your faults
Look now to the future to seek results
Journal prompts
- As we enter the dark time of the year, take some time to review your own darkness and shadows. What is it that you try to hide from yourself? Which aspects about your personality, your history or your life do you not like? What are you not proud of? How can you forgive yourself?
- Is there anything in your darkness that you would like to get rid of? What do you need to let go of or let die, in order to move forward?
- Now that dropped some of that baggage, now that you have room, what would you like to fill that space with? What would you like to bring into you life in the upcoming year?
Happy Halloween and a Blessed Samhain!
