Forget Christmas, this is the most wonderful time of the year!
If you are like me, this is the most beautiful, perfect, witchy, amazing, spooky, glorious time of the year. I hate Christmas. Can’t stand it (for many reasons), but Samhain / Halloween……. chef’s kiss.
Maybe I am biased because of where I live. Between September and October, Colorado is lit up. That ignition of yellows, oranges, and reds against the mountain and the blue sky and the cool breeze and the shining Sun fuels my spirit. It’s unbelievably palpable.
So, this blog post (and podcast!) is all about getting familiar with Samhain’s (pronounced “Sow-wen”) history and sharing some ways to celebrate this beautiful day.
The History of Samhain
Samhain is one of the oldest Celtic pagan holidays in the Wheel of the Year (literature of this day can be traced back to the 9th century). Beginning on October 31st and moving into November 1st, this day highlighted the end of the harvest season and the beginning of Winter.
At this time, the last of the crops were harvested and livestock were brought down from the pastures. Some would be offered as a sacrifice, while others (usually the weakest) would be killed to maintain the numbers and health of the livestock while also providing to the food stores that needed to last through Winter. The rest were moved into the structures that would hold them until Spring came again. Burial mounds were visited and open by members of the village to provide a threshold between the world of the living and the dead.
This was also a day of great feasting and celebrations as this marked the end of the Celtic year, and the beginning of a new year as the people moved into the darkness and depths of Winter. Looking at the picture below, you can see that Samhain is one of the four seasonal Sabbats, with the other three being Imbolc, Beltane, and Lughnasa. The other four days mark the solstices and equinoxes: Ostara (Spring Equinox), Litha (Summer Solstice), Mabon (Autumn Equniox), and Yule (Winter Solstice).
Like the other four Sabbats, one of the cornerstones of celebration were bonfires. These fires were thought to cleansing and protective properties. The fires were also symbolic of continued life and health of the people and animals, while providing unity and kinship through the roughest months. The fires were lit with the bones of animals (hence the name “bonfire”), and members of the villages would extinguish their individual hearths, taking an ember back from the communal bonfire to honor this kinship of those living and now passed on.
Speaking of the beloved dead, this day was a day to honor, revere, and call on those who have passed. Like the changing of the seasons into a time of death and cold, ancestors were called on to provide council and wisdom for the year to come. In later times photos, tokens, and memorabilia are placed out on altars or in living spaces to root those who have passed back into the home. It is a way to honor and love those who have moved into a space we can no longer touch.
This is a day when the veil between the Spirit world and the world of the living is thinnest, allowing connections to spirits, guides, and ancestors to be more palpable. Personally, I would argue that the veil is always thin, we are just more attuned to it. Divination was said to be a mainstay in the rituals practiced because of the thinning of the veil.
An excerpt from the book The Stations of the Sun by Ronald Hutton (although I found this excerpt in the book The Solitary Witch by Silver Ravenwolf) says, “Samhain was a time when the Celts acknowledged the beginning and the ending of all thins. As they looked to nature, they saw the falling of the leaves from the trees, the coming of winter and death. It was a time when they turned to their Gods and Goddesses seeking to understand the turning cycles of life and death.”
He goes on to say, “For the Celts, Samhain was a time when the gates between this world and the next were open. It was a time of communion with the spirits of the dead, who, like the wild autumnal winds, were free to roam the earth.”
Today’s Halloween celebrations with costumes and carving pumpkins can be traced back to the roots of Samhain. People would guise themselves (disguise and dress up) in such a way that evil spirits couldn’t find them. Jack-o-lanterns would be carved from pumpkins or turnips to also repel evil spirits. There is also a connection to jack-o-lantern and the legend of Stingy Jack, click here to read an article on this story. Scarecrows represented spirits of the dead, while also repelling evil spirits.
Food and drink would be placed as offerings for the beloved dead, and some would even host Dumb Suppers and host a dinner with the living and the dead together. Place settings marked the ancestors that were called to come and join the feasting. Candles and fires allowed those who have departed to have a safe passage to the Spirit world.
How to Celebrate Samhain
- Read descent or Underworld stories, like Persephone’s, Inanna’s, or Hecate’s.
- Protection magick
- Work in the realm of the ancestral spiritual, or with Spirits (be careful when working with the Fae!)
- Consider the power of the Crone. Samhain was said to be the arrival of the Cailleach
- Host a dead / Dumb supper (Dumb suppers usually include a dinner of silence, so plan accordingly)
- Utilize any divination tool you have
- Light candles and place in windows so deceased spirits can find their way to the Underworld
- Work with symbols of the raven or crow, pumpkins, owls, ghosts, bats, fire, and the color black
- Do a cord-cutting ceremony or other forms of candle magick. Personally, I think a cord-cutting is a great way to honor the release or metaphorical death of something you need to let go
- Visit graveyards, ancestral sites, sacred burial places, or any place that connects you to the Spirit world. Leave offerings of food and honey
- Decorate pumpkins to repel evil spirits
- Journal or work through any fears, loss, or darkness you are working with
- Celebrate where and how you can
- Honor your beloved dead
Ashlie McDiarmid
Hello there! I hope you liked this blog post. As a tarot and oracle reader, my goal with my blogs is to offer you content, resources, and access to the tools that have transformed my life.
I believe that your own intuition is the deepest form of knowing, but here in my little corner of the internet, I share insights based in intuition and instinct. I share my love for nature, witchcraft, and the wild spirit.
- If your spirit is at home in wild places
- If you feel the need to claim your autonomy as ritual
- If you want to more deeply trust your own intuition
- If you want resources or connections to tarot, oracle, witchcraft, and wild sovereignty, then welcome!
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