Samhain

Samhain

Northern Hemisphere October 31-November 1st

Southern Hemisphere April 30-May 1st

 

Samhain (pronounced SOW-in, SAH-vin, or SAM-hayne) originating as a Celtic Fire festival is one of the greater Sabbats for Witches, Wiccans, Druids, and Pagans and is celebrated world-wide. The timing of the celebration has much to do with various traditions and geography.  In the northern hemisphere it is generally celebrated on October 31st, although some traditions prefer the date of November 1st.   Samhain meaning summers end is a festival of the dead and is the third and final harvest celebration and the beginning of the coldest part of the year.  For many practitioners it is the beginning of the spiritual new year.  The various names for this Sabbat are Samhain (Celtic), Shadowfest (Strega), Martinmas or Old Hallowmas (Scottish/Celtic), as well as Hallowe’en, Hallowmas, All Hallow’s Eve, Halloween, Day of the Dead, Feast of Spirits, Third Harvest, Samonios, All Saint’s Eve, Celtic New Year, Samhuinn, Celtic Winter, Samana, Festival of Pomona, Vigil of Saman, Vigil of Todos, and Santos. Though this Sabbat is celebrated on October 31st, All Hallows Eve is on November 7th, and Martinmas is on November 11th.  Today Samhain celebrations can last for several days even weeks-these extended observances usually include a series of solitary rites, group rituals, ceremonies, feasts, and gatherings with family, friends, and spiritual community.   Some covens and solitaires hold Samhain celebrations on the nearest weekend or on the Full or New Moon closest to this time. Some Pagans observe Samhain a bit later, or near November 6, to coincide more closely with the astronomical midpoint between Fall Equinox and Winter Solstice. Most Pagans in the southern hemisphere have their Samhain in the  middle of their Autumn in late April and early May, rather than at the traditional European time of the holiday.

At Samhain the veil Between the Worlds is thinnest making it a great time to study the dark mysteries,  meditate, practice astral travel, divination, and spirit work.   As the veil is thin this is also a good time to strength shields and take necessary precautions.   Many witches and pagans also take this time to make their spiritual new year resolutions and plans for the next year.    It is a time marked by death.  When the Dead are honored, remembered, acknowledge, and celebrate our ancestors and our heritage.   This can be a solemn Sabbat some especially those who have lost loved ones.  On way to honor this is to conclude the festivities of Samhain with a dumb supper or a dinner with the dead: which is a dinner is a silent or if performing with children quiet dinner where a place setting is set for the dead and the dead are welcome to join.   A silent dinner is impossible for families with children but some ways to perform with children would be to share quiet stories about our ancestors, setting up an ancestor altar in a central location in kitchen, and setting a place setting for our ancestors we are honoring and making them feel welcomed.

Samhain-Altar

Colors include Orange and Black, but also include Red, Brown, and Golden Yellow.

Altar candles include black, orange, white, silver and/or gold.

Stones include Obsidian, Onyx, and Carnelian.

Animals  include bats, cats, and dogs.

Mythical Beasts include Phooka, Goblin, Medusa, Beansidhe, Fylgiar, Peryton, Erlkonig, and Harpies.

Plants and Herbs include Mugwort, Allspice, Sage, Gourds, Catnip, and Apple Trees.

Symbols include Jack-O-Lanterns, Balefires, Masks, The Besom (Magickal Broom), The Cauldron, and the Waning Moon. Altar decorations might include small jack-o-lanterns, foods from the harvest, photographs of your loved ones who have departed from this world, costumes, resolutions,  apples, etc.

Deities include Crone Goddesses, and the Horn God, Sage God, Dying God,, or the “Dead” God.

Spellwork includes return, change, reflection, endings and beginnings, and honoring the Dead.  Wisdom of the Crone, the Death of the God, and the Celebration of Reincarnation.  Meditations, Dark Mysteries, Divination, Spirit Communication.

Activities
    • Make resolutions, wants, wishes for the new year.  Write them on a small piece of parchment, and burn in a candle flame, preferably a black votive candle within a cauldron on the altar.
    • Make a witches ladder for protection or as an expression of what you hope to manifest in the year ahead.
    • Carve a jack-o-lantern. Place a spirit candle in it.
        • Bobbing for Apples.
        • Enjoy the trick or treating of the season.
        • Wear costumes that reflect what we hope or wish for in the upcoming year.
        • Make a mask of your shadow self or to honor your ancestors or protect from evil spirits depending on beliefs.
        • Drink apple cider spiced with cinnamon to honor the dead. Bury an apple or pomegranate in the garden as food for spirits passing by on their way to being reborn.
        • Perform divination for the next year using tarot, oracle cards, crystal ball, candle flame, pendulum, magick mirror, black bowl, runes, Ouija boards, or a black cauldron filled with black ink or water.
        • Have a dumb or quiet supper in honor of your ancestors.
        • Set up an ancestral altar.
        • Make a besom, or witches broom.
        • Find a magick wand of oak, holly, ash, rowan, birch, hazel, elm, hawthorn, or willow, decorate it and consecrate it.
        • The traditional time to make candles for the coming year, infusing them with color, power, herbs, and scent depending on the magickal purpose.

Incense Recipes

Samhain Ritual Potpourri
by Gerina Dunwich

45 drops patchouli oil
1 cup oak moss
2 cups dried apple blossoms
2 cups dried heather flowers
1 cup dried and chopped apple peel
1 cup dried pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup dried and chopped mandrake root

Mix the patchouli oil with the oak moss, and then add the remaining ingredients. Stir the potpourri well and store in a tightly covered ceramic or glass container.

(The above “Samhain Ritual Potpourri” recipe is from “The Wicca Spellbook: A Witch’s Collection of Wiccan Spells, Potions and Recipes” by Gerina Dunwich, page 164, Citadel Press, Carol Publishing Group Edition, 1995.)

 

Hecate Incense
by Gerina Dunwich

1/2 teaspoon Dried Bay Leaves
1/2 teaspoon Dried Mint Leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried Thyme
pinch of Myrrh Resin
pinch of Frankincense Resin
13 drops Cypress Oil
3 drops Camphor Oil

Using a mortar and pestle, crush the Bay, Mint, and Thyme until almost powdered. Stir in the Frankincense and Myrrh resins. Add the Cypress and camphor Oils, and mix well. Store in a tightly capped jar and let the mixture age for at least two weeks before using. Burn on a hot charcoal block during your ritual.

(The above “Hecate Incense” recipe is from “WiccaCraft: The Modern Witch’s Book of Herbs, Magick, and Dreams” by Gerina Dunwich, Citadel Press, Carol Publishing Group Edition, 1995.)

Poetry/Invocations
“Samhain Dream”
by Myria/Brighid
October 1999

It is Samhain …The Night of Shadows.
The Circle is cast around the fire,
And through the darkness, we glance,
For the veils are thin, in this sacred night!
Ancient voices around us,
Whispering old and forgotten songs,
While we dance the Spiral Dance,
To meet Her.

And there She comes,
The Lady of the Gate!
Power and compassion evolving us,
As a dark but comforting wave.
Beautiful Queen of the Dark Night!
With Her mantle of raven’s feathers,
And eyes deep with wisdom.
Cerridwenn!

She opens Her arms,
in a welcoming embrace,
We feel around us the flow of love,
Of Her Eternal Grace.
And then we hear Her voice,
Melodious and grave,
That speaks from inside our soul,
As an echo in a cave.

Blessed Daughters of My Heart,
I hear your prayers from afar.
And that is why I came tonight!
Do not despair when the times are hard!
Do not abandon the Path you found!
For time has come for My return,
And you, Loved Ones, shall open the way,
Singing my name as the ancient bards.

I am always with you, do never doubt that!
I am the Old and the Young One!
I am the Keeper of the Gate!
I am the Master of Time!
I am the Dark Goddess of Death!
I am the Bright Goddess of Dawn!
I am The One!
I am Cerridwenn!

 

“Hallowmas”
by Rhiannon Cotter

At Hallowmas, the veil between the worlds of life and death, conscious and unconscious, grows thin as we celebrate, in darkness, the end of the old year and the coming of the new. Hallowmas is a time of weeding and pruning ourselves under the auspices of our ancestors and guides and of remembering those parts of us lost during the past year. Hallowmas is a time to honor those who have come before us for their knowledge and help on the spirit plane, especially those sacrificed during the Burning Times. But beware, sexual union on Hallowmas can result in the reincarnations.

 

“An Autumn Chant”
by Karen Bergquist

I will dance
The dance of dying days
And sleeping life.

I will dance
In cold, dead leaves
A bending, whirling human flame.

I will dance
As the Horned God rides
Across the skies.

I will dance
To the music of His hounds
Running, baying in chorus.

I will dance
With the ghosts of those
Gone before.

I will dance
Between the sleep of life
And the dream of death.

I will dance
On Samhain’s dusky eye,
I will dance.

 

“Invocation of the Old One”
by Noel-Anne Brennan

Ancient Mother
Warrior
Lady of the Red Desert,
Lady of the Great North,
Mistress of Moonlight,
And ice,
Mistress of Earth
And the changing sky,
Come to us now.
Come to us,
Old one,
You whose name
Is in all things,
Come to us now
And bless us
And feel our love.

“Croning Blessing”
by Noel-Anne Brennan

We call to you now,
Ancient One,
From the times before the Beginning,
from the place before time,
Eternal.
We call to you, Dark Moon,
Mighty One,
By all your names
Spoken and unspoken.
Rhea, Mother of Time,
Macha, Lady of Power,
Baba Yaga of the forests,
Kali, Dark Mother,
Hecate of the Crossroads,
Queen of magic.
Mighty Goddesses and Crones,
Bless us
And bless the Crones
Of our circle,
First among sisters.
Bless them, bless them, bless them,
Mighty Ones.
We thank you.

 

References

Circle Sanctuary Samhain https://www.circlesanctuary.org/index.php/celebrating-the-seasons/celebrating-samhain

Storm Wing’s Samhain Lore http://www.oocities.org/athens/acropolis/2007/samhain_lore.html