SAMHAIN

Samhain is the seventh Wiccan and Pagan Sabbat of the year. It is one of the four cross quarter holidays, or fire festivals, taking place midpoint between the fall equinox and winter solstice. It is also the final of the three harvest celebrations in the Wiccan Wheel of the Year, following Lughnasadh and Mabon.

Samhain is Gaelic, pronounced SOW-win or SAH-win, and meaning summer’s end. It also symbolizes the start of the winter season and is usually celebrated from October 31 to November 1.

Of all the Sabbats, Samhain is considered to be the most powerful and important to Wiccans and other Witches, with many intense energies at play. This is when we honor the Death element of the life/death/rebirth cycle that forms the basis of the Wheel of the Year and all of Nature as we know it.

Samhain Origins To the Celtic people, Samhain marked the most important of the four Celtic fire festivals. Samhain was the time when the livestock was slaughtered, and the final harvest gathered before the inevitable plunge into the depths of winter’s darkness. Fires were lit to help wandering spirits on their way, and offerings were given in the name of the gods and ancestors. Seen as a beginning, Samhain is now often called the Witches’ New Year, when we honor our ancestors, wind down our activities, and get ready for the months of introspection ahead. At this time, the dying god has been interred, and the goddess has descended to the underworld to be with her beloved. Above, her people prepare for the veil between the worlds to thin. Dead ancestors will be visiting, and there is a new year to think about. Many Pagans believe a membrane-like veil separates the spirit world from the physical world and that it thins the most in late autumn. Spirits, faeries, and the departed ones we wish so much to see again may pass through that membrane. Many Pagans see Halloween as half of the whole celebration; Samhain is serious and loving, while Halloween releases our restrained wildness. The ancient Celtics gathered with the rest of their tribe to observe the Druid priests relighting the community's sacred fire using friction with a wheel and spindle; the wheel represented the sun, turned from east to west. At this time, people made prayers and offerings or sacrifices. The villagers left offerings of food at the edge of their village for wandering spirits and faeries. There was also a sacrifice of a black sheep, a black sow, or cattle. At the end, every person returned home with a brand lit from the sacred fir, which they used to relight their own hearth and to then light bonfires or to set torches at the edge of their fields, considering it a sin to relight the hearth fire any other way. To the ancient Celts, Samhain was the day when their ancestors would come to visit, followed across the veil by all sorts of good and bad creatures that moved freely in the mortal world on Samhain night. Since faeries were often unfriendly, the Celts dressed themselves as animals or as other fearsome creatures as a way to prevent kidnapping by faeries and later by witches. For Wiccans and other Pagans, Samhain is very much rooted in ancient Celtic traditions It is often described as the night when “the veil between worlds is at its thinnest,” and many choose to honor their ancestors and other departed loved ones at this time. Samhain was considered an auspicious time for the druids to practice divination, since the connection to the spirit world was stronger than usual. The lifting of the veil between the Otherworld and the physical world meant that Samhain was also considered to be a perilous time for the ancient Celts. The Celtic Otherworld is often described as existing in tandem with, as opposed to completely separate from, the human world. During Samhain, these realms converged and passage between them was easier. Spirits, both kind and malevolent, could act with more powerful agency on the human world. Some specific monsters were associated with the mythology surrounding Samhain, including a shape-shifting creature called a Pukah that receives harvest offerings from the field. The Lady Gwyn is a headless woman dressed in white who chases night wanderers and was accompanied by a black pig. The Dullahan sometimes appeared as impish creatures, sometimes headless men on horses who carried their heads. Riding flame-eyed horses, their appearance was a death omen to anyone who encountered them. A group of hunters known as the Faery Host might also haunt Samhain and kidnap people. The Sluagh, who would come from the west to enter houses and steal souls, are similar. In Victorian times, villagers would throw an effigy of an old woman into the flames and call that “burning the witch.” The Welsh and Irish also had their own rituals. When the Ulster Protestants from Ireland settled in the U.S. in the nineteenth century, they brought their own Samhain and Halloween traditions. More recently, the LGBT community in New York and other cities adopted the holiday as a day to celebrate their true selves. This night also called for a “dumb supper” or similar acts of feeding dead ancestors that might cross from the veil, or purgatory, for a visit. People also took great care to prevent faeries from absconding with human children or livestock on Samhain night. For example, cradles and animals received a sparkling with holy water. Trick-or-treating evolved from old Irish, Manx, and Scottish practices. In Ireland, the poor went door-to-door “mumming” or “souling,” offering songs and prayers for the dead. As payment, owners of the homes visited gave them soul cakes, cookies with a cross drawn on top, representing each soul detained in purgatory. In France, rather than demanding food, children collected flowers from their neighbors, so that they might decorate graves of family members the next morning.

The tradition of pranks was related to the Pagan tradition of blaming the faeries. For example, in Scotland, people call October 30 “Cabbage Night”, and the same tradition is called “Cabbage Stump Night” in Nova Scotia. In northern England, Halloween eve, or October 30, was called “Mischief Night”. The perpetual life/death/rebirth cycle is characterized by both the God and the Goddess at Samhain. In his Sun aspect, the God has aged considerably since Mabon. His power is nearly gone, and he descends into the Underworld, leaving the Earth to the darkness of winter. As the Horned God, or the God of the Hunt he is a fully matured stag who gives his life so his people can survive the coming barren season. Wiccans say farewell to the God at this Sabbat, thanking him for fulfilling his life-sustaining roles over the past year and expressing faith that he will return, reborn, at Yule. In many traditions, the Goddess is said to be mourning the God at this time, yet she too knows that he will return, as she is now in her wise Crone aspect. From the aged Crone we learn that death is part of life, that the old must be released in order for us to learn, grow, and birth new manifestations. The Goddess herself never dies, since the Earth remains steadily present throughout the year, no matter where the Sun may be. Yet she represents death and life simultaneously–she is both Crone and mother-to-be of the new God. Samhain Celebrations While Halloween has become almost entirely secular, Samhain has retained much of its spiritual flavor. It is still a day to honor the dead and to think about death along with other things that we fear. It is also a time to meditate and reflect, perform divinations, enjoy feasts, and sometimes light bonfires. Many groups have their own practices to celebrate Samhain, though there are significant similarities.

Most Pagans consider initiations profoundly transformational and see the thinned veils as the optimal time for dramatic change; the old self dies to the world and the newly initiated takes the former person's place.

Modern Pagans celebrate Samhain on Halloween, October 31, although some prefer to perform their observances on the full moon closest to the Sabbat date. Many see it as the most important ritual of the year, often a quiet, solemn occasion in a private Pagan household. It is also a time of dumb suppers, quiet divination, and family reflection. With its Celtic origins, many modern Pagans invoke the Morrighan, Dgda, Hades, Persephone, Hecate, and other death and Witchcraft deities across different pantheons.

Wiccans consider Samhain the end of the old year and the beginning of the new. The Goddess has descended from the earth to the land of the dead, where she will see and mate with her beloved, the dying God. Her opening the door to the world of the dead is believed to be why the veil thins, and there are rituals practiced honoring the descent and to honor the dad. The Wiccan belief of reincarnation is also meditated upon at Samhain, as we recognize that the life/death/rebirth cycle applies to all living beings. We know that we do not return to the Other Side permanently, but rest and enjoy ourselves there until we are ready to be reborn into the physical world.

Celtic Wiccans follow the Wiccan Rede and the God/Goddess soft duotheism, but also believe in and work with the Celtic pantheon. They celebrate with common Wiccan rituals, including ancestor altars, dumb suppers, and divination, and often invoke Celtic gods and goddesses of death or those directly associated with Samhain such as the Morrighan.

Celtic Reconstructionists, Pagans who try to rebuild ancient Celtic Paganism as exactly as possible, call Samhain “Oiche Shamnhna.” Often the Morrighan is venerated at this time. In Irish myth, Samhain marks the day that she and the Tuatha de Danann god Dagda mated at the River Unis. They may also smudge their home with juniper, establish an altar to honor the dead, and prepare a feast with the first foods set on a plate at a reserved seat at the table or at the altar for the dead.

Druids celebrate Samhain on October 31 with a festival to honor the dead. This often includes a bonfire with a remembrance of the dead.

Traditional witches view Samhain as one of the three nights of the year when the veil between worlds grows thin. There are Samhain ceremonies for the living and for the dead. It is a time of communing with the dead, especially ancestors, and traditional witches make it a point to visit a cemetery, crossroad, or burial mound at this time to connect to the dark God and Goddess and to meditate on what they have to teach.

Eclectic witches often celebrate by honoring their physical ancestors as well as their spiritual ancestors, including other witches and Pagans from before their time. Rituals focus on the dark of the year and often invoke gods of the dead from different pantheons. Persephone and Pluto, Kali Ma, the Morrighan and the Dagda, and the Norse goddess Hel are all possibilities during an eclectic Samhain ritual.

Neopagans do not necessarily identify with any one tradition or practice. It is a time to set out ancestor altars, tell stories about people who have gone before us, practice divination, and gather around a bonfire.

Practitioners of Stregha, an Italian-rooted Witchcraft, call October 31 La Festa del Ombra, or Shadowfest, when the goddess of their pantheon descends to the underworld to confront death. There, she meets the god Dis, and begin dialogue about why things must suffer and die. Streghs set out meals for spirits, leave milk and honey for faerie folk, and remember their beloved dead.

Norse or Asatru Pagans, or Heathens, call October 31 the Winternights, Elf-Finding, or Frey-finding. They honor ancestors, give thanks for the land, and honor both death and wisdom.

Hellenic Pagans, who do not align with the Celtic pantheon, spend the month of October honoring Aries and the month of November honoring Artemis, and have a festival of the dead called Genesi that mainly honors deceased parents.

Feri witches believe in ecstatic union with the divine, and rituals involve direct engagement through dancing, chanting, and trance work. At Samhain, they perform a ritual where they open a gate to the land of the dead, and through that gate call to deities to come and prepare them for death. They spend most of their Samhain rituals communing with their departed loved ones.

Witches who practice the Reclaiming Tradition work to reclaim the powers of equality and justice. In San Francisco, they honor Samhain and their justice work with a large public spiral dance.

Samhain Correspondences

Themes Death, rebirth, divination, honoring ancestors, introspection, benign mischief, revelry

Spiritual Focus and Keywords Ancestry, beginnings, change, death, endings, Faerie, other worlds, reincarnation

Magickal Focus Healing, preparation, protection, release from old bonds, renewal

Examples of Suggested Activities Pumpkin carving Bonfires Apple games and bobbing for apples Apple peel divination (In Celtic mythology, the apple was associated with immortality and the Otherworld.) Make your own haunted house Adopt a past ancestor or a living ancestor Have a divination party Hold a magickal movies marathon Have a Samhain vigil

Examples of Spells and Divination Spell to heal grief Spell to speak with your ancestors Protection spells Samhain house blessing Spell for protection from the dark

Meditation and Rituals Meditation to greet the dark–which helps you assess your own relationship with the dark, and to extend your understanding and observation of extended nighttime Solo ritual to see beyond the veil–helps you see beyond the veil into the next world; you may see ancestors and fairies, or you could simply see the world in a different way, coming away with a sense of new possibilities. The physical labyrinth–a group trip to the Underworld–to raise awareness of activity beyond the veil and build an understanding of why we need death mythologies and chthonic gods.

Colors (including for decorations or a Samhain altar) Black–darker half of the year, grief, impending winter, mourning, night, protection from evil, sleep Brown–ancestors, decay, earth, faery folk, healing, hibernation, nature, roots Orange–transformation, transition Silver–the Goddess, the inner self, mirrors, the moon, shadow work

Crystals and Stones Carnelian: healing, peace, protection, sexuality Jet–absorption, divination, protection from nightmares, reflection, shadows Moonstone–balance, divination, feminine influence, the Goddess, healing, hidden knowledge, insight Obsidian–depth, divination, grounding Onyx–protection, self-defense, self-discipline

Flowers: Marigold, chrysanthemum, sunflower, goldenrod

Incense: Nutmeg, mint, sage, copal, myrrh, clove, heather, sandalwood

Foods: Pumpkins, pomegranates, apples, autumn/winter squashes, nuts, breads, apple cider

Tarot Keys Death, the High Priestess, Wheel of Fortune

Animals Black cats–associated with witches, superstitions told of magick workers shapeshifting into cats or taking them as spiritual familiars Owls–the dedicated bird of the goddess Athena, nocturnal, especially visible in the late fall season as the trees no longer obscure them on their perches Ravens–the dedicated bird of the Morrighan who sometimes appears as a raven, believed to represent the souls of the dead and to carry messages from beyond the veil to the living Spiders–associated with the Egyptian goddess Neith as a weaver of fate

Altar Decorations Oak leaves and other fallen leaves, pomegranates, pumpkins, squashes, gourds, photos or other tokens of deceased loved ones, acorns, Indian corn, besom, cauldron

Some key take-aways for Theistic Satanists Samhain is an ending, a transition, and a beginning. It is an acknowledgment of the cold, the dying back of the Earth, and the dead themselves who have gone before us. It is a good time to honor our ancestors and to connect with them. Spiritual and magical focus include reflection, introspection, growth, and personal transformation. Samhain is also a key occasion for divination of all kinds. As with Wiccans, we understand that the death stage of the cycle is actually the most potent, as it is here that all potential for new life resides, waiting to be manifested into specific form. Therefore, Samhain is the most fitting time for reflecting on our lives, looking back over the past year, and identifying any circumstances or behavioral patterns we want to let go, in order to allow for future expansion and growth in our lives. By letting go of our old selves, we can move into the winter months ahead with clarity and acceptance of the ever-turning wheel of life and death. It is also good to incorporate the fire element in our Astral or material plane. Fire brings not only warmth and light to the Theistic Satanist, but it is also a transformational element that refines and binds our intentions and goals. Setting up an altar in the Astral can be both practical and a viable way to celebrate Samhain. Finally, the Theistic Satanist welcomes the darkness ahead because Father Satan is both the darkness and light that guides our intuition and higher senses towards an expansive perspective of what is best in our lives. Samhain’s Fire Blessing, below, is posted at https://www.satanicbloodbrotherhood.com/samhain-s-fire-blessing.

Main Reference Sources

Llewellyns’s Sabbat Essentials: Samhain

Lisa Chamberlain’s Wicca Wheel of the Year Magic

“Samhain Season, Spooky Season, and Spicy Spirit Weather, https://7serendipities.tumblr.com/post/698767143255293952/samhain-season-spooky-season-and-spicy-spirit

”Samhain - Traditions, Halloween, Wicca - HISTORY,” https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/samhain

“Samhain - World History Encyclopedia,” https://www.worldhistory.org›Samhain

Various internet sources (pictures and graphics)