Also known as All Hallow’s Eve, Halloween.
Southern Hemisphere Date: April 30/May 1
Northern Hemisphere Date: October 31st
The Pagan year begins (and ends) with Samhain. It is a time of reflection, of looking back over the last year. This is the time when the boundary is thinnest between the worlds of living and dead; the powers of divination, the Sight, and supernatural communication are strengthened on Samhain night, and it is considered a powerful but dangerous time to communicate with lost loved ones. Pagans celebrate Samhain as an acknowledgment that without death, there can be no rebirth. At Samhain, the darkness increases and the Goddess reigns in her powerful aspect of the Crone. The God passes into the underworld to become reborn of the Goddess again at Yule.
It is a time to honour those who have gone before us and it is a poignant co-incidence that Australia and New Zealand’s day of Remembrance for their fallen in war, ANZAC Day on April 25, should be so close to the southern Samhain.
Correspondences
Division: Major Sabbat
Other Names: Witch’s New Year, Summer’s End, All Hallow’s Even, Halloween, Day of the Dead, Festival of Spirits, Third Harvest, Celtic New Year, Fesival of Pamona, Vigil of Saman.
Southern Hemisphere Date: April 30/May 1
Northern Hemisphere Date: Date: October 31
Associated Holiday: Halloween
Associated Deities: There’s a few that I really adore at this time of year, but here is a general list of the popular deities:
Aradia, Badb, Banba, Cailleach, Cernunnnos, Dionysis, Durga, Hecate, Hel, Inanna, Ishtar, Kali, Morrigan, Rhiannon, Persephone, Arawn, Belenus, Dagda, Hades, Loki, Odin, Pluto
Associated Herbs: Bay Leaf, lavender, mugwort, nutmeg, sage
Associated Stones: All Black Stones, Obsidian, black onyx, bloodstone, amethyst, opal
Symbols of Samhain: Gourds, Apples, Black Cats, Jack-O-Lanterns, Besoms, Balefire, Masks, The Cauldron, Waning Moon.
Foods of Samhain: Turnips, Apples, Gourds, Nuts, Mulled Wines, Beef, Pork, Poultry.
Drinks of Samhain: Ale, Cider, Wine, and Herbal Teas.
Incense of Samhain: Heliotrope, Mint, Nutmeg.
Ritual Oils: Frankincense, Basil, Yarrow, Lilac, Ylang-Ylang, Camphor, Clove
Colors of Samhain: Black, Orange, White, Silver, Gold.
Taboos: Travel After Dark, Eating Grapes or Berries
Plants: Mugwort, Gourds, Sage, Allspice, Catnip, Apple.
Element: Water
Activities: Divination, Past-Life Recall, Spirit Contact, Meditation, Drying Winter Herbs
Animals: All Creatures that feed on Carrion, the Raven especially, Bat, Boar, Cat, Cow, Dog
Mythical Creatures: Phooka, Goblin, Medusa, Beansidhe, Harpies, Fylgiar, Peryton, Erlkonig.
Celebration of: The Lord dies and awaits his rebirth at Yule.
About Samhain:
Samhain is one of the Greater Sabbats, it is the witch’s biggest holiday and usually referred to as Halloween. It is New Year’s Day as it marks the death of the Lord. Samhain, is the death festival, and is the time when the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead at its finest. This is a perfect night for communicating with the dead, and a powerful night of the year for divination and scrying.
In ancient times it was believed that this was the time that our ancestors would return to visit us, offering help and advice. Celtic countries would also leave food offerings on altars and doorsteps, for the “wandering dead”. Often candles were lit and left in a window to help guide the spirits of ancestors and loved ones return home.
The darkness increases during Samhain and the Goddess reigns in her powerful aspect of the Crone. The God passes into the underworld to become reborn of the Goddess again at Yule.
Samhain is a time of transformation and inner work, it is also a time of remembrance, when those who have died are thought about and honoured.
During this time Wiccans say farewell to the Pagan Lord, lore states that the Pagan god dies and he travels through the veils into the otherworld, to be reborn at Yule.
Samhain was traditionally a time of sacrifice, livestock were slaughtered to ensure food throughout the winter.
This holiday marks the end of the old year and the beginning of the new.
Samhain Activities
* Decorate your altar with photographs of dead loved ones, pumpkin lanterns, oak leaves, apples, nuts and sage.
* Drink warm apple cider mixed with cinnamon to honour the dead.
* Bury an apple in the garden as food for the spirits of those who have passed away.
* Carve a Jack-o-Lantern.
* Make candles for the coming year, add colour and scent depending on its purpose.
* Enjoy a night of trick or treating.
* Bob for Apples
* Make resolutions as you do when it is New Year, write your resolutions on a small piece of parchment and burn in a candle flame.
* Samhain it is a good time for divination, Tarot cards, scrying and crystal ball reading.
* Private Meditation
* Enjoy sweets
* Create a new magic wand or witch’s broom
* Hold a private ritual and focus on the traditional themes for Samhain, such as Life, Death and Rebirth.
* Host a Halloween party
* At dinner, set a place for your loved ones that have passed this year
Samhain Remembrance Ritual
(cast the circle)
The Moon is bright, the Crone is old
The body lifeless – the bones so cold
We all live and pay our dues
To die in ones and threes and twos.
Death, dance and play the harp
Piercing silence in the dark
The Woman’s old with withered limbs
Death beckons Her to dance with Him
As She accepts the Dance of Death
The Earth is cooled by ghostly breath
To lie in dormancy once more
To have Her strength and life restored
Go to the Western Quarter and draw an invoking pentagram with the athame to open the gate. Then evoke the dead by saying:
All ye spirits who walk this night –
Hearken! Hearken to my call!
I bid you in our Circle join!
Enter Enter – one and all!Come ye, spirits of the dead
Be ye spirit of plant or pet
Or human being who still roams!
Into this Circle you are let!
Speak to us of things unknown!
Lend your energies to this rite!
To speed your journey, we have joined
On this sacred Samhain night!
All ye spirits who walk this night –
Hearken! Hearken to my call!
I bid you in our Circle join!
Enter! Enter – one and all!Oh Mighty Gods of the Summerlands,
Guardians of the beloved dead
We pour forth love on those you keep
Safely, in your peaceful stead
We bless those who have walked the path
That someday, we as well, shall rove
We offer peace unto their souls
While resting in your arms, below
Light one of the white candles after saying:
Dark Mother, you come to us alone this night in mourning for your son; in mourning for your consort. The God has departed to the Underworld and the Wheel of the Year follows him into darkness. Crone of the Ages, we call on you, be with us this night.
Light the other white candle, and say:
We take time to honor those we love, those who have gone before. In remembrance we speak their names.
Each Say the names of those you want to remember, then continue:
Hecate, Cerridwen, guide the spirits of those named here this night,
And those still in our thoughts
Take time to honor those you have named and to celebrate their lives. Hold in your mind the memories of those whose names you spoke. Think of how they have touched your life. Feel their presence with you in this hallowed circle.
Take the pomegranate juice from the altar. Lift it and say:
This year has waxed with the fullness of life and now wanes into shadow. Our souls will take rest in the dark as the wheel of the seasons makes its final turn.
Lift the pomegranate juice, and then say:
May our spirits find their paths.
Dark Mother, Ancient and Enduring One, guide us, watch over us and our loved ones both here and departed. We stand at this gateway with you and thank you for your gifts of restoration and renewal.
Blessed be. (or Ave Lucifer)
Extinguish both white candles and black candles.
If Pagan do (or modify)…Priestess goes to the Western Quarter and draw the banishing pentagram, saying:
Blessings be upon thee, oh wondrous Spirits of the
Summerlands. We humbly thank thee for your presence in our
Circle and honor you in celebration this sacred night. We
beseech thee, oh God of the underworld, keepers of the sacred dead, embrace
once again those souls within your keep and hold tightly
to your breast those which have been lost and wandering.
Grant them safe passage to the Summerland, where they may
rest peacefully in your strength until they are refreshed
and reborn again in perfect love. We bid thee all a fond
farewell. So mote it be!Thus is the Circle of Rebirth.
All pass from this life into the summerlands,
But through the love of the Goddess you are all reborn
In the cycles of nature – through the Cosmic Plane.
In living we die – in dying we live
The fruit is first seed, yet seed comes from the fruit
In the mystery of life and death and rebirth
The Circle turns ever, and we are its roots.
ALL RESPOND: (If in group)
The Sun conceived in Darkness, cold
In the Shadow of Death, a Life unfolds
A shred of Light begins to burn
From Death comes Life – the Circle turns.
Dismiss the spirits with sage and love then Dissolve Circle. If Pagan say (or modify)
Merry meet and merry part and merry meet again!
Baby Blessing
Mother Goddess, Father God, ancient ones, hear us!
Into your midst has come a new life, we present to you,
(baby name),
Make his path smooth, so that he may hear and feel your guidance!
Winds, Clouds, and Rain, all you that move in the air, hear us!
Into your midst has come a new life.
Make his path smooth, that he may see clearly even in the thickest of cloud!Hills, Valleys, Rivers, Lakes, Trees, Grasses, all of the earth, hear us!
Into your midst has come a new life.
Make his path smooth, that he may see the beauty in all that surrounds him!Birds, great and small, that fly in the air,
Animals, great and small, that dwell in the forest, hear us!
Into your midst has come a new life.
Make his path smooth, that he too may fly and soar above all obstacles!We call to the elements Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit!!! Hear us!
Into your midst has come a new life.
Make his path smooth, so he may travel above and beyond his wildest dreams!May the ancient gods of old, and the spirits of the dead here tonight
Bless, protect, and Guide this child, and stay with him throughout his life.
Love and Magickal Blessings, my son, tonight and always!!!Blessed Be