Samhain
The last harvest is in. The cattle have been brought down from the summer pastures and the ones that cannot be fed through the winter have been slaughtered. The year is dying, and for one night the door between the living and the dead stands open.
What it is
Samhain is the great festival of the Irish year, the end of summer and the beginning of the dark half. For witches it is the new year, because we begin, like the Celts, in the dark. It is the feast of the ancestors, when the beloved dead draw near and are welcomed to the table. It is the night the God passes through the western gate into the Summerland, and the Goddess, as Crone, mourns him and keeps watch.
It is also, of course, Halloween. The costumes, the turnip lanterns, the going from door to door, the apples and the nuts are all older than the sweets, and we are glad the whole world is still keeping a little of our feast without quite knowing why.
How we keep it at the Hearth
- The ancestor altar. Photographs, keepsakes, a candle for each name. We add names each year and never take any away.
- The dumb supper. A meal eaten in silence with an extra place set and served for the dead. It is strange and it is one of the most moving things we do. One of us wrote about it.
- Naming the dead. In circle, each person speaks the names of those they have lost this year and before. The circle answers: What is remembered, lives.
- Divination. The thin veil makes it the traditional night for scrying, tarot, apple peel and the old hazelnut charms. We read for the year ahead.
- Letting go. What died with the old year is written on paper and given to the fire.
- The lantern in the window. To guide the dead home and the living too.
Correspondences
| Colours | Black, orange, deep red, purple |
|---|---|
| Foods | Apples, pumpkin, nuts, pork, dark bread, mulled cider, soul cakes |
| Herbs and plants | Mugwort, rosemary for remembrance, sage, apple, yew, hazel |
| Symbols | The cauldron, the carved lantern, the skull, the besom, the scythe |
| Deities honoured | The Morrígan, Cerridwen, Hecate, the Dagda, the Crone, the Lord of the Dead |
Small things to do
- Cook a dead relative's recipe and eat it slowly.
- Light a candle in the window at dusk and leave it until you go to bed.
- Write a letter to someone you have lost. Burn it, or keep it, or read it to the dark.
- Walk at dusk and notice what the land has let go of.
- Eat an apple and say a name for every bite.
A Samhain blessing
To those who have gone before us: we remember you. To those who will come after: we are keeping the fire. To the year that is ending: thank you, and go in peace. To the year that is beginning: we are not afraid of the dark.
Next on the wheel: Yule