What is Samhain?

An unmistakable chill grips the air, sweeping the ever increasing amounts of fallen leaves into a swirling dance. Samhain, the last of the three neo-pagan harvest festivals, is upon us.

In the wheel of the year, we are approaching Samhain (pronounced SAH-win) the midpoint between the autumnal equinox (Mabon) and the winter solstice (Yule). The exact midpoint is in early November, but the celebration is usually fixed on October 31st. In opposition to Beltane, our celebration of light, this is a celebration in the face of the darkness that has begun taking over for the end of the year.

Much like with Yule and Christmas, traditional elements of Samhain have survived its merging with the Christian All Saint’s (or Hallow’s) Eve, or as we call it today, Halloween. We know this because more than any other Celtic holiday, this is the one that survives in writing the most. The fact that a great deal of folklore set on or around Samhain shows how important of a time it was for these early societies. Samhain was the festival celebrating the beginning of winter. The revelry included bonfires, veneration of the dead, horse races, divinations, and copious amounts of drinking. Also this was considered the start of the new year, because in Celtic tradition each day began at sunset the day before, and so the year begins in darkness as well.

This is also the time that the veil between our world and the Otherworld is the thinnest. This affords easy passage for the souls of the departed into our world, along with hosts of other supernatural beings. Taking extra care to protect yourself in this time isn’t a terrible idea, but it is also a great time to open yourself to this influx from the other side. Now that the earth has shared the last of her bounty with us for the year and we must fend for ourselves more in the colder months ahead, this is the perfect time to reflect on what we have lost.

Looking for more support through this season and the rest of the Dark Half of the Year? Learn more about my virtual coven Spiral Within and see if joining an active community of fellow Earth-Loving Seekers is for you.

Playlists for Samhain

Decorations

Late Harvest Crops especially Pumpkins and Apples
Acorns and Found Seeds
Autumn leaves
Besom broom
Cauldron
Jack-o-Lanterns
Skulls, preserved animal remains, dead flowers, other symbols of death

Activities

Host a Dumb Supper

Host a dinner for the dearly departed. You can do this alone or with friends and family. Prepare family recipes, traditional foods from your heritage or the favorite foods of your dearly departed. Set an extra place at the table and invite the ancestors in lovingly. Go around and share gratitude for everything they did to allow you this life in this time, and then eat in silence and feel into their presence. Listen with your heart for any messages from them. Once the dinner is finished. share stories of the departed and bask in the warmth of their memories as we begin heading to the darker months. Put their plate outside after the dinner is finished to return it to the earth and feed our animal friends.

Light a Candle for the Ancestors

Gather tea light candles and fill a wide bowl or cauldron with sand or use a heat safe tray to hold your candles. Dim the lights, cast a circle and light a central candle saying. “Hail and welcome to the ancestors and beloved departed. May the light of these candles guide you to us and its warmth give you comfort.” Light a candle from the central flame for each ancestor you desire to honor saying “I invite (name) into our circle tonight. Hail and welcome!” Once you have invited the ancestors and dearly departed, sit in silence and bask in the glow of the candles. You can use this space for divination with cards, pendulum, or fire scrying with the candle flames, or just meditate and open yourself up to their guidance. Let the candles burn down on their own and then thank the ancestors for visiting, wish them well on their journey and lovingly ask them to leave your space as you open your circle.

Ancestor Alter

Dedicate a space in your home to your ancestors. Gather photos and heirlooms from ancestors with whom you wish to connect. If you don't want to call in any known recent ancestors (which can be the healthiest choice depending on their level of wellness in life), gather things that represent your heritage, such as maps, photos of the land, or pagan/cultural symbols. Leave offerings for your ancestors by burning incense, lighting a candle, praying, singing or leaving some food or drink (especially their favorite foods or culturally appropriate choices).

Visit your Ancestors

Visit the cemetery where loved ones reside and leave an offering and/or light a candle for them. If with family, share stories about them. If alone, open yourself up to feel their presence and talk with them.

Share Stories

Get together with family and ask questions about your ancestors. Get them to share stories and describe what the people who came before you were like. You can even record these sessions so you can share them with the next generation and beyond. Notice patterns, inherited skills, and family traits. Fill out a family tree with notes about each person's personality and interests and see how those traits are passed down.

Carve a Jack-o-Lantern

This modern Halloween tradition has old Samhain roots. While pumpkins are from the Americas, historically jack-o-lanterns were carved out of beets or turnips in Ireland. They were both a welcome light to the beloved dead and a fearsome face to scare away any mischievous spirits that wandered by. Carve your own and light them up on Samhain Eve to guide your ancestors home.

Releasing Rituals

Now is the time to let go like autumn leaves all that no longer serves us. The trees show us how beautiful releasing can be. What are you ready to release? Take some time to journal about what need to be cleared from your life. These can be relationships, obligations, or personal patterns. Then do a fire ceremony in a cauldron or fire pit by writing on fallen leaves each thing you're releasing this Samhain and tossing them with intention into the fire. You can also toss in some dried rosemary, cinnamon and cloves in for an extra magical boost.

Rest

We are sliding into the darkest part of the year. Once the final harvest is complete, most of the leaves have fallen and the first early frost has killed the tender plants, the Earth begins to rest. And you can too! You may notice that you're sleepier this time of year as the cold and darkness creep in. That's perfectly normal! Give yourself plenty of cozy blanket time. Pour a cup of tea, draw a bath, curl up with a good book. Allow the slow down. Just as the seeds tucked into the earth seem lifeless, they are still full of potential. They are just waiting for the perfect time to stretch and grow, and now is not that time. If you are feeling the call to rest, listen and take care of yourself.

Soak Up the Beauty

This season more than any other encourages us to pause and enjoy the fleeting beauty of nature and tap into moments of transient bliss. These vibrant colors won't last for long, so we need to catch the splendor of autumn while we can. Prioritize sunny days and warm weather, taking time for even a short walk around the block, if not an epic full day hike. Collect beautiful leaves, seed pods, acorns, and other signs of the season for your alter, giving thanks to the land for it's beauty and bounty.

Celebrate the Witches New Year

In the Celtic calendar, Samhain is the start of the New Year, so let loose! This holiday was celebrated with copious amounts of drinking historically, so throw a party, dress up, and celebrate, because in Witches years 2020 is over!

Scorpio Shadow Work

Samhain is at the height of Scorpio season, so deep self-examination is very fitting for this time. The dark half of the year invites us to explore shadow work, the aspects of our unconscious that we aren't fully aware of, but that totally run the show secretly. As Carl Jung, expert on the unconscious says, 'Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.'

One of the ways this shows up is through how we talk about others and ourselves, both externally and internally. In my virtual coven, Spiral Within, we’re about to start No Shit Talk November. How we use our words illuminates so much about what’s going on under the surface and I can’t wait to explore my unconscious right alongside you. Just planning for this challenge has already begun a deep shift within me. Learn more and join the coven and the challenge here.

Explore the Underworld

Persephone, Inanna, Hecate, these Goddesses that travel to the underworld are powerful at this time. The Sun God has died and is currently in the Underworld as well, so there is also a masculine example of this energy. Connect with these deities and ask them to help you discover what is hiding in the underworld of your subconscious. What things have you hidden from yourself that need to come up and out into the light of day? As the light continues to wane, we're called into a deeper examination of ourselves. This retelling of Inanna’s descent into the underworld to meet her sister Ereshkigal by Chani Nicholas is a beautiful illustration of the healing that can happen when we bring presence and awareness to our unconscious and the tough emotions that live there.

Called one day by her sister, Ereshkigal, goddess of the underworld, Inanna descends to her realm. Ereshkigal is the opposite to Inanna’s beauty, glory, and adoration. She is the sister betrayed. Feared. Unloved. Alone. Rejected. Her pain has distorted her. Her hunger for love left unjustly unfulfilled. Ereshkigal is the aspect of Inanna, the aspect of us all, that lives just under the surface waiting for our consciousness to open to its call.

When she reaches her sister in the underworld, Inanna is met with a death stare that annihilates her. Her corpse is then hung on meat hooks, left to rot where no one can reach her. The only beings that come to her aid are two magical helpers who appease Ereshkigal by witnessing her pain, acknowledging it and mirroring her struggle back to her. These beings echo Ereshkigal’s cries and wails. For the first time Ereshkigal is relieved of her pain because she is related to. Accepted. Given some compassion for her struggle. In return for this kindness she gifts them Inanna’s body and the goddess is reborn. Ascending to the Great Above, Inanna is renewed, but is never the same. Now fully awakened by coming into contact with the pain of her other half, Innana is, for the first time, a Queen truly worthy of her crown.

Ereshkigal is the deep reservoirs of power that lay within the unconscious. We cannot come into contact with our full potential until we are willing to descend into our underworlds, reckoning with the truth of what has happened to us. The struggle of marrying the unconscious and the conscious, the Queen of the Great Above, and the Queen of the Great Below, is a process of transformation so intense and painful we can only do it in the underworld. We need deep caverns, incubators, and safe places to grieve and reunite with ourselves.

Full article can be found here.

Food and Drink

Family recipes, traditional food of your heritage, beloved dead's favorite meals. Or you can get into the autumn theme and try these spiced apple cider and pumpkin bread recipes. And remember, spices have magical properties. Why not tap into the energy of these spices and add them into your recipe with intention?

Cinnamon – prosperity, protection, love, divination
Clove – protection, purification, prosperity
Anise – luck, protection, divination
Nutmeg – love, protection, divination, persuasion

Hot Apple Cider

INGREDIENTS

4 ½ cups apple cider
1 tablespoon orange juice
1 whole cinnamon stick
3 whole cloves
1 whole star anise
8 ounces bourbon, whiskey, dark rum, or brandy
4 slices navel orange, for garnish
Optional cinnamon and sugar, to rim the glass

INSTRUCTIONS

Place the apple cider, cinnamon stick, orange juice, cloves and star anise in a small pot and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and strain into a pitcher.

If you plan to rim the glass with sugar do that now. In the glass, add 2 oz bourbon and 1 cup of the cider mix. Garnish with an orange slice and stick of cinnamon and serve warm.

Source: Vindulge

Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients

1 tablespoon ground flaxseeds
2.5 tablespoons water
15 ounces (1 1/2 cups) canned pumpkin puree
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup soy milk
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour (or gluten free all purpose flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup pepitas

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease a loaf pan.
In a small bowl, combine the ground flaxseed and water. Set aside to thicken; this is your flax egg.
In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, brown sugar, canola oil, flax egg and soy milk until smooth.
Add the flour, then sprinkle the baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves on top of the flour. Stir with a large spoon or spatula, gently, until just combined. Do not over mix.
Pour into the prepared pan and sprinkle the pepitas on top. Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let it cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes, then transfer the loaf to a cooling rack. Slice carefully right away, or let cool completely for easier slicing and serving.

Source: Nora Cooks

Magical Butternut Squash Soup