samhain & Spooky Szn
The original Halloween
What is Samhain?
The Root Harvest
Samhain is an old Gaelic word meaning “end of summer,” and it arrives at the midpoint between the Autumn Equinox and the Winter Solstice. As usual, our information about the ancient celebrations of Samhain comes mostly from early earth-based European cultures, though other similar holidays have existed around the world since antiquity. For most of these agrarian societies in the Northern Hemisphere, the end of October marks the final harvest of the season- the “root” harvest.
Crops like potatoes, turnips, carrots, and any other cold-tolerant squashes still lingering need to come inside, and be prepped & stored to last all year. Animals were hunted or driven home from their free range roaming under October’s Full Hunter’s Moon, which also had to be pickled & preserved as meat to be eaten sparingly until spring. All of this was cause for one last feast of the year with the community, who you may not have the leisure of seeing & breaking bread with for many months!
A fire festival
The term bonfire comes from “bone fire,” as animal bones would be burned following the large amount of butchering done at this time. A community bonfire was often held in conjunction with the feasting & harvesting, which is how this end of summer celebration came to be known as a fire festival. Fire is sacred, and these bonfires included diverse rituals to give thanks for summer’s abundance at one last harvest, as well as ask for blessings & protection through the winter months.
Symbolically, the destructive nature of the fire element corresponds with the death & transformation that Samhain and the dark half of the year bring. Fire is used in protection and banishing magick cross culturally, especially common in the winter when people are more likely to get sick or injured. Some traditions would keep a fire lit constantly in the home around Samhain— even if it wasn’t necessarily required by the cold yet— as it was thought to ward off any negative energies. On the day of the community celebration, the fires in the homes were put out on the way to the bonfire. Later, families would relight their home’s fire using the flame of the bonfire, as this was thought to seal in the protection and good fortune.
The Witches New Year
For those who view the calendar from a more earth-based cyclical perspective, the end of summer very much feels like the end of this year and the start of a new turn of the wheel. The start of a new cycle aligns with a fresh slate in the dark half of the year, the winter months. The approaching cold means that crops & other plants have reached the end of their life cycle; they’ve long since flowered & fruited and are now going to seed, to return to earth & begin new in the spring. Its also the end of the life cycle for the many animals that were traditionally killed at this time, returning to the earth as food or other nourishment. Even wild animals stop having their babies for the pregnant pause of winter, which sees no new life.
Naturally, this dark half of the year has brought hardships for our ancestors. To this day, people die of starvation and cold all over the world during the winter months. Celebrating Samhain is a way of acknowledging the hard times to come, and facing the darkness before it creeps up on you. Instead of ignoring the changing weather and wishing for endless summer’s abundance, Samhain celebrations helps us accept that darkness must return before there can be more light. Everything in nature & the universe exists in eternal cycles. The land, the animals, the humans- all must rest through the winter in order to be renewed in the spring.
A transitionary period
Continuing the themes of death, the “veil” between this realm & others is considered to be most thin at this time of year. This may make it easier to connect with those who have crossed over- be it family members, faeries, or any other spirit. Many cultures use the dark half of the year to start connecting to their ancestors who are no longer living, both recent and in the distant past. Ancestors may be honored & commemorated with songs, offerings, and other remembrances like decorating the altar or gravestone. Offerings are probably the most widely spread practice of ancestor veneration- usually bread, cakes, or wine- and were left outside or on the altar to ensure that spirits passing by your house are appeased and will bring you no ill will.
Historically the cold & dark has always created an apprehensive energy as we approach the unknown, causing people to look to spiritual and religious leaders for guidance. It was common for witches, wisemen & visionaries to have prophesied about the harshness of the approaching Winter and how long it would be until we saw Spring again. These predictions were often shared for the community to hear at the Samhain bonfire.
So How did it become Halloween?
As Europe was taken over by the Roman Empire, they brought with them their own Autumn festivities. As usual, this is why we see a blend of ancient Greek, Roman, Celtic and other pagan traditions merging into similar celebrations. Unfortunately, when the Roman Empire officially adopted Christianity, they outlawed pagan practices and many lives have been lost — over hundreds of years, and to this day. One way to get people to willing convert religions is with covert assimilation of the old traditions and beliefs. The following familiar Samhain customs were merged into All Saint’s Day on 11/1 & All Soul’s Day on 11/2 by the Church during a time where there was a mass evangelical mission throughout Europe. The name Halloween comes from All Hallow’s Eve. “Hallow” is Middle English for “holy,” so this was a way to say "the day before the holy day," 10/31.
Trick or Treat
Trick-or-treating has origins in mumming & guising, short for dis-guising. People would dress up in scary costumes & masks, as a way to impersonate the spirits or faeries who are likely to be afoot while the veil is so thin. Some would use their costumes to perform small skits or plays, as to distract the spirts & draw attention, so everyone else may stay safe from their ill will. Those who chose to dress in costume were usually the spiritually or religiously connected members of the community: those who were comfortable walking the thin line between worlds.
These groups would sometimes parade door to door, and be offered a treat as a thanks for their performance. The treat was usually a small cake or change, and if it wasn’t given, they may be enticed to join in some sort of competition, or have a trick played on them. Tricks were typically good-natured pranks, often meant to mimic the common tricks faeries were well known for like braiding horses tails, taking apart a fence, or milking the cows dry. This tradition may have evolved into Mischief Night on the night before Halloween!
A similar activity called souling became popular as Christianity spread, where people would go door to door and offer to pray for one’s deceased loved ones, in exchange for a small treat called a soul cake. This was primarily done by children and later the poor, as it was a way to anonymously ask for food or money donations from the community. This also overlaps with the origins of Christmas caroling!
Jack-o-Lanterns
Jack-O-Lanterns originate in Irish mythology, relating back to Samhain’s themes of death & transitioning to the other realm. The tradition mostly begins with the a folktale about a man, Stingy Jack, who perpetually wanders the earth with a single coal-lit turnip to lead the way after making a bad deal with the devil. But even thousands of years before that, the Celts would carve faces in vegetables from the recent harvest- mainly turnips- with scary faces to ward off any wondering entities when the veil is thin around Samhain. As these traditions spread, pumpkin cultivation also spread, and they became the preferred carving fruit as they’re much softer to carve than turnips!
Modern Ways to celebrate:
Have a bonfire! As always, a feast and a fire to gather around with friends & family is an appropriate and historically accurate way to celebrate- but especially for the fire festival of Samhain.
Carving pumpkins, dressing up in a witchy or scary costume, and going trick-or-treating could all be Samhain celebrations if you hold the intention for it!
Spend time outside and notice the way nature emphasizes Samhain’s themes of death and renewal. What plants have died as we reached the end of summer? How has the landscape changed in response? Can you picture what it will look like a month from now?
Connect to your ancestors. Honoring their life could be as simple as asking your parents or grandparents about their parents & grandparents & sharing stories and memories! Or it could be as elaborate as setting up an ancestor altar or having a dumb supper.
Connect to the fae. Beltane and Samhain (across from each other on the Wheel of the Year) are the two times of year when fairy lore is most ample, as they are considered spirits of the liminal space similarly to spirits, ancestors, etc. A lot of the mythology describes fairies as physically traveling at this time of year, causing people to leave offerings or protections around their home for any that may pass by. If you work with the fae, now is a good time to connect.
Divination is a major aspect of Samhain because the veil is so thin. This could be part of connecting to your ancestors, maybe doing a tarot or rune reading to receive a message from them. Or you could simply seek a guiding message about the year ahead. While I dont believe in prophesizing the future like the wisemen did back in the day, I do think this is the time of year to be setting serious goals for the next turn of the Wheel, and tapping into your subconscious/the collective consciousness/your angels for clarity never hurts.
Banishing and protection magick continue to be the main types of spells popular at this time of year. If you started any spells at Mabon, now is the perfect time to see them to completion!
Journal Prompts:
I am letting go of __ to make room for ___ in the new year
I can accept more divine guidance into my life by…
what are some stories of my ancestors that I carry inside me?
I am grateful my ancestors have healed ___ so I can (do/be/heal/etc) ___
what are some non-linear ancestors or archetypes that I relate to?
what are some stories or knowledge from my past-lives that I carry with me?
HOW I’M CELEBRATING (2024):
Samhain bonfire
This year has been super dry with fire restrictions that are supposed to lift in time for Samhain, so I hope to be able to celebrate with a proper sunset bonfire.
Fall Faery House
Another year of making a pumpkin fairy house instead of a normal jack-o-lantern! I’ll also be decorating a bunch of other pumpkins with flowers and other dried plant material and found items to put around my mantle and doorstep!
Fall Foraging
These last few weeks of warmth are some of my favorite of the whole year to forage! Bittersweet, viburnum, elderberry, and woodland ferns that have begun to shift into shades of yellow are all in their peak around this time and I always make a point to refill my rations for the year.
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HOW I’M CELEBRATING (2023):
celebrating with community
This year I will be at festival on sabbath day, dancing around in a sacred forest with like minded souls. I already know the atmosphere is going to be dripping with authentically spooky energy, associated with this location year round. I can’t wait to finally feel the magick for myself!
Fall Faery House
This will be the second year I make faery house out of a pumpkin! Following similar methods as traditional jack-o-lantern carving, but including all the fixings of a faery dwelling like moss, leaves, crystals, and a faery plate offering inside.
Reading, writing, & remembering
This time of year through Yule, I feel called to refresh my spiritual studies through rereading my favorite books and remaining curious about the origins of the season’s celebrations. It’s also a time of remembering through journaling, mediation, and more to honor ancestors, those who have crossed over to the other side of the veil, & those who walked this path before me.
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HOW I’M CELEBRATING (2022):
Leaving Offerings
This sabbat I focus specifically on leaving offerings for the fae and nature & animal spirits. I leave out a small share of the final harvest on faery plates, like the tiniest of carrots, to show respect for the beings & energy that I cannot perceive but that I know have helped my garden be healthy. I also am carving Jack-O-Lanterns and making another pumpkin faery house, as I did last year!
Fall Cleansing & REflecting
I’m moving out of the home I’ve lived in for the last 2 years, and letting go a lot of clutter as I pack up, with the intention of not taking anything I don’t need with me into a new chapter. Autumn is all about letting go of the past & anything that’s weighing us down as we move into the dark half of the year— sometimes a physical representation can be a reminder of the energetic. This is also the time of year that I start looking back on the goals I had set out to accomplish this summer & this turn of the wheel overall. I don’t really do New Year’s resolutions, but I do take the time from Fall to Winter (or Samhain to Yule) to reflect on the wins & losses the past year has brought, and then use this evaluation to revise & build on my goals for the new year blooming the Spring.
Guising Up
I’m so happy to have a bunch of spooky season performance gigs year! For the past several years I’ve dressed up as a witch, if anything, because it just doesn’t align with my spirit to create a new funny or witty costume annually- it’s too secular/commercial of a thing to do on such a sacred holiday for me lol. But paying homage by dressing as a witch a few times this month is always fun! And now I get to experiment with a few more traditionally scary costumes as I work at a haunted theater, doing what I love more than anything in the world! Performing in a creepy costume feels very in alignment with the ancient mummers’ intention to entertain as well as walk the line between worlds as a sort of service to the community.
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HOW I’M CELEBRATING (2021):
Ancestor altar
As usual I’ve rearranged my altar at the beginning of the month to reflect the themes of the sabbat and remind me each morning practice, as well as throughout the day whenever I walk by. For Samhain I love to use oranges, blacks & reds in candles, flowers & crystals. I also place some other natural decor that symbolizes death like skulls, bones, and the preserved butterflies & wings I’ve collected over the years. Very specific to Samhain is the ancestor aspect of the altar & for this I like to include items that remind me of my close family who have passed: the little memorial cards from the funeral services with their photos, some jewelry of my Grandmom’s that I know was gifted to her by my great-great-grandmom, a little cow trinket that my great-grandparents gifted to my dad when he was little, the jade egg from my Aunt. In addition to the tiny bottle of milk & honey that I leave out weekly as an offering for the faeries, I also usually leave a little alcohol out during Samhain months as an offering to my ancestors.
Samhain Spread
I typically pull at least one card for the morning of a sabbat, and have several others that correspond to the season’s themes on my altar throughout the month approaching it. That way every time I pass by, I’m immediately reminded of the sabbat and the themes I want to focus on. For Samhain, since it’s traditional to practice divination for the approaching year, I like to do a more elaborate spread using alllll my decks. It helps me feel connected to different energies of ancestors and angels to use my different decks. After, I’ll probably journal about the reading to put in my Book of Shadows and reflect back on later in the year and next Samhain.
Celebrating in San Francisco
Not a fire festival but a music festival!!! This year on Samhain I will actually be performing at Outside Lands Music Festival and I’m beyond excited. I almost never get to spend sabbats with people actually celebrating it. Even though this is barely be a Halloween festival, its still a bunch of people gathering to celebrate joy and music and life and I literally cannot wait to be around that energy and soak it in on the sabbat!!!
