7 Ways to Celebrate Samhain
Samhain is one of the major festivals celebrated in the Wheel of the Year, and for many Pagans (as well as Wiccans, Witches and those of us who embrace a connection to the Earth) it’s the most important festival of the year! The harvest is complete, we are ready to truly welcome the darker half of the year, and the veils between worlds (the living and the dead) are at their thinnest so we honour our ancestors.
Here are seven of my favourite ways to embrace Samhain. How do you celebrate the season?
Dumb Supper
This tradition began in the Middle Ages, and it’s something that many people still partake in as a way to invite ancestors into their homes. Before sitting down to eat, take a moment to invite your ancestors to join you at the table. In the early days of this tradition, children would play games to entertain the dead whilst the adults caught them up on everything that had happened during the year.
Once your meal is finished, leave some cakes, biscuits or sweets on the table and a window open overnight to allow the dead to pass through and grab a little snack!
Samhain Nature Walk
Samhain is a wonderful time for reflection. Carve out a little time in your day to take a meditative walk in an area of nature near your home. Embrace the colours, the aromas, and the sounds, and experience yourself as a part of the Circle of Life. Whilst Samhain is a time to contemplate death, with death always comes rebirth as that is the Circle of Life! Rebirth is an ever-present part of nature, and an often forgotten part of Samhain (spooky stuff is just super cool), so consider this as you reflect.
Offerings at the Cemetery
Visit a cemetery where a loved one is buried and tend to the grave. Spend a little time there, thinking about your favourite memories with them and the ways that they continue to live on in you. Leave an offering of flowers, dried herbs, or water.
If the cemetery contains some particularly old graves that are no longer tended to, spend some time at these graves and leave offerings here, too. Nobody deserves to be forgotten.
Ancestral Altar
This was my first Samhain ritual when I was first dipping my toes into this wonderful world, and it’s a very simple act that anybody can do, even outside of Samhain! Gather photographs, mementoes and heirlooms of deceased family, friends and animals and arrange them in a special space: a table, dresser, shelf, or any clean surface. Add a candle for each person or creature, and as you light the candles, speak the name of the person the candle represents. Thank them for being a part of your life, and sit in the space for a while.
7-Day Candle
Mark a white candle to give you 7 equal sections. For 7 Days, place this candle in your window and light it to help guide any travelling spirits.
Divinatory Guidance
Using your preferred form of divination – tarot, runes, scrying, dowsing, etc – reflect on the past year and seek guidance for the year to come. Note down any messages that come to you, and decide what you should act upon.
Keep an eye on our Instagram – we’ll be posting a special Samhain tarot spread on the 31st!
Bonfire Magick & Release
An age-old Samhain tradition; bonfires have been used to symbolise burning away the old and welcoming the new. As people were outside, tending to their final harvest of the year, the fires in their hearths would go out, and so a new fire had to be lit.
Embrace this tradition by kindling a bonfire outdoors where possible, or in your fireplace or cauldron. Write down anything – habits, people, grudges – that no longer serves you, and cast it into your flames. Imagine releasing what’s on the paper as it burns. Move around your fire clockwise, and imagine yourself living a healthier, freer life.
