The days are getting cooler, and the nights longer. The leaves on the trees are falling, covering the ground in beautiful hues of reds, oranges, yellows, and browns. Pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns are on front porches and lining walkways. It's the Season of the Witch, and Samhain is upon us.
Samhain, the third and last harvest festival on the Wheel of the Year, is on October 31st. It is the halfway point between the Autumn Equinox and the Winter Solstice.
Samhain is a magical sabbat when the veil between the physical realm and the spirit realm thins, making it easier for spirits to pass through and join us. It is a time to focus on the dark gods and goddesses, practice divination, and honour our ancestors. Samhain is also considered the witch's new year. It marks the end of the seasonal cycle on the Wheel of the Year and the death of the sun as we approach the darkest days of the year.
Many Samhain and Halloween traditions overlap, such as carving pumpkins, dressing up in costumes, and trick-or-treating.
In addition to these fun activities, other ways to celebrate Samhain include honouring the dead. We can do this by hosting a special meal known as a dumb supper, where everyone eats in silence or speaks quietly, and a place is set for those who have passed. We can also open a window or door and leave a cake or food offering out for the dead that visit, attend a cemetery and clean gravestones or leave flowers, and add pictures of relatives who have passed on your altar.
Samhain correspondence:
Colours: orange, purple, black, white, gold
Animals: bats, spiders, crows, owls, ravens, snakes, black cats
Crystals: bloodstone, onyx, peridot, quartz, black tourmaline, hematite, malachite, obsidian, ruby, amethyst
Herbs: mugwort, cinnamon, yarrow, clove, sage, nutmeg, rosemary
Flowers: chrysanthemum, marigold, belladonna, rose
Altar decorations: acorns, pumpkins, gourds, skulls, candles, cauldron, besom, crystals, offerings, pictures of ancestors, items of ancestors, crows/ravens, black lace
Themes: death, passage, remembrance, transformation, wisdom
Ways to celebrate Samhain:
Decorate your home and altar,
Carve pumpkins,
Bake with pumpkins,
Set up an ancestor altar,
Host a dumb supper,
Have a bonfire,
Watch Halloween movies,
Practice divination,
Leave an offering,
Make an incense blend,
Make herbal tea (you can also practice tasseography or tea leaf reading),
Honour or learn about the dark gods and goddesses (such as Hekate, Persephone, Hades, and Hel) and what they have to teach.
May you have a blessed and magical Samhain, witchy friends!
Jennie Smith @nature_seasons_magic
About Me:
I’m Jennie. I live in Ohio with my husband and our three kids, ages 19-22. I am a special education teacher of high school students with multiple disabilities. I am also currently working on my master’s degree. I am a pagan and green witch. I have been practising green witchcraft for many years and studying herbalism for over 20 years. My hobbies include gardening, herbalism, reading, and outdoor activities like hiking and kayaking. As a green witch, I work with nature and the earth’s energies. I love working in my garden, working with different plants, flowers, and herbs, and making teas, tinctures, lotions, and salves with them. For me, to be a green witch means living seasonally, finding magic in the mundane and recognizing the sacred in everyday life (working in my garden, talking to my houseplants while watering them, mindfully sipping my tea, etc), and living in harmony with nature.
Find me on Instagram @nature_seasons_magic.
I’d love to connect!
Blessed Be,
Jennie
©Jennie Smith
Comments