13 quick thoughts on Samhain/Halloween Season.
There is no right or wrong way to celebrate Samhain. I had a friend tell me last night that she was a “bad witch” because her Samhain-season was more an extended celebration of the mundane Halloween. But my friend is not a bad witch because of her choices, because there’s no one way to celebrate this time of year. If you prefer more conventional Halloween trappings to crossing the veil during a Samhain ritual, more power to you! We all celebrate in our own way. Do what makes you happy.
It felt like Samhain where I live yesterday. October is one of the warmest months of the year in California, and just two weeks ago the mercury climbed above 90 degrees again. But yesterday it didn’t get above 70 and by 4:00 PM it felt like the sun was starting to set and that evening was upon us. I was even cold the night before, and it just felt like the energy around me had shifted suddenly. I also couldn’t help but feel that the veil between the worlds was rapidly shinning. In other words, it felt like Samhain.
I don’t like leaving my house during Samhain weekends. There is a big Pagan gathering happening over the weekend only four hours away from me. It’s a great event and I’ve had a lot of fun there in the past, but I just don’t like leaving my house around Samhain. I hope my friends going to Hexenfest this weekend have a wonderful time, but this time of year I want to be home drinking warm cider (and cold cider), watching football, and cuddled up next to my wife.
My favorite Samhain rituals involve the dead. While there is no right or wrong way to celebrate Samhain, my favorite Samhain rites revolve around reunion with our beloved dead. There are most often expectations at public Samhain rituals, and those expectations are most often centered on people wanting a ritual that somehow involves those they have lost. When something else is presented to them, I tend to see people scratching their heads in a figurative sense.
Samhain has its own menu. I’m not sure exactly how to word this one, but I tend to associate certain foods with Samhain, and it just wouldn’t be Samhain without those foods. Some of those choices are obvious, pomegranates and apples often feature in Samhain rituals, and apples have been used in Halloween-time divination for several centuries now. But I also find myself craving chili, mashed potatoes, smokey Scotch, and bold red wines this time of year. I also love “pumpkin” everything, and will eat and drink pumpkin spice stuff from now through Yule.
My garden is dead, long live my garden. I like seeing my garden die. My giant sunflowers are all gone, and my zucchini plant gave up the ghost a long time ago. There are new artichoke plants growing in one of my garden plots, but that is to be expected this time of year. I like watching what is growing, and not growing, change in front of my eyes every year. No garden? The local farmer’s market will do the same thing, and I’m lucky enough to get to do both every year, enjoy my garden and see my local market.
Folk music is the playlist. Listen to whatever you want during this time of year of course, and there is something to be said for artists like Rob Zombie and Wednesday 13 near Halloween, but my Autumn playlist leans heavily on folk music. Samhain is the pause before the storm of Yuletide with its bright lights and loud sounds. My ears demand some reflective Dar Williams in late October.
The cold feels good. My wife wrapped herself in a blanket last night while we were watching The Fall of the House of Usher on Netflix. Right now there’s a breeze coming through my office door and I feel a bit chilly. The coolness of Autumn makes me feel alive and I love it.
Samhain is a season. Don’t poop on my Samhain celebration by telling me that Samhain is really November 7. The veil is thin for a long time, not just on one particular night, the time to celebrate Samhain is when you can celebrate. My coven will be celebrating on November 3, in my area there are Samhain rituals starting this weekend and lasting through the November, and I’m sure there will also be people doing private things even later in the month. It “feels like Samhain” over the course of several weeks every year, not just on one night.
Cernunnos and Persephone rule the roost at my house. Worship whatever deities you want at Samhain, but at our house this time of year belongs to Persephone and Cernunnos. We honor Persephone as the Goddess of Death and Cernunnos as the Dread Lord of Shadows. Both deities lower the veil this time of year and allow us a few moments of reunion with those we have lost. Demeter still sits on our fireplace mantle author, but it is her daughter that we call upon in ritual at Samhain.
Samhain/Halloween Season is magickal. There are very few times each year that the over-culture embraces magick and the unexplained, Halloween is one of those times. On Halloween people believe that all sorts of things are possible, and on a mundane level, Halloween is one of the few times of year people truly seasonally decorate. I love seeing other houses in my neighborhood celebrate the season with ghost, ghouls, and orange/purple lights in their windows. Those people might be celebrating something different than what I’m celebrating, but I think the shared celebrations add to the magick and power of the season.
Samhain is not Halloween. Halloween is a secular celebration of candy, costumes, Autumn, jack-o-lanterns, and tricks. The modern celebration of Halloween arose from a variety of sources and is not a religious holiday. Samhain is an ancient Irish-Celtic holiday and a modern holiday celebrated by Witches, Pagans, Druids, and more. The Samhain of the Celts doesn’t bear much resemblance to today’s Samhain either. Halloween does not diminish Samhain. Just be glad that lots of people are celebrating a holiday with ancient pagan roots and a holiday that seems to love Witches!
Samhain is a reminder to say “I love you” to the important people in your life. Death is inevitable, and while Samhain might allow us a few brief moments of reunion, it is a reminder that in the grand scheme of things life is short, and often ends unexpectedly. Hug and kiss those you love, and remember to say “I love you” now and again, you never know when those opportunities will end.
Happy Samhain season!
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