Samhain

Samhain is a celebration of our Ancestors, friends & family members who have passed over into the Other World. Samhain is the Pagan New Year, end of Summer and one of the two times a year where the veil to the Other World is at its' thinnest.

Samhain, (pronounced sowen, soween, saw-win, saw-vane or sahven, not sam-hayne) is one of the four Greater Sabbats; it is a cross quarter day between the Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice and is regarded as one of, if not the most important of all Pagan Sabbats.

Samhain is most commonly known as "Halloween" or "Hallows Eve" in modern day society, and in the Northern hemisphere it is celebrated on October 31st / November 1st.

Here in the Southern Hemisphere, we celebrate the Sabbat of Samhain on or around April 30th while our Northern friends are busy celebrating their Beltane.

It is also sometimes referred to as "The Day of the Dead" and is the night when we remember our loved ones and honour our ancestors. We also celebrate the reincarnation of the Sun (God) who leaves us now until he is reborn at the Winter Solstice.

Our Family Altar for Samhain back in 2016 which sat upon our fireplace.
Adorned with our family cauldron, photographs of loved ones including pets who have crossed over,
a chalice of red wine and an apple as our offering. We also included a crystal tree to represent our Ancestors
in our "family tree".

Our Samhain rituals include calling our Ancestors to join us, normally we also share in a feast and leave an empty place at the table for our Spirit guests. We also take time to remember our loved ones who have left us in this lifetime and we each write on parchment paper something we would like to release, which we then burn in our cauldron to release.

As I've said before, Rituals don't need to be fancy, you don't need to do them "by the book" and most of our family rituals, whilst based on tradition, also tend to go with the flow and use our Intuition allowing everyone to add their own individual aspects. Our family is our Coven, and we like to share the roles whenever we can. This allows our children to grow as well and encourages them to do so.

A Samhain Altar is typically decorated in black, oranges and Autumn colours with fallen leaves and Autumn flowers, pomegranates to represent the Underworld (the fruits of Hades which Persephone ate), nuts and grains, photos of ancestors and passed loved ones, items which represent those who are no longer with us in life and candles to represent the old and new year (black and white)

Samhain activities include dressing up in masks and costumes - particularly masquerade style and witches balls are often held at this time of year. Being in the Southern Hemisphere makes it a bit hard for trick-or-treating in April/May but if you are celebrating with your family perhaps you could hide lollies and treats around the home for the kids to find instead.

Mediumship and Divination is also a common practice during Samhain as we connect with the Spirit World and even those who don't generally do so may find themselves more open to receiving messages from the other side.


Blessings!
Lyllith Xx