Samhain is a time to journey to the dark side. I don’t mean into “black magic” or the so-called “dark arts,” but a journey to the shadow side of self—that place of repressed emotions, suppressed expression, blocked memories, and forgotten purpose. We journey to the shadowlands to commune with the ghosts of our past, visit what has died in us, express our longing and loss, and through that expression find healing and a way back to love. We know that it is only through love that we can move forward in the circle dance.
Tradition
Also known as Festival of the Dead, Ancestors Night, Hallowmas, All Hallow’s Eve, Feast of the Dead, Remembrance of the Dead, Hallowe’en, and the Third Festival of the Harvest, Samhaim is celebrated by Pagans worldwide. It is renowned as a time when the veils between the worlds are thought to be thinned: people could more easily commune and communicate with their departed ancestors, and souls could cross back to earth, seeking the warmth of hearth and home fires, or warm-blooded humans.
Old and sacred, Samhain is celebrated as the most important of the eight sabbats; not just the end of summer and the beginning of winter, Samhain was the Celt’s New Year’s Eve. Traditionally, Samhain stretched from sunset on October 31 to midnight on November 1, but somewhere along the line, the two got separated into Hallowe’en and All Saints/All Souls Day, respectively.
But let’s reunite them and consider the whole of Samhain, a time of grieving, mourning, and loss; of the practice of slaughter and sacrifice; of taking stock of harvest’s abundance; of celebratiing abundance; and looking forward with clarity.
At the end of the old year, we take time for a quiet, dark pause. While November 1 was technically the New Year, the solar new year didn’t arrive until the Sun was reborn at Yule. The time between Samhain and Yule really is “a time out of time,” malleable and ethereal, as if we live between the worlds—we are able to look within, look back, and then look forward.
Life Cycle
Samhain is a time of endings and beginnings: of inventorying riches, celebrating abundance, and planning for depleted stores—when time seems to warp and slow down, yet rush with a sense of urgency too. Indeed, it feels like we are between the worlds.
Historically, Samhain was the traditional “summer’s end.” Livestock came home from summer pasture, back to the village green or homestead barn where winter shelter was easier. In this time of blood, death, and endings, meat animals were slaughtered and hung, and sick or injured animals were culled so that scarce resources could be devoted to the winter-long care of healthy breed stock. Root cellars were stocked with root crops, apples, nuts, and seeds. Dried grains were ground and prepared for feeding both people and animals.
In tune with Gaia’s cycles, villagers knew their survival depended on storing, taking inventory, and preparing. After taking stock of their resources, traditional villagers planned celebrations of the third harvest, enjoying a feast on November 1. Knowing what stores they had laid in for the winter ahead, villagers knew what could be spared to celebrate fruition, maturity, abundance, and immortality.
Intertwining the energies of death and abundance, Samhain provided a focus on resurrection and the third phase of the Triple Goddess, the Crone. Honoring age, death, and the dearly departed, villagers honored the past and cleared the way forward. In Mexico, on Dia de los Muertos, families gather at ancestral graves to clean them, say prayers, and make offerings of sugar skulls. In Ireland and England, Cailleach’s Reign is celebrated on All Saint’s Day in honor of the Celtic Crone Goddess.
The God and Goddess
With the final harvest of the year, the God has died and descended to the underworld, where he rests and awaits his reincarnation/rebirth. The Goddess is alone and grieving, mourning the loss of her lifelong companion. Shrouded in grief, she turns inward and leaves the world in increasing darkness.
Celebrated as Morrigan, the Irish Goddess of death, she is also known as Hecate, Oya, Cerridwen, Eurydice, Hel, Inanna, Kali, Nephthys, Samia, Sedna, Tara, and Vanadis.
Now in her third phase as Crone, the Goddess is a wise woman, insightful as she looks back over her fruitful life. Filled with wisdom and intuition, she is adept at divination. Casting runes, reading cards, or guided by her pendulum, the Crone draws from her long experience, and divines. In the present, she looks to the past to help interpret and foretell the future.
Symbols, Rituals, and Rites
Think of the modern vision of Hallowe’en—a witch/crone stirring a cauldron set over a fire while a black cat and raven look on. She is surrounded by pumpkins carved into jack-o’-lanterns, fallen leaves, and even costumed/masked children scurrying nearby, begging for treats. You’ll realize you already know the symbols traditional to Samhain.
The practice of lighting large fires to draw the spirits was practiced by the Celts who stoked the fires in memory of their ancestors, who were believed to gather to warm themselves.
Ravens and crows are symbols of Samhain because they feed on carrion flesh and feast on the bodies of the dead. The cauldron representing the Goddess’s womb was also used to catch the blood dripping from the freshly slaughtered animals. The pumpkin, symbolic of fall harvest, was traditionally used to shelter candles, creating a lantern to see in the dwindling light. The pomegranate is associated with Samhain because of the six pomegranate seeds ingested by Persephone, which necessitated her six-month residence in Hades.
Food and drink were laid out as an offering, left by the fires to honor the dead and appease the spirits. Inside the houses, it was customary to leave a small feast on the table for the nourishment of the dead or lay a plate of food outside the door. When sitting to eat, many families prepared an extra plate and laid it at an empty spot, so their ancestors knew they were always welcome. The practice of going door to door begging for “soul cakes” may have been the precursor of trick-or-treating, as poor people begged for food in exchange for saying prayers for a family’s departed ancestors.
The colors associated with Samhain come from nature: the resonant ochre, brown, and scarlet of trees and vegetation turning color as their life force dwindles; the vibrant gold, red, dark green, and orange of harvested grains, squash, pumpkin, apples, and pomegranate; the deep, rich blood of slaughtered animals; the blazing orange and gold of the fire that warms and protects; and the black of the creeping long nights.
Quiet contemplation and personal inventorying were traditional practices undertaken at Samhain. The “dark pause” was used to inventory not only food and fuel needed to get their household through winter, but to look at personal accomplishments in the spiritual and emotional realms. People took stock of the unseen sources of nourishment and fuel for the spirit and emotions, and set goals for the year ahead. While they asked “Where was there growth? What was learned? What provided comfort? What is needed to move ahead?” the work of the next cycle was usually put off until after the solstice, reinforcing the feeling of a “dark pause.”
Tools used for the planning process were those that were common to the Crone Goddess—scrying with water or mirrors, casting runes, reading cards, throwing bones or stones, throwing an apple peel over the shoulder and observing the shape it fell into, observing the shapes formed as blood first splattered into the bucket below a slaughtered animal, and placing hazelnuts by the fire and asking a yes/no question. If it pops, the answer is yes; if it doesn’t, the answer is no. Images and metaphors gained from divination were used to interpret the past and envision the future.
With a sense of what one’s next spiritual undertakings were, it was customary to stand before a mirror, look deep within and beyond “self,” and make a secret wish or vow for the future based on the wisdom that arose from an assessment of the past year.
The Inner Journey
Embodying both the God and Goddess at Samhain, our inner journey is one of metaphorically both dying and grieving our lost love. We both rest and await reincarnation, while simultaneously weeping, mourning, and turning within. Focused on the dark terrain of the inner world, the shadowland, the world around us is left in darkness.
We must weep and grieve, releasing the heavy emotions, so we can resurrect ourselves ready to love and live again. From experience we know that the God will be reincarnated or resurrected, and the Goddess will once again be young, fertile, and productive. But this will happen only if we do the work needed now to move us through these dark times.
Preparing for the future, we examine the past and use our focused intent in the present to ensure our survival. Carefully looking forward we ask: What do I need to sustain me? What parts of me are healthy and strong? What parts of me are old and dying, and need to be released?
At Samhain, we ebb into darkness and turn within to set sights on the big picture, the work of the soul. We contemplate the end of the season; the finality of flesh; the symbolic death of spirit. Note what aspects of self are ready to be shed, to whither and die. Observe the process of emotional healing: What wounds have repaired? What bones knit? Where has our heart healed? And ask of each wound: “Could this kill me?” Now steel yourself, ready to sacrifice your frail, wounded, and sick parts so that the healthy may survive, for the greater good. So mote it be.
Only by letting go can we continue forward without falling, failing, or dying. Our careful preparation means we can survive the coming darkness and cold, readying the soul for its next spiritual lesson. We keep our sights on the big picture while attending to the daily tasks.
Many of us have repressed and suppressed emotions and memories because they felt too overwhelming at the moment. Because our society discourages tears, fear, and emotionality, many of us stuff them away. But at Samhain, you are invited to curl into the arms of the Crone, the wise mother, be enveloped in her safety and explore your dark side. Revisit the vampire feelings that suck the life out of you and the ghoulish memories that haunt your dreams. Commune with your wailing childhood soul, and allow all your ghosts to be heard.
Great mother Gaia is ever loving and protective. And tonight, realign with her ever-flowing cycle of seasons (birth, life, death, and rebirth) to find your way forward. Look to her larger metaphors of seasonal transitions to make sense of your own journey. In her arms, we find nurturing and wisdom.
With the safety of a cast circle, the support of loving community, and the sanctity of the sabbat, I invite you to journey into your darkness, release your stuck pains, let the tears, anger, and grief flow, and know that Gaia supports you. Gnash your teeth, wail and grieve, and let the song of the soul soak into the soil.
Because, here in Gaia’s arms, we safely look inside and look back, in order to look forward.