Samhain (November 1st Northern hemisphere)
Samhain is the third and final harvest festival in the Wheel of the Year. It marks one of the two great doorways of the Celtic year, for the Celts divided the year into two seasons: the light and the dark, at Beltane on May 1st and Samhain on November 1st. Some believe that Samhain was the more important festival, marking the beginning of a whole new cycle, just as the Celtic day began at night. Whereas Beltane welcomes in the summer with joyous celebrations at dawn, the most magically potent time of this festival is November Eve, the night of October 31st, known today of course, as Halloween.
Meaning/symbolism:
Summer's end, Third Harvest and the end of the harvest season, wisdom of the Crone, death of the God, reflection on our place in the Wheel of the Year,honoring the dead, New Year, reincarnation, the dark mysteries, Rebirth after Death.
Decorations:
Black altar cloth, Halloween items, jack o’ lanterns, oak leaves, other autumn leaves, acorns, straw, balefire, besom, black cat, cauldron, divination tools, grain, magic mirror, mask, bare branches, hazelwood, pictures of ancestors, autumn flowers, pomegranates, apples, pumpkins, Indian corn, sprays of grain, corn dollies, gourds, nuts, seeds.
Activities/Rituals/Magicks:
Divination, drying winter herbs, ancestor altars, inner work, clearing obstacles, transition, culmination, transformation. Releasing bad habits and toxic relationships, illness, failure and poverty; everything you do not want to carry into the new year. Honoring/consulting ancestors, power, understanding death and rebirth, entering the underworld, dance of the dead, fire calling, mirror spells, scrying, protection, astral projection, past life recall, Dark Moon Mysteries, carving jack-o-lanterns, feasting, fairs, parties, bonfires, bobbing for apples, Witches' Ball, Feast of the Dead
Colors/candles:
Black,
orange,
red,
brown,
gold
Herbs/plants/flowers/trees:
Allspice, broom, comfry, rue, thyme, catnip, burdock, wild gensing, tarragon, angelica, pennyroyal, dandelion, deadly nightshade, mugwort, dittany of Crete, ferns, flax, fumitory, mandrake, sunflower, rosemary, mullein, dragon’s blood, sage, straw, thistles, oak(leaf), wormwood, chrysanthemum, cosmos, calendula, marigold, hazel, cypress, acacia, apple, yew, hemlock
Incense/Oil:
Bay, frankincense, sandalwood, basil, cedar, yarrow, lilac, camphor, clove, mugwort, coriander, wood rose, wormwood, myrrh, patchouli, apple, heliotrope, mint, nutmeg, sage, ylang-ylang, copal, cypress, eucalyptus, heather, vetiver, mullein
Gemstones:
amber, beryl, bloodstone, clear quartz, diamond, garnet, gold, granite, hematite, jasper, marble, opal, pyrite, rose sapphire, ruby, sandstone, smoky quartz, steel, tourmaline, turquoise. Black stones, jet, obsidian, onyx, carnelian
Traditional Foods/beverages:
Apples, nuts, seeds, gingerbread, pomegranate, pumpkin pie, roasted pumpkin seeds, squash, hazelnuts, corn, cranberry muffins, bread, turnips, beef, pork, poultry, ale, apple cider, mulled cider, herbal tea, mulled wine, mead
Animals/Mythical beings:
Bats, cats, dogs, ram, heron, crow, robin, stag, jackal, scorpion, goblins, Medusa, beansidhe, harpies
Deities:
All Crone and Underworld Goddesses, All Death, Underworld, and aged Gods
Resources:
http://www.odess.biz/samhaincorr.html (copyright free)
Ann Moura- Witchcraft, an Alternative Path
Remember, when it is Samhain in the Northern hemisphere, many of our Southern hemisphere friends are experiencing Beltane.
