Samhain

(pronounced  SOW-en)   Oct. 31

      Samhain, also known as Halloween, All Hallows Eve,  Hallowmas, All Saints Eve, Festival of The Dead, and the 3rd Festival of Harvest, means "Summers End" which obviously fits. It is the Celitc/Wiccan new year and a time to remember ancestors and loved ones who have past into the Summerland. Contrary to popular belief, witches do not fly around on broomsticks and sacrifice people at this time. Wiccans celebrate by having a ritual that usually involves honoring ancestors and loved ones deceased, eating cakes for the dead (one for each person being remembered), the many methods of divination,  and invoking spirits.

Incense: apple, heliotrope, mint, nutmeg, sage, myrrh, patchouli

Stones/Gems: all black gemstones, especially jet, obsidian & onyx.

Dieties: The Goddess in her dark aspect the Crone, Hecate (ancient Greek Goddess of
fertility and moon-magick, and the protectress of all witches), Morrigan (Celtic goddess who presides over death), Cernunnos (Celtic fertility God), and Osiris (ancient Egyptian deity whose annual death and rebirth personified the self-renewing vitality and fertilty of Nature)

Candles: black and orange

Herbs: acorns, apples, broom, deadly nightshade, dittany, ferns, flax, fumitory, heather, mandrake, mullien, oak leaves, pumpkins, sage, straw

Foods: apples, pumpkin pie, hazelnuts, Cakes for the Dead, corn, cranberry muffins and breads, ale, cider, and herbal teas (especially mugwort)

Decorations: jack-o-lanterns (originally kept on Samhain night outside the front door of  the home to keep/scare evil spirits away), Indian corn, autumn flowers, branches

Colors: balck, orange, vibrant red-orange (for protection)


                            Rituals
Since there are so many different rituals for Samhain, I have given several for you to choose from and then customize it for your own.

Samhain Sabbat (Wicca Craft- Gerina Dunwich)
Samhain sabbat (Green Witchcraft- Ann Moura)
Samhain Divination (Everyday Wicca0 Gerina Dunwich)
Samhain (Wicca; the Guide for the Solitary Practitioner- Scott Cunningham)