Samhain - October 31

Festival to Honor the Dead

Culture and Traditions

  The holy day of Samhain (October 31st or November 1st) is a time to honor the memory of those who have passed on beyond the veil and into the spirit world.  Many cultures have celebrations and seasonal rituals to pay respect to spirit.  Ancestor worshippers in China go to crypts and bring forth the bones of their departed relatives for a day's worth of attention: the bones and their crypts are cleaned, the remains are celebrated for the day, and then returned to their resting place until next year.  Mexico celebrates Dio de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead.  Families gather to picnic in graveyards, tend the grass and decorations around the graves, share in festive flowers, and specially prepared foods such as hard sugar candy shaped like tiny skulls, coffins, etc.

  The ancient Celts believed that the new year began on Samhain night.  Modern-day Pagans still celebrate this ancient holiday when the veil between the material world and the spirit world is felt to be the thinnest and contact with the "other side" is easiest.  It is a traditional night for divination of the coming year.  Another tradition is the "Dumb Supper," where a special meal is prepared for the celebrants.  A plate is set for the Dead, for all the benevolent spirits that would share in the light and warmth of human company again.  The meal is eaten in total silence in honor of the silent ones who walk on this night of the Dead.

Customs abound on Halloween that tie directly into the ancient Sabbat of Samhain.  Wearing costumes was a way of disguising yourself from marauding spirits who might carry ill will toward the living.  It was also an act of ritual theatre, impersonating those same walking spirits, going from door to door collecting "soul cakes:" sweet bread or cookies given to Spirit in appeasement.  This giving of food to the spirits begot the tradition of trick or treating: if the spirits were treated, they went merrily on their way.  But if the household was less than generous, tricks and vandalism might befall the household.

Ritual Ideas

Remembering the Departed - It is an old saying that as long as your name is spoken, you will never be forgotten.  In keeping with that concept, go to an old, remote, or forgotten graveyard on Samhain afternoon and walk quietly and respectfully through the stones.  Read aloud the names carved on the stones.  You may be the only person who will remember those people on the Day of the Dead.  Use this time as meditation on the richness of history, the value of teachings that are handed-down, and of the amazing gift of life, death, and rebirth.

Letters to the Dead - Prepare ahead of time letters handwritten to anyone who has passed that you would send a message .  Do not attempt to call the spirit of that person to you, simply write down in a letter what you want that person or animal to know.  Pour out love, grief, anger, whatever emotions you are carrying around concerning that individual.  Write to people you may not have known but who had an impact on you.  Seal the letters up in individual envelopes and write the recipientt's name on the front.  One by one, burn those letters in a bonfire (ritual or otherwise) and let the flames carry your messages to the other side.  This is a tremendous emotional outpouring.  Use instrumental music as a support for this - it gives even greater depth.  Allow a few moments of silent meditation as the letters burn to ash and everyone partcipating absorbs or resolves the emotion they experience.

Scrying the Future - Gather friends and family together and scry (divine) the future.  Use Tarot cards, runes, crystals, message boards (like Ouija), guided meditations, or any other divination forms that are handy.  Make notes from year to year and go back to verify the past year's activities to see how accurate the different systems were.

Make "New Year's Resolutions" - Look at what you want to be rid of from the dregs of the old year, and what you would like to add to your life in the near future.  Make these things into two lists.  Burn or ritually throw away those things to be rid of, and save the list of things to be added.  Meditate upon it from time to time.  Make those new beginnings happen.

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