Wheel of theYear 101: Samhain

Samhain is perhaps the most important sabbat in our Wheel of the Year. It marks the end of the cycle, as this is when the Celts celebrated the beginning of the year. It is said to be the time when the “veil between the worlds” is thin, allowing us contact with those who have passed on. If you graph the Wheel of the Year on a circle, you’ll see that Samhain is directly opposite Beltane. The celebration of death is opposite the celebration of sexuality. Remember at Beltane, we talked of the veil between our world and the fairy realm being thing. At Samhain, it is the opposite veil that has thinned. Modern Halloween, as well as the Latin American Day of the Dead, is also celebrated around the same time of the year. Coincidence? Samhain is also the last of the harvest festivals. This is the time when the animals would be butchered to provide meat for the dark days of winter. All the produce and grains have been brought in from the fields. Perhaps the first frosts are on the ground. Meals are hearty, warm, filling affairs using up the last of the harvests that can’t be preserved. The nights are markedly longer than the days. Winter is on the threshold. Symbolically, this is the time to reap the final harvest of the plans we first hatched back at Imbolc. It is time to take stock of what we have and what we will need to get us through the coming winter. How have your plans come to fruition? What benefits will you bring into the dark times? What do you need to throw away now, what will be useless to carry with you into the New Year? Mabon was the beginning of our season of change and it continues through on Yule. Now is also a good time to think about what you’ll want to do over the winter, since you’ll mainly be snuggled up indoors where it’s warm. Perhaps you’ll start a new hobby, or catch up on projects laid aside during summer’s more hectic times. Since Samhain is such a multi-layered holiday, rituals can have many different focuses. You could put something together to honor your ancestors, or to get in touch with a recently deceased loved one. You may want to try scrying, or other forms of divination, to see what the New Year will bring. The Samhain page at Celtic Spirit (http://www.celticspirit.org/samhain.htm) has lots of Samhain divination ideas. You can put together a final harvest festival to celebrate what you’ve achieved this year, and what you will cast off. Since Halloween is such a fun holiday (as is the Day of the Dead), you may want to bring a little mirth into your celebrations. I like to use the pumpkin carving kits you can find in the craft stores to carve witchy designs into my Jack O Lanterns. You might like to have your friends wear Halloween costumes to the sabbat celebration, if you’d rather have a lighter celebration. Speaking of Jack O Lanterns, pumpkins are my favorite Samhain food, along with hot, spiced apple cider or mulled wine. Pumpkins are so versatile. You can roast them, put them in pies, fold them into muffin batter (pureed, of course), or even make soup. Use the smaller ones as altar decorations, along with the dried colored corncobs. You can get some great pumpkin recipes at Morbid Outlook (http://www.morbidoutlook.com/lifestyle/a. and all sorts of fall treats at The Cauldron’s site (http://www.ecauldron.com/samhainfood.php. The Witches Voice has a pile of Samhain article at http://www.witchvox.com/holidays/xsamhai. including an article on the stereotypical links between Halloween, Samhain, and Satanism. The Samhain page at Wicca.com (http://www.wicca.com/celtic/akasha/samha. has a short list of correspondences for the holiday. More information on the Day of the Dead can be found at http://www.dayofthedead.com/, as well as at Mexico Connect (http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/feature/d. Hopefully these links will be enough to get you started planning your own Samhain celebration. Happy Halloween, Happy Samhain, and Happy New Year!