Samhain
Samhain is a threshold celebration that invites us to step between worlds and honour the cycles of life and death. It is a time to reflect on endings—and beginnings —and to attune ourselves to the quiet descent into a season of introspection, remembrance, and renewal.
An Ancient Calendar Mark of Death and Rebirth
Happy Samhain! Halloween, All Hallows’ Eve, and Día de los Muertos!
Across the world and in ancient traditions, this is the time of year when we remember our ancestors and passed ones, turning our attention towards those who have walked before us. Not only those we have had the chance to know — and love — but also our ancestry, our lineages, as well as our great-grand ancestor of all Life: Mother Earth.
There’s something in the air that calls us. Through the falling leaves, the moist air, the decay, the silent melancholic beauty. Around this time, the quiet autumnal contemplation is interrupted by something that lies beneath the surface of everyday life, sometimes arriving through a sudden clearing, almost like a cry from the underworld itself: Slow down, Lovechild. Come closer to what wants to present itself to you right here, right now. Listen to the whispers of the ancient ones. Let what once was bless what is today.
Whether we know the Threshold to the season of the dark nights, the ‘Winter Nights’ (vetrnætr), as they were known in the Old Norse tradition, by the name of Samhain, Halloween, All Hallows’ Eve, or Allehelgen, this is a time when it can feel as though we are being collected. Suddenly, the Sweet September song is replaced by a pull towards the earth. Towards something heavier, but also deeply grounding.
As the natural world slows and turns inward, we, too, are invited to move in harmony with the sacred rhythm of the Earth, making space for rest, remembrance, and the quiet work of renewal.
The time of remembrance doesn’t wait or knock gently. It sweeps in like an uninvited guest of darkness, asking us to find the dusty brooms in our cupboards, to make clearings in what has been and light candles for those we wish to carry with us — seen and unseen. Our ancestors make their presence known in the invisible corners of our homes, reminding us — and helping us remember — where we came from.
This is a threshold that demands our attention to denser things. The mellow Indian Summer days, which have bathed the world in a golden glow since the Autumn Equinox, are suddenly replaced by an encompassing darkness and insistent, almost abrupt, questions about who we are in relation to our foundations, and who we become when they shift.
This is the time that once again teaches us to light our own lanterns as we walk through the darkness. A place we might not enter by choice, but one that chooses us, as it calls us to reflect on our lineages and the soul seeds we want to plant for our next chapters in life, reminding us once again that, as in nature, our seeds need darkness as their first nourishment.
The Wheel of the Year is a calendar that consists of eight celebrations, which is a mix of old farmer’s almanac agricultural phases and the Germanic celebration of Solstice and Equinox.
Samhain: The Origins of Halloween
Samhain, traditionally celebrated around 31 October and 1 November, is an ancient Gaelic seasonal festival marking the transition from the harvest season into winter. The name is commonly interpreted as “summer’s end.”
As the wheel once again turns towards the darker times, Samhain has been celebrated as a calendar mark to signal the of harvest completion, and as a transition into reflection, and preparation for the colder months ahead, and the new cycle of the year.
Falling approximately midway between the Autumn Equinox and the Winter Solstice, Samhain occupies a place in the turning of the Wheel of the Year. Many historians believe it marked the beginning of the new year in the Celtic calendar — their “New Year’s Day,” marking the transition from the warmth and abundance of summer into the colder, darker months of winter.
Samhain is one of the largest and most well-documented pagan festivals of the year, dating back more than two thousand years, and is still widely used to symbolise the passage from light to dark, from outward growth to inward reflection — a liminal space between endings and beginnings.
In Celtic tradition, Samhain marked the death-night of the old year, it became associated with ghosts and graveyards. During this dark time of year, it was believed that the spirits of the dead wandered from sunset until midnight. After midnight, the ghosts were said to return to rest. (That day, 1 November, later became All Saints’ Day.) Samhain also carries happier associations, such as apple bobbing, a traditional game once used for telling fortunes for the coming year.
Today, Samhain is celebrated as Halloween, and many modern Halloween traditions have their roots in its ancient practices. The custom of dressing in costumes originates from the Celtic practice of disguising oneself to avoid wandering spirits.
Trick-or-treating echoes the old tradition of “souling,” when people would offer food or prayers to honour the dead in exchange for blessings or small treats. Lanterns are also a modern adaptation of the practice of carving turnips and placing lights inside to ward off spirits.
While today’s celebrations are often focused on fun and community, they still carry echoes of Samhain’s deeper themes of transition, remembrance, and the cyclical nature of life and death.
Our ancestors paved the way
for the New Earth;
we are the seeds
living out their prayers.
Ancestral Honouring
On the day of Samhain, the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead is believed to be at its thinnest, allowing for divination and communication not only with ancestors but also with interdimensional energies, including angels, spirit guides, and star family. This is the day to remember, honour, and connect with your ancestors, seeking their guidance and wisdom.
The potent energy of this liminal space, where the veil thins, can offer powerful glimpses of insight and help us uncover and understand the karmic and ancestral cycles and patterns we have been carrying, while also connecting us to the very roots of our strength and power.
Taking time to connect with your ancestors is one of the most potent practices to deepen your connection to your bloodline and the space and time you were born into.
The more we connect with our ancestors in service and reverence, the more support we can receive in return.
Remember, you are the living answer to your ancestors’ prayers. You are not only connected to their story but also to their support.
Consider contacting your ancestors as revisiting a long-lost friend: a joyful reunion filled with the excitement of memory, connection, co-creation, and mutual learning.
The more you connect, the stronger the bridge becomes, weaving past and future into equilibrium.
On the day, or around the days, of Samhain, Halloween, All Hallows’ Eve, try to take some time for connection.
Meditate, set up an altar, and welcome the friendly spirits — if you dare!
They may have something interesting to share with you.
As the veils thins,
may your roots deepen.
Samhain Blessings!
Sidsel Solmer Eriksen, Founding Editor
Samhain Ritual
Create an Altar
There is no wrong way to set up an altar; everything is divinely guided. The more intention and meaning you place behind each item, how they are arranged, and the energy that weaves around them, the more they contribute to the co-creative power of ceremony and ritual.
When setting up the space, you can use the compass app on your phone to align your altar with the directions of the Wheel of the Year. Situate the top of your altar towards the North, which represents Earth and ancestors.
Once the space is prepared, transition into meditation or a sitting practice. Breathe deeply for at least 5 to 10 minutes to drop into the energy of the space. Feel the frequency and potency of your creation. As you open up the space and the portal for communication, you may speak an invocation. Be specific about the energies and beings you are calling in to communicate with.
Place your altar in a private space that you can visit each day for at least 3 to 5 days. The magic you co-create upon the altar will continue to weave with you during meditation, divination, and in the spaces between. Some of the most potent messages arise when the altar stands in stillness; it will speak to you in its own way. A fly might rest beside your quartz, symbolising high frequency energy. Petals from your flowers may fall into sacred patterns. Many magical things begin to unfold once you create the space.
Like with all things spiritual, tune into your guides and intuition. Allow Spirit to lead the way.
Take stock - and notes
The threshold to the darkest months of the year is a natural invitation to examine our inner store for the winter:
where do we have abundance, and what do we store?
What should we let die so it does not weigh us down in the next season?
How can we lean into the support of our lineage and learn from those who came before us?
Is there wisdom from the experiences of your ancestors that you can carry with you?
Samhain is the perfect time for stock-taking—and for taking notes.
No matter how you choose to mark Samhain—or Halloween—it is important to give yourself time for contemplation and reflection.
Use the evening, or the day around it, to consider what you want to carry with you into the dark winter.
What do you want to leave behind, and which qualities and resources do you wish to value and nurture?
Samhain can be a deep and meaningful time to focus on our inner lives and our connection to those who have shaped our paths.
Feel free to leave a comment below or share the article with a friend who might need a little Samhain magic too.