Honor the ancestors
6 rituals for your Samhain celebration on October 31st
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The focus of the pagan Samhain festival on October 31st is reflecting on one’s own origins, but also finding peace and gaining fresh strength. Samhain initiates a transitional period in which we reflect and regenerate.
Scary films, scary costumes, food that looks like someone has prepared a human slaughter plate, children who go from door to door and whose parents do everything in their power to avoid the impending sugar shock. Halloween is also here in the country – next to it Oktoberfest and St. Martin’s parades – a highlight in autumn.
The night from October 31st to November 1st has a much deeper meaning than the commercial festival we know, which today primarily revolves around parties and sweets. This is how the Celts celebrated their New Year festival these days, the so-called Samhain Firmly. This festival marks that End of the harvest season and the beginning of winter, when everything living retreats into the earth to gather strength for a new cycle. At the same time it is the time of the dead and the ancestors. Because it is at Samhain Barrier to the other world is particularly permeable, so we can contact our ancestors, it is believed. But it is also a time for reflection, shadow work, gratitude and remembrance.
Why we celebrate Samhain instead of Halloween
As the light recedes more and more every day and the days become shorter, many people do the same. We become calmer, isolate ourselves within our four walls and we feel that something changes within us every autumn. We focus our attention more on our inner self, seek peace and focus our energies more on ourselves rather than on the outside. Often issues come to the surface that we have been pushing away for a long time and that we are now confronted with. The end of the year is often about letting go of old things that burden us and healing old wounds. The Samhain Festival therefore holds enormous potential for us as we honor the old and let go in order to move forward strengthened with fresh, pure strength. It is a time of introspection and withdrawal, of dealing with death and one’s own mortality, but also of drawing new strength in order to then bloom again in spring.
Samhain = All Saints Day and All Souls Day?
Samhain takes place on the night of October 31st. as of November 1st celebrated. All Saints Day falls on November 1st, All Souls Day falls on November 2nd. and, the big difference, the latter are Christian festivals. While Samhain honors our ancestors, All Saints’ Day commemorates the departed saints and All Souls’ Day of the departed faithful – so these are purely church holidays.
Samhain is the Celtic New Year and therefore the first festival of the Celtic calendar. The four main festivals, Imbolc (February 1st), Beltane (May 1st), Lughnasadh (August 1st) and Samhain, each represent the changing of the seasons. For the Celts, Samhain also marked the border with winter and the dark season.
On the night of October 31st. as of November 1st It is believed that the veil to the world of the dead or other world is particularly permeable, so that we can more easily connect with our ancestors. The word “Samhain” means union and, above all, holds the opportunity to accept, forgive and connect with the love and strength of our ancestors in order to realize our full potential. It’s about turning negative into positive, letting go so that it can dissolve and cause less damage in the future. You can do this energy work alone or together with your friends.
#modernwitch: 6 rituals for your Samhain celebration
Build ancestral altar
Build oneAncestral altar made from memorabilia, photos and candles from deceased family members and friends. Light candles for her and remember her. Thank them for being a part of your life. Consciously take your time and observe what comes to the surface within you.
Family tree research
Consciously engage with the history of your ancestors. Reach out to other family members and ask older relatives to share their stories and memories.
Walk in nature
Consciously connect with the earth, life and the cycle of the seasons by taking a long walk in nature
meditation
Meditate and notice what appears to you.
Bury and burn
Write everything you want to let go of on pieces of paper and burn or bury them.
Reflect
Tarot cards and journaling techniques can help with this.
to get in touch
According to pagan tradition, it is easier to contact the dead during Samhain. So if there is someone on the other side with whom you would like to communicate, now is a good time to hold a séance.
sources used: Matchamornings.de, stuttgarter-nachrichten.de, gaia.com