Celebrating the Samhain Festival: The Wiccan New Year

Samhain, (pronounced sow'-een, or SOW-in), is the one of the major Sabbats, or festivals, celebrated by Wiccans. It is held on October 31st to November 1st of every year. This festival stems from customs long ago of an ancient pre-Christian Celtic festival which honored the dead and is commonly referred to as "Halloween" or "All Hallows Eve". Translated in Gaelic, Samhain means "summers end".

This pagan observance, marking the harvest, is a time when the veil between the worlds is lifted, and the dead wander the earth and supernatural forces reign. Samhain is a time to call upon the ancestors to join us, and to honor the Dark Mother and her wisdom in her third aspect as the Crone.

Samhain is a time for purity, growth and renewal; bringing in the new year by disposing of the old and make way for the new. There are many symbols of Samhain which you can use to decorate your home and your Samhain altar. Besoms and brooms are used by witches to sweep away negativity and bad spirits. Hang Bridgid's crosses to protect your home from fire and evil. Light candles on your Samhain altar to honor the Goddess. Light a white candle for the maiden, red for the mother and black for the crone.

More traditional Samhain symbols would include apples, gourds and jack-o-lanterns. Pumpkin carving originated in Ireland with the carving out of turnips with small candles inside, which were placed on doorsteps at Halloween to ward off evil spirits. Eventually the Irish learned that Jack O' Lanterns were much easier to carve out of softer flesh of pumpkins.

Apples are important not only because they are seasonal. Apples have long been associated with female deities of immortality and knowledge. When you cut an apple through its equator, it reveals a five-pointed star outlined at the center of each hemisphere, also known as the pentacle. For this reason, Witches used apples during the Inquisition as a secret sign of recognition towards one another.

Samhain takes place in the autumn, a cool and crisp time of year which fills the air with the strong and musky scents of nature and fills the table with a feast of delicious foods.

The Scents of Samhain

Some scents associated with Samhain are Frankincense, Myrrh, Basil, Cinnamon, Vanilla, Rosemary, Cedar and Juniper. You can burn many of these scents as incense, in an oil form on an oil burner, or crush them to burn on charcoals. Make a bouquet of rosemary or obtain branches of cedar and juniper in nature for your Samhain altar.

The Foods of Samhain

The foods associated with Samhain are pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, poppy seed cakes, muffins, scones, and breads. Make mulled spiced wine, cider and teas by adding whole allspice berries, cinnamon, cardamom, peppercorns, whole cloves, and dried orange peel. Apples, squash and pumpkin are seasonal favorites. Breads and wine will make excellent offerings to the God and Goddess during your Samhain ritual.

During Samhain, once again the wheel of the year has turned. It is a time of change as we leave the light and enter the darkness. As summer ends and winter begins, we reunite with our ancestors. And through these unions we can take comfort that there is no beginning and no end.

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