"The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be the beginning." - Baker Priest

Let’s get this settled right out of the gate – there is no “Sam Hain”. There is no Celtic king, or god, or supposed "Lord of the Dead" by that name, and never has been. That bit of nonsense has been spread by everyone from Jack Chick to episodes of Supernatural.

The name of the festival was pronounced "SOW-en", and it meant simply “Summer’s End”. The Celts saw the year as divided into two distinct halves - light and dark, Summer and Winter. As Summer began at Beltane, so Samhain marked the start of Winter.

"And finally Winter, with its bitin', whinin' wind, and all the land will be mantled with snow" - Roy Bean

For the Celts, like many cultures, a new day began with the sunset. So, while Samhain was technically November 1st, its observance began with Oíche Samhna (literally, "Samhain Eve"), on the prior evening - the 31st of October. And since a new day began when the light of the old one died, it made sense that Samhain - when the world passed into Winter, when it moved from light to dark - would mark the beginning of a new year, as well.

As such a time of transition, Samhain was a “between” time, the space between the old year and the new. Imagine a wheel, turning slowly. It completes one revolution, hangs for . . . just . . . a . . . second . . . then falls into the next one. Samhain is that moment of suspension, that moment of hanging in the empty space between what was and what will be.

"The veil is getting thin my friends,

And strange things will pass through."

- from “The Veil is Getting Thinner", authorship unknown

Because it was "between", the Celts believed Samhain was a time when the walls between this world and the ones that lay alongside it became thin. On this night, the Celts believed the Faeries were about - and could be seen by men. The dreaded pooka was believed to roam the countryside at Oíche Samhna, and hidden realms of the Fay open for visitors to come and go - if they dared.

But more than these mystical creatures, Samhain was about the Dead. On this night, when the veil between this world and the next was at its thinnest, the Dead were thought to return and walk among the living. In some traditions, an extra place was set for them at the feast-table, with food and drink served to an empty seat, and taken afterward to be left in the woods (in some cases, these "Dumb Suppers" were to be taken in complete silence). To avoid the less friendly spirits (and other creatures), the traditions of "guising" - wearing masks - and setting out lights in carved turnips (pre-pumpkin Jack-o-Lanterns) became part of the festivities.

Samhain was the first of the four major “fire festivals” (with Imbolc, Beltane and Lughnasadh). As it represented a new year, the old fires were all extinguished at Oíche Samhna - the dying lights of the old year. In their place, bonfires were lit, and new fires throughout the villages lit from them. These were the lights of a new year, to carry them through the dark, to ward off the sidhe and whatever other spirits might mean them harm.

The Ritual

A Samhain ritual is, preferably, a feast. Like all major sabbats, my coven pot-lucks at Samhain. In keeping with the tradition of honoring and welcoming the Dead, we will set out an extra plate at an open seat. But, since it's still a thanksgiving feast - a time of friends and family - eating in silence is, for us anyway, out of the question. Like the Celts, we set the food out later, with our regular ritual offerings. The menu of Samhain is like that of the other Autumn festivals - corn, squash, grains, etc. Apples, because they were considered by the Celts to be linked with the Otherworld (mythical Avalon was the "Isle of Apples"), are an especially appropriate item for a Samhain feast.

The colors of Samhain are the warm colors of Autumn - the reds, golds, yellows, oranges of the leaves and fruits of the season. Black - as the symbol of both death and rebirth - is also an appropriate color, especially for clothing. The fruits and symbols of Autumn and the harvest are fitting decorations - and, of course, the traditional Jack-o-Lantern, whether you go the traditional route with turnips or just use pumpkins, is a good addition to any Samhain altar.

And of course, Samhain is the New Year. It is therefore a time to remember what has come and gone in the last year, what we hope for in the next. It is a time to make resolutions - and, when need be, make penance. Traditionally, at Samhain enemies made peace, debts were settled, and plans put in place for the coming year.

"Death is the destination we all share." - Steve Jobs

But we most commonly think of Samhain as a festival of the Dead. All harvest festivals, by their nature, carry the tinge of death. Samhain, as the final harvest - when the fields are all empty and brown, when the ground is red with the blood of culled livestock - carries that association all the more.

In most versions of the Pagan Wheel of the Year, this is when the God himself dies, to be reborn of the Goddess at either Yule or Imbolc. The world is passing into darkness, and reminds us that we all will do the same one day. Samhain is a night of ghosts, and we feel their presence through the thinning veil.

The Veil



"While we are mourning the loss of our friend, others are rejoicing to meet him behind the veil." - John Taylor

As Samhain is a time of remembering - and communing with - our dear departed, the veil is a key element of the Samhain ritual in my coven. Take a piece of black cloth - a curtain is good, but a sheet will do as well. Suspend it from a branch, or a clothesline, or whatever is convenient. My preference is to have it bordered - i.e., have something on either side to make a sort of doorway, such as hanging it between two close trees - but it's not strictly necessary. If you are indoors, a black curtain in an open window works wonderfully.

We meditate at this veil, remembering those that have gone on, reaching out to them, inviting them to join us again for this brief time between (note: there is a lot of saging, protection-work and very conditional invitation in this process).

Then, after the feast, we say good-bye. The world has moved on. The Wheel starts its turn again. We close off the veil as Samhain passes and the walls between worlds grows thick again.

The New Year



“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.” - Emily Lovejoy Pierce

The Wheel hangs, but only for a moment. Without fail, it falls into a new revolution, a new year. It begins with Winter, with a darkness like a blank page. It begins with darkness like the womb, and - just like us - eventually climbs into the light.

What that light will bring, what it will reveal, is up to us. The new year is what we make it. We have, in the rituals leading to this one, cleansed ourselves of old baggage and old habits. Now is the time to look ahead - past death, to rebirth.

The old has passed, the Wheel moves again, and the new has begun.

Blessed Be.