Blessed Samhain, Happy New Year

Samhain: Halloween, Winter Nights, All Hallows Eve - October 31st

Samhain (*Note: Samhain is pronounced sowen, soween, saw-win, saw-vane or sahven, not sam-hayne)

Halloween, Winter Nights, All Hallows Eve - October 31st

Other names for Samhain include Samhuin, Samain, Saman, Oidhche Shamhna, Hallowe'en, Halloween, Hallows, Hallowtide, Shadow Fest, Allantide, Third Harvest, Harvest Home, Geimredh, Day of the Dead (Feile na Marbh), Feast of the Dead, Spirit Night, Candle Night, November Eve, Nutcrack Night, Ancestor Night and Apple Fest. Christian names for it include All Hallows Eve (although some churches fix that as November 7), Hallows Eve, Santos, Devil Night and Mischief Night. It is also called Martinmas, but that is properly the name for the actual cross quarter day which occurs when the sun reaches its power point in Scorpio. Some church calendars fix November 11 as Martinmas.

Samhain (Summer's End) is one of our four Greater Sabbats, the highest holy day of witches. It is a cross quarter day, situated between Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice. Samhain is a major festival with several aspects. It is new year's eve for witches, as well as our third and final harvest festival. Samhain inaugurates Winter, is the final chance to dry herbs for winter storage, and a night when fairies supposedly afoot working mischief. It is also the Day of the Dead for us as it was for the Celts, Egyptians and ancient Mexicans, the night when we remember our loved ones and honour our ancestors. We also celebrate reincarnation and note the absence the Sun (the god), who will be reborn at Winter Solstice as the Child of Promise. Astrologically, Samhain marks the rising of the Pleiades.

Late October was the nut harvest for Celts, and the time for salting winter's supply of meat. Scholars disagree on this, but many fix this date as the Celtic New Year. November 1 is the actual date of Samhain but like other Celtic derived festivals it is celebrated on its eve. November 1 is New Year's Day for witches, as it was for the Babylonians. One of the four greater Sabbats, of the Wiccan/pagan year. For the Celts, Samhain was the feast of the dead in Pagan and Christian times, its arrival signalled the close of harvest and the start of the winter season. Fairies were imagined as particularly active at this season. Also called Feile Moingfinne (Snow Goddess). The Scottish Gaelic Dictionary defines it as "Hallowtide. The Feast of All Souls. Sam + Fuin = end of summer." Eliade's Encyclopaedia of Religion states as follows: "The Eve and day of Samhain were characterized as a time when the barriers between the human and supernatural worlds were broken... Not a festival honoring any particular Celtic deity, Samhain acknowledged the entire spectrum of nonhuman forces that roamed the earth during that period."

Samhain is the Wiccan New Year. This is the time of year when the veil between the world of the dead and the world of the living is said to be it's thinnest. Spirits and souls of loved ones are said to have more power and ability to visit us. This is the time of year for remembering and honouring our dead, and many people will leave a plate of food and a glass of wine out for wandering sprits. (This is often called the Feast of Hecate) Samhain is also a time for personal reflection, and for recognizing our faults and flaws and creating a method for rectifying them. In the Celtic Tradition, the year begins at Samhain, this is the most powerful night of the year to perform divination. Divination is done in many forms but all seek to establish a look ahead, whether the answer appears good or bad. Samhain is also considered to start the reign of the God or the dark time of the Year when the Sun goes lower each day and begins to weaken.

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http://www.thewhitegoddess.co.uk/the_wheel_of_the_year/samhain.asp