As the cool air swaddles nature, welcoming the fall with a crisp autumnal embrace, the scent of magick permeates the atmosphere. We sense it in the trees, the way their orange leaves sway upon the branches one last time before taking flight, fluttering to the ground in a ritualistic dance of fall-painted beauty. We can feel it on our skin as the weather turns dry and nature softly exhales, hinting at the impending winter with sacred, frost-laced breath. Above all, we feel it in our souls, the way The Wheel churns around us, humming with life as the veil thins and the world brims with magick just before its winter slumber.

Autumn is undoubtedly a special time of year. It's a cozy cluster of days celebrated with the comfy aspects of life—luscious slices of gooey apple pie, soft woolen blankets clutched across our shoulders on dreary October nights, pumpkin bread and cinnamon coffee and hay rides and corn mazes and haunted houses!

Whew, getting a bit winded over here. Just so darn pumped!

If you're new to Paganism or simply need a brush-up, let's sit down together over a mug of London fog tea and a slice of banana bread while we discuss The Witch's Guide to Samhain!

Samhain (pronounced sow-in) is a cross-quarter sabbat that is celebrated on October 31st. On this sabbat we honor the death of the God, acknowledge death as a necessary stage in the cycle of life, and celebrate our ancestors and those loved ones who have transcended before us. Just as The Wheel turns, demonstrating that nothing in this realm is constant, our lives too will eventually cease, though our souls remain eternal. We acknowledge this unconditional truth on Samhain and address our own discomfort that often accompanies our mortality.