Ideas to Celebrate Samhain 2011
Samhain (pronounced 
Sow-en) or All Hallows is one of the great pagan Sabbats in the Wheel of the Year. It dates back to the ancient Celts who lived 2,000 years ago, and is the Celtic New Year. It is a time to reflect on the past year and celebrate the coming new year. It is the time of the third annual and final harvest when crops ripen and are collected.
Apples are magical, as any good kitchen witch will tell you. Folk magic abounds with uses for the apple, in everything from cooking to spells. Cut an apple in half horizontally and what you find? A five pointed star. Historically, apple trees were wassailed and toasted with apple juice. Wassailing refers to the practice of singing to trees in apple orchards in cider-producing regions of England to promote a good harvest for the coming year.
Since then, apples have become an important part of the modern Halloween. The giving of apples to trick or treaters has been passed down from the original begging that was done from house to house. At Halloween parties there’s candied apples, caramel apples, fresh or hot apple cider, and apple pie served, and there are games like bobbing for apples or an apple on a string.
Activities
Samhain is also a time to celebrate endings, and the cycles of life and death. The growing time is over for this turn of the Wheel and now the Earth prepares to sleep for winter. This is a time to say good-bye to those who have left this existence. It is a tim
e to connect with your ancestors; to celebrate and honor them. One way to celebrate with the Dead is to make a Dumb Supper. It can be as simple as setting out cakes and wine on Samhain, or as complex as hosting a formal supper in a protected circle of light with loved ones and family. Try making an old family favorite recipe to honor those family members who have walked this Earth before us; after all, we wouldn’t be here today without them.
Samhain is also a time for divination. This is a time of year when the veil between our world and the world of the spirits thins which makes communication easy. This makes it a wonderful time to try to see the near future and to contact your guardian spirits and guides to learn what to be reminded of and simply made aware of in the present.
Draw a picture of what this time of year means to you. You can draw something that has ended or something that you want to let go of (like a bad habit), or try drawing all the things you want to manifest in the coming year.
Write down all the wishes you have for the coming new year and all the things you’d like to let go of. When complete, fold the paper and empower it, either bury it in the back yard or burn it in the Samhain fire to release it.
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