Samhain 31 October 2024: Mystical gateway to introspection and spiritual growth

Samhain 31 October 2024: Mystical gateway to introspection and spiritual growth

Samhain is a festival of transition. This day is celebrated on 31 October, with the sky getting noticeably darker in the evening and later in the morning. This means the dark time of the year has begun!

People often think that the sole meaning of Samhain (pronounced 'sown') has to do with honouring ancestors. This meaning is closely linked to Halloween, Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) and All Saints' Day, which are all celebrated around 1 November. However, Samhain is about more than just honouring ancestors.
Six months of light and darkness

Now we have four seasons; spring, summer, autumn and winter, but before this classification method was used, a year consisted of only two seasons: the light half of the year and the dark half of the year. This division was based on the amount of light during the day. After the Spring Equinox, the time when day and night are of equal length, the light of the year begins. After the Autumn equinox, the dark half of the year begins. About six weeks after the Spring Equinox, there is a period when the days get noticeably longer or shorter, and six weeks later you are in the middle of the light or dark half of the year and celebrate midsummer or midwinter.

In our current seasonal definition, summer does not start until 21 June (midsummer) and winter does not start until 21 December (midwinter). In Wicca and Paganism, these annual festivals are still celebrated for their original meaning, and I often hear the question: why is this actually called midsummer, when the season is just beginning? Because in six months, there will be light and darkness!
Get ready: winter is coming!

It is now getting noticeably darker outside, which means we need to do all our winter preparations. The darker it gets, the less sunlight hits the earth, and thus the cooler the earth becomes. As light and heat decrease, so does our energy. Our ancestors harvested all grains, fruits, nuts and vegetables. October is the last hunting season, after which hunting ends.

Even now, you notice that - some more consciously than others - we look forward to winter. It is not unreasonable for Book Week to be held in October because people read more in winter. We stock up on warmer clothes and more and more people experience the need to be comfortable in their homes and make their homes more comfortable. At the same time, more and more people are also experiencing that they become more depressed as the light decreases.

These days, we certainly have nothing to do with inventory because we have supermarkets. You can always go there!
Symbolism Samhain

Therefore, the meaning of Samhain should be interpreted symbolically: now you can still decide and prepare what you are going to do for winter. How did you get through that period? What do you want to learn? What do you want to consider? What else do you need to prepare for this?

Light a candle and some incense and grab a pen and paper. Think about all these winter questions and write them down. The important thing now is to get everything done in the coming weeks so that your winter bucket list can be fulfilled!
Samhain: Festival of Transition

The transition from death to birth takes place. During the harvest, everything that lives dies, and some is sacrificed to the earth. Beings who died and descended into the world of death in the darkness of the womb and Mother Earth now receive a new spark of life. From then on, life will once again hide underground, sleep safely in Mother Earth's womb and be reborn in the light of spring.

Samhain plays the role of Hell's reception in this life-cycle story and represents the spark of life, giving it the status of a festival of transition from the old to the new. The light outside naturally changes from bright to dark, but underground it is the opposite! This is why in pagan and witch circles it is also called Witch's Night.
Rituals during Samhain

You can also create different ritual celebrations around these transformations. Here's what you can do during Samhain:

Predict the future! This is the tradition of old people. Place a tarot card and read that card for each coming month. Write down your explanation so you don't forget it.
Write your wishes on the branches and burn them with fire.
Speak good intentions and toast them. The clink of the glass confirms that your wish has been heard (and confirmed!)
Make an offering on the yew (the tree of life and death) and express your wishes or your good intentions on the tree and ask the earth and/or heaven to listen and support you.
Nature and the life cycle

There are many ways to use rituals to reflect this transitional moment in nature and the cycle of life during the annual celebration. (Read here about four magical rituals performed during Samhain, when the 'veil between the worlds' is at its thinnest.) If you know the meaning of the annual holiday, you can think of expressions around that meaning. Symbolic meaning behaviour. This is what witches do when they celebrate their annual festival.

Even if we don't ritually reflect on the changing of the seasons, the world keeps turning! Yet it is these rituals that make us extra aware of what is happening in nature and that we humans are still part of it. Because what we see happening on a large scale in nature (the dying off of autumn and the preparation for the cold winter) also happens in us. However, we often don't realise this anymore. Until you think about the symbolism and express it ritually.

Much preferable

Rachida