Today, festivals such as Halloween are better known than Samhain. But all of them have their origins in this Celtic festival. Let's look at how to celebrate it and how to use the energy and magic that are truly unique at this time of year. Samhain is an ancient Celtic festival symbolising the end of the year; it marks the end of summer and the beginning of the dark nights. It was also the time of the last harvest before winter. Our ancestors could still secure enough food for this harsh season, when nature sleeps and its gifts could not be gathered.
A magical night for the living and the dead
The most important of all eight festivals is celebrated on the night of 31 October to 1 November, when the boundary between the world of the living and the dead blurs. At this time the dead can look back at the world, and the living into the underworld. The Celts believed that the spirits of their ancestors could visit them at this time. They laid places for them at dinner, cooked their favourite meals or baked special cakes. So that the spirits could find their way, they put candles in windows or in hollowed-out pumpkins.
The Celts believed that on this night they had to be especially watchful and beware of evil spirits. That is why they never called each other by their names and wore masks when they went out. That way the spirits did not recognise them, could not gain power over them and harm them.
Simple rituals to celebrate Samhain
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Hollow out a pumpkin and put a candle in it or at least put some candles in your windows. You will show the way to good souls and protect your home from evil ones.
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Rid yourself of everything bad in your life and step into the new year with a lighter mind. Symbolically bury everything that happened this year. A box or a piece of paper will help. Bury the box with unwanted objects. Write everything that weighs on you, your weaknesses or your fears on the paper and burn it.
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Magic salt can be used for cleansing, blessing and protection – take a salt bath and get rid of negativity
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Gather enough strength. Read aloud the names of your ancestors and ask them for strength, both mental and physical.
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Get creative and celebrate with your loved ones. Bake bone-shaped gingerbread with your children. Watch a scary film in the evening or make up your own ghost story.
Make Samhain work for you
Life today is very hectic. Stress, work, the internet – all of this throws us into an endless merry-go-round. We may see winter and the long evenings as a disruption of our routine, but it is quite the opposite. Use this time to slow down a little. Learn something, review your progress or take up new skills. Make plans and enjoy what you have achieved during the year.
Winter is not death, and even though everything seems dead, nature is only regenerating and gathering energy. Do the same, so that in spring you can show the world at full strength what is inside you.
