Halloween Samhain less Than Two Weeks Away

Regardless of what you call this day, we offer our greetings...

We love Halloween/Samhain for all the obvious reasons that Pagans and non Pagans celebrate. We also love it because it brings the best out of us. 

Fewer people worry about being lonely, abandoned, heartbroken, or alienated on Halloween. 

There isn't as much emotional tension surrounding Halloween that surrounds other holidays.

On Halloween you don’t have to wear the emotional mask one many people put on for other holidays.

Along with the traditions of Halloween, Samhain is the night when the old God dies, and is mourned by the Crone Goddess for the next six weeks until he is reborn at Yule.

The popular image of her as the old Halloween hag menacingly stirring her cauldron comes from the Celtic belief that all dead souls return to her cauldron of  life, death, and rebirth to await reincarnation.

Halloween Is Coming

Pumpkin Ideas

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Weeks Away

Samhain Ideas

Samhain

It’s Not Too Early To Plan Ahead

Halloween Coming Soon

We honor Samhain for the special Pagan day that it is.

Samhain is a Pagan religious festival originating from the ancient Celtic, usually celebrated from October 31 to November 1 to welcome in the harvest and usher in “the dark half of the year.

Pagans generally believe that the barriers between the physical world and the spirit world break down during Samhain, allowing more interaction with the “living.”

Having said that, we also love the season of Halloween.

We love Halloween for all the obvious reasons that both Pagans and non Pagans celebrate. 

We love it because it brings the best out of us. 

On Halloween you don’t have to wear the emotional mask one many people put on for other holidays.

Samhain and Halloween are meaningful holidays for Pagan families and it's also a just lot of fun.  

Just because you’re Pagan, doesn’t mean that Samhain has to be solemn. 

All the fun of costumes and trick-or-treating are a big part of Samhain tradition. 

It's a great family activity to learn the meaning behind the masks, including the more somber aspects of the holiday, along with the fun, food and games.

This is a time for families to join together and celebrate with respect, having fun at the same time.

Together, families can watch scary movies, set up and decorate your family’s shrine along with the Halloween decorations.

For us, it's less about formality and more about being yourself and creating great memories.

For all the people who love corn mazes, pumpkin carving, cheesy horror movies, fake cobwebs, and the endless supply of cupcakes, we are among and with you.

Halloween, with all its tacky, silly goulishness, is the best holiday. We salute the people who love it, we have something very much in common with you.

This is our only holiday with Pagan roots that still remains a non-Christian holiday. 

Even though Christmas and Easter have Pagan roots, the Church took them over long ago. 

Halloween is different. 

They tried to take it over too by declaring All Saints Day but somehow they were never really able to erase Halloween’s Pagan roots.

Could it be that in the deep recesses of our minds, we didn't want to let go of the real meaning of Samhain and Halloween? 

Solitary Witch Samhain Ideas

Halloween/Samhain HAVE FUN

Halloween/Samhain is very close. 

The holidays are meaningful for Pagan families and it's also a lot of fun.  

Just because you’re Pagan, doesn’t mean that Samhain has to be solemn. 

All the fun of costumes and trick-or-treating are a big part of Samhain tradition. 

It's a great family activity to learn the meaning behind the masks, including the more somber aspects of the holiday, along with the fun, food and games.

This is a time for families to join together and celebrate with respect, having fun at the same time.

Together, families can watch scary movies, set up and decorate your family’s shrine along with the Halloween decorations.

For us, it's less about formality and more about being yourself and creating great energy.

The Veil Is Thinning

Samhain was originally one of four major Celtic seasonal festivals, along with Imbolc, Beltane, and Lughnasadh, which occurred around 2000 years ago in regions including modern-day Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, northern France, and the Isle of Man. 

Held from sundown on October 31 through November 1 (at least by today’s modern calendar), it took place between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice. 

Fittingly, linguists translate the Gaelic word Samhain—which was likely pronounced SAH-wen—to mean “summer’s end.”

During Samhain, the Celts harvested their crops and probably slaughtered livestock for food. 

Then, they celebrated their abundance with sporting games and a giant—and raucous—feast. 

The people also prepared winter housing for itinerant warriors and shamans.

On a spiritual level, Samhain marks the time of the year in which the barrier between the earthly world and the spirit world dissolved, allowing spirits and faeries to walk among—and perhaps torment—mortals.

It’s also described in countless myths and folktales as a period of mystical intensity. 

Celtic priests built huge bonfires, practiced divination rituals, and conducted rites to keep ghouls at bay—but since they didn’t keep written records, many of these practices remain shrouded in mystery.

By the 7th century, many Western European nations had converted to Christianity. 

The Romans had celebrated Lemuria, a festival of the dead, each May—but now, the feast was dedicated to Catholic saints. During the 8th century, Pope Gregory III moved the annual festival (which was an early predecessor to All Saints' Day) for Romans to November 1—right around the time Samhain took place—and then Pope Gregory IV made the change for the Western Church. 

To this day, historians don’t quite know whether or not the switch was made to transform Samhain into a Christian holiday or whether it was simply more practical for the feast to be held during autumn, when harvest crops could be used to feed hungry pilgrims traveling to Rome.

Later, November 2 was designated as All Souls' Day, and the eve before All Saints' Day—once known as All Hallows' Day—was dubbed All Hallows' Eve. 

Over the centuries, this holiday evolved into what is known as Halloween.

Samhain

Soon

256 Days To Go

It’s never too early to plan ahead...256 days to go...