Samhain (pronounced sow-wen) is the most important Sabbat of the Witch's year. It is the Wiccan New Year , when the wheel has made another turn. It is the beginning of Winter (ancient Pagans only noted two seasons: Winter and Summer.

The Goddess is heavily pregnant with Her Child. On Samhain, when the veils between the worlds are thinnest, She opens the Gates and lets the souls of all those who have departed this past year into the Summerland. One of the souls She allows to pass is that of the God, who will be reborn come Yule.

The veil between the worlds is the thinnest this day. The spirits of the dead can come and go freely, enjoying sights they once beheld as living beings. Remember those who have passed away before us as they recover in the Summerland.

Many Witches wait until Samhain to do the most important rites: rites of dedication, creating a new coven, rites of initiation, and rites to increase to a higher level.

October 31

Place upon the altar one or two autumn fruits. Autumn flowers such as marigolds and chrysanthemums are fine too. Write on a piece of paper an aspect of your life which you wish to be free of: anger, a baneful habit, misplaced feelings, disease. The cauldron or some similar tool must be present before the altar as well.

Prior to the ritual, sit quietly and think of friends and loved ones who have passed away. Do not despair. Know that they have gone on to greater things. Keep firmly in mind that the physical isn't the absolute reality, and that souls never die.

Arrange the altar, light the candles and incense, Cast the Circle and invoke the God/dess.

Lift one of the fruits and, with your working athame, cut a piece of the fruit and place it on the altar.

Raise your wand, face the altar and say:

On this night of Samhain I mark your passing, O Father Sky, through the sunset into Summerland. I also mark the passing of all who have gone before, and all who will go after. O Gracious Mother Earth, You who gives birth to the fallen, teach me to know that in the time of the greatest darkness there is the greatest light. Bite into the fruit and savor it. remember the 8 spoke wheel; the wheel of the year, cycle of the seasons, the end and beginning of all creation.

Light the ancestor candle. Sit before it, holding the piece of paper, gazing at its flames. Say:

O Wise Mother Earth, I create this fire within Your cauldron to transform that which is plaguing me. May the energies be reversed: From darkness, light! From bane, good! From death, birth!

Light the paper in the candle's flames and drop it inside the cauldron. As it burns, know that your ill diminishes, lessens and finally leaves you as it is consumed with the universal fires.

If you wish, you may attempt scrying or some other form of divination, for this is the perfect time to look into the past or future. Try to recall past lives too. if you will. But leave the dead in peace! Honor them with your memories but do not call them to you. Release any pain and sense of loss you may feel into the cauldron's flames.

Celebrate the Simple Feast and release the Circle.
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