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Samhain


Colors

Black, Orange and Red


Other Names


Halloween, Hallowmas, All Hallows Eve, Day of the Dead, Feast of Spirits, Third Harvest, Samonios, All Saint's Eve, Martinmas, Celtic New Year, Samhuinn, Celtic Winter, Samana, Festival of Pamona, Vigil of Saman, Hallowe'en, Vigil of Todos, Santos.


Symbols


Jack-o'-Lantern, Balefire, Besom, Masks, The Cauldron, Waning Moon.


Deities


All Crone Goddesses, The Dying/Dead God


Activities


Divination, Past-life Recall, Spirit Contact, Meditation, Drying Winter Herbs.


Taboos


Travel after dark, Eating grapes or berries.


Animals


Bats, Cats, and Dogs


stones


Obsidian, Onyx, Carnelian


Plants


Apple, Mugwort, Gourds, Sage, Allspice, Catnip


Meaning


Wisdom of Crone, Death of God, Reflection on our place in the Wheel of the Year, Honoring of the Dead, End of Summer, New Year (Celtic), Celebrating Reincarnation.


Attunement Teas


(Individually or Blended)
Apple Cider, Angelica, Catnip, Indian Hyppo, Sage, Valerian


Ritual Oils


Frankincense, Basil, Yarrow, Lilac, Ylang-Ylang, Camphor, Clove


Goddesses


All Crone Goddesses, Al-llat (Persian), Babd (Irish), Bebhionn (Irish), Brunhilde (Teutonic), Carlin (Scottish), Cerridwen (Welsh-Scottish), Devanyani (Indian), Edda (Norse), Eris (Greek), Frau Holde (Teutonic), All Under World Goddesses, Baba Yaga (Russian), Bast (Egyptian), Bronach (Irish), Caillech/Cailleac (Irish-Scottish), Cassandra (Greek), Crobh Dearg (Irish), Dolya (Russian), Elli (Teutonic), Fortuna (Greco-Roman), Frigga/Frey (Norse), Hakea (Polynesian), Hel (Norse), Inanna (Sumerian), Kali (Hindu), Kele-De (Irish), Macha (Irish), Mari (Hindu), Marzana (Slavic), Nicnevin (Anglo-Scottish), Psyche (Greek), Remati (Tibetan), Zorya Vechernaya (Slavic), Hecate (Greek), Husbishag (Semitie), Ishtar (Babylonian), Kalma (Finnish-Yugoritic), Lilith (Hebrew), Mara (Persian), Mari-Ama (Norse), The Morrigu/Morrigan (Celtic), Pamona (Roman), The Queen of Elphame (Scottish), Rhiannon (Welsh).


Gods


All Death Gods, All Aged Gods, All Underworld Gods, Am-Heh (Egyptian), Arawn (Welsh), Corn Father (Native American), Coyote Brother (Native American), Dis (Roman), Eite-Ade (Etruscan), Ghede (Voodun), Hades (Greek), Heimdall (Norse), The Great Horned God (European), Kronos/Cronus (Greco-Phoenician), Loki (Norse), Maderha (Lapp), Nefertum (Egyptian), Odin (Norse), Pluto (Greco-Roman), Rangi (Maori), Samana (aryan), Sekhet (Egyptian), Woden (Teutonic), Xocatl (Aztec).


Lore


It is traditional on Samhain night to leave a plate of food outside the home for the souls of the dead. A candle placed in the window guides them to the lands of eternal summer, and burying apples in the hard-packed earth "feeds" the passed ones on their journey.


Food


For food, beets, turnips, apples, corn, nuts, gingerbread, cider, mulled wines and pumpkin dishes are appropriate, as are meat dishes (If you are not vegetarian. If so, tofu seems ritually correct).


Recipes



Chocolate de Mexicanos
(serves 4)


41/4 cups milk
4 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted
5 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1 shot tequila

Place all ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. With a hand-held mixer or traditional molonillo (a wooden beater resembling a honey dipper), beat the mixture until it stops boiling and becomes slightly frothy. Stir in tequila. Serve immediately in mugs garnished with cinnamon sticks.


Granny McCoy's Pumpkin Pie
(makes two nine-inch pies)


3 cups cooked pumpkin (canned is fine)
11/4 cups evaporated milk
21/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 heaping teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 scant teaspoon salt
1/4 rounded teaspoon allspice
1/2 rounded teaspoon cinnamon
4 well-beaten eggs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix all ingredients thoroughly and pour into two deep, unbaked pie shells. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until a knife comes out of the center clean.


Colcannon
(serves 8)


4 cups mashed potatoes
21/2 cups cabbage, cooked and chopped fine
1/2 cup butter (avoid corn oil margarines as they will not add the needed body and flavor)
1/2 cup evaporated milk or cream
3/4 cup onion, chopped fine and sauteed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper

Saute onions. Boil the potatoes and mash them (do not use artificial potato flakes). In a large pan place all of the ingredients except the cabbage and cook over low heat while blending them together. Turn the heat to medium and add the chopped cabbage. The mixture will take on a pale green cast. Keep stirring occasionally until the mixture is warm enough to eat. *Lastly drop in a thimble, button, ring, and coin. Stir well and serve.

*It was an old Irish tradition to hide these in it: a ring for a bride, a button for a bachelor, a thimble for a spinster, and a coin for wealth, or any other item which local custom decreed in keeping with the idea of the New Year as a time for divination. If you make colcannon with these little objects inside, please excercise caution against choking.


Wassail
(Makes one large punch bowl)


11/2 cups water
1/2 cup heavy cream
6 baked apples, cut into small pieces
5 egg whites
11/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons allspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
8 whole cloves
1 quart ale
1 cup cooking sherry
1 cup Irish whiskey

Bring water and cream to a slow boil and remove from heat. Beat the egg whites well. Thoroughly mix in all the remaining ingredients except the alcohol. Allow this mixture to cool slightly- enough so the heat from it will not crack your punch bowl. If you have a non-glass container for your wassail, you can skip the cooling process. Blend in the alcohol just before serving, and be sure to offer the traditional toast to the old apple tree before drinking.


Information was taken from
Edain McCoy's book "The Sabbats- A New Approach to Living the Old Ways"
and Scott Cunningham's book "Wicca- A Guide For The Solitary Practitioner".
If you are interested in buying these wonderful books, click here.



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