Creating Circles and Ceremonies: Rituals for All ... - reading...

240 Creating Circles & Ceremonies
6. Samhain: Hallowe’en
Introduction: Samhain
By Oberon Zell-Ravenheart & She’ D’Montford
Samhain (meaning “summer’s end”) is the Celtic Feast of the Dead,
when the veil between the worlds is thinnest, and departed spirits may
return to commune with the living. Bonfires are lit and blazing straw
from the fire is carried through the villages and over the fields. Traditionally
celebrated on October 31, Samhain (SOW-in) falls several
days later astrologically, at 15° Scorpio. It is the “hinge” of the year
opposite from Beltane, and is the Celtic New Year, marking the beginning
of the winter half of the year. Also called Third Harvest or
Winter’s Beginning, this festival has been thinly Christianized as
All Souls’ Day, with the night before being called All-Hallows, Hallowmas,or Hallowe’en.
This is the most magickal night of the year, as it is a time to commune with otherworldly
beings. The Goddess mourns her marriage to the Dark Lord for the duration of winter. She visits
the Earth with her fairy minions from the Underworld, and the veil between the worlds stands
open for them for the night. The Dark Lord takes up the rulership of winter, leading the underworld
minions of the fairy realms on a wild hunt upon the Earth. Exactly opposite Beltane on the
Wheel of the Year, Samhain is Beltane’s dark twin. Samhain is also the Celtic New Year and the
Feast of the Dead. Yet, as death is necessary for rebirth, the New Year has always been celebrated
with chaotic, noisy, and joyous festivities bringing on a symbolic end of the world and a
birth of a new. The trick-or-treating of Hallowe’en is an echo of this and of the Wild Hunt.
This has long been a favorite holiday for Pagans of all ages, and an occasion for masquerade,
pumpkin-carving, and trick-or-treating. In Mexico it is called Dia de los Muertos, the “Day
of the Dead.” Shrines to the beloved dead are put up everywhere, along with sugar skulls and
dioramas featuring tiny posed skeletons. In many lands, candles are lit in every room and food
and drink put out for the souls. It is a time to honour our ancestors, remember our beloved dead,
and hail our descendants, as we set a place for them at the evening meal. The most important
element of Samhain Eve is the rite of the Dumb Supper, a meal of “underworld” foods (mushrooms,
nuts, black olives, pork, beans, chocolate, etc.) shared in total silence, wherein the spirits
of the beloved dead are invited to join the feast and be remembered in honor and love.
At Annwfn & Raven Haven
At Annwfn, the King and Queen of the Underworld hold court, presiding over the dumb
supper and the laying down of the May King’s crown (an alternative to his ritual sacrifice).
One of our ritual dramas has the Red Maid seeking her lost love, the Green Man, who
descended into the Underworld at Mabon, and now reigns there as King. Scrying may be
done at this time, with a crystal ball or concave black magick mirror. The Samhain Circle is
considered to be held in the Underworld, and the energies move widdershins.
At Raven Haven, we go all out in this season to completely redecorate our entire Victorian
house with spider webs, plastic skeletons, masks, black draperies, purple string lights, and black
lights. In the garden, the cornstalks are bundled together, and we carve some really strange
pumpkins. In our back yard we have created a special “family graveyard” to honor our beloved
dead. I’ve made a number of Styrofoam tombstones with names, dates, and epitaphs for people
we’ve cared about who have died. Then in mid-October we throw an annual “Addams Family
Reunion” party, inviting all our friends to dress up in their best Goth gear and Victorian ensembles.