Samhain Ritual Essay

By: Diamond Weaver, 2007

This Sabbat is called Samhain. It is on November 5 or 6 depending on the degree of the Sun in that year.

Samhain is the last of the 3 Harvests, the meat harvest, when animals not selected to be kept for breeding were slaughtered and the meat salted and preserved.

It is also the Celtic New Year.  During this time the walls between the worlds is the thinnest, and communication with those that have “passed over�?is easier.

Samhain is the time to bring honor and hospitality to dead ancestors. Prayers and food offerings are left on doorsteps and altars. There is even a place set at some tables for those love ones who has passed to Summerland.

Samhain is a time to reflect on the pass and prepare for the future.  It is during this turn in the Wheel that the Goddess and God are in the aspects of the Crone and the Lord of the Hunt. The Lord of the Sun passes away at this time and becomes the Lord of the Hunt so later in the Wheel he can be reborn from the Goddess. The Goddess passes from the Mother aspect to the Crone. The Crone is the Goddess of the underworld and it is through Her that you get to Summerland to be reborn again. It is also through her that the Lord is reborn further in the Wheel of the year.

During a Samhain Ritual you asked the Goddess Cerridwen and the God Arawn to be with you during this night. You also give them thanks for the bounty they have provided for you during the year. You may also ask the Crone to take with her into the underworld(earth) any thing about yourself you wish to get rid, but you must fill it with something so make sure you let the Goddess know what you are filling it with.

It was during this part of the ritual that I felt a profound sense of peace after I gave away all the thoughts that kept hounding me about the bad times in my family.  I also filled the void left there with more love for my family and self worth. I have been in a really good mood ever since. Right after I did that part of the ritual my heart felt healed and lighter.

The colors that are used for Samhain are the following, Orange, black, silver, fall colors.

The Herbs used at Samhain are Pumpkin, Sage, Wormwood, Hazel, All spice.

During the month before Samhain I decorated my house with Apples, Pumpkins, and new Broom, and Flowers that were the colors of fall. I also made a new altar cloth; there is a scan of it at L&S.  I also made a door hanging of fall colors in a star shape for my front door.

When I was getting ready for the Ritual that night, during my ritual shower that I felt a real connection with the forces of the elementals, as the water rushed down my body I could almost see all the negative energy flowing away, it was a dirty brown color. When it was gone, I felt really energized with a positive force.  During the mediation part of the ritual I could really see the white light pour from my head over my body like a waterfall.

When we were doing the part of the mediation where we saw the oak trees, this is what I saw:

There were 2 majestic oaks with large branches that went from the ground to the sky. They were filled with leaves of the darkest green you could ever see, so green they were almost black. Each branch was filled with acorns the size of my fist, all perfectly formed. As I walked through these to the threshold of the 2 worlds I was not afraid at all. I knew that when I took the King and Queen invitation to cross over with them to the other side that I would be meet there by my Daddy.

The rest of the ritual was fore me really beautiful and filled with love and positive energy

After the ritual was over we all stayed and did tarot readings for each other. Mine was very insightful to me. It explained that I needed to slow down and be quite long enough to hear the music or messages that the spirits are trying to give me. Instead of worrying about the details I need to look at the big picture and let the small stuff take care of itself. I need to take the time to explore my inner & outer self/. I also need to pay attention to my dreams more. Which I’m doing by keeping a dream journal. The only part I’m of my reading I don’t know how to do is call on a familiar. As I have never done that before. I will be reading the boards to find out how to do this.

Attached is the picture of my altar. I know it is dark but the camera was low on batteries.