Blessed Samhain!

Ghouls & Goblins, Samhain has arrived! Blessed be thee!

Also, Happy Halloween! What a wonderful time of year it is! Not blisteringly hot, not painfully cold, allergies have calmed down, comfort food is everywhere, sweet are everywhere to be found, & everything smells like a cozy sweater feels! Who doesn't love this time of year?

So in the post that I wrote yesterday recapping the Halloween party, I mentioned writing today & sharing a bit about how I celebrate Samhain.

For those that don't know Samhain is celebrated in October 31st & November 1st, & is considered the same as All Hallows Eve. Halloween, All Hallows Eve, & Samhain are roughly the same holiday for pagans.

Side Note: Please take everything I'm saying here lightly, I am only one pagan (specifically a follower of the Green Path) & how I celebrate this respected season is unique to me. That being said, let us continue!

So what does Samhain celebrate?

It celebrates the dead with festivities such as communions around bonfires with music, feasting, & general celebrations. Samhain, pronounced Saw-ween, is also celebrating the end of the final harvests of the year & the beginning of the cold days.

Why do we celebrate?

Well, this one is a shout-out to why we also celebrate Halloween/ All Hallows Eve! Originally, when the first pagans (Celtics) began celebrating Samhain, it was b/c the veil between our world & afterlife thinned greatly. This allowed spirits to cross over, some of those spirits being our ancestors & some not. It was a way for us to show gratitude for all they had done for us & to show them that we were still prospering from their hard work.

What connection does this have to Halloween?

Halloween, All Hallows Eve, & Samhain are almost one in the same. Remember, take that lightly. Halloween is the Americanized version or All Hallows Eve which is another version (more popularized among the majority of pagans) of Samhain. When pagans came over from Europe, they still desired to practice their craft & equinoxes but, after the massive Witch Trails that spread like wildfire across Europe & along the coast of the 13 colonies (you remember Salem Witch Trails, yes?) they had to do so in a way that wasn't scary. Thus the Americanized version of All Hallows Eve was born, Halloween!

So, how do you celebrate Samhain?

Honestly, not too differently than Halloween is celebrated! For starters, we still carve pumpkins. As I mentioned in an earlier post, carving gourds was a way to ward away the un-ancestor spirits that would cross over from the veil. Hosting parties, surrounding yourself with those you care & love while feasting & celebrating (music, eating seasonal foods, & merriment!). Bonfires aren't as easy to have as they were before but can be substituted with candles. This sort of environment is ideal for your ancestors & showing them that their lingenue is still prospering & successful.

Something that is unlike your typical Halloween is setting up alters. Keep in mind, not all pagans do this &, for those that do, we all do it a bit differently. (I'll attached a photo below sharing a bit of my alter.) Normally, on a festival alter you'll find an assortment of the same things for every holiday. Color matching candles (for this season Orange, yellow, black, red, & brown), a piece of the season (acorns, pumpkins, apples, seasonal herbs, etc.), an assortment of crystals (smokey quartz, onyx, ciritine, to name a few), if you chose to worship with a certain deity there should be something present to represent them, a sacrifice if you would like (I normally put out some of my homemade apple cider!), & truly the list goes on. These are just the basics that should be included!

That all being said, I do still celebrate Halloween in an Americanized way as well as the traditional way! There is no shame in the game here. One of my favorite things is seeing how excited little kids get when they go trick or treating, wearing their costumes & gawking over the jumbo candy bars that that one house always has. Ya know the house!

Halloween is such a wholesome time of year & if you don't see than then there is something inside of you that you need to reevaluate.

Ooof sorry for being so serious there, anyways...

There is nothing more fun than making & eating festive foods on festive plates &... let's play a game: everytime I use the word festive in this post take a shot. (Just kidding, you'd get alcohol poisoning!) Listening to spooky music, watching scary movies with a group of your friends, hiding behind the blanket when you know the killer is going to pop around the corner but it still makes you scream. Going to local farms & picking pumpkins with the ones you love, carving them up & eating the roast seeds together. Haunted corn mazes & hayrides while wrapped in the arms of someone that loves you. Eating hearty, comfort foods while the windows are fogging up.

The autumn season is for Lovers, both romantic & platonic, family & friends.

Speaking of lovers, where is the special Halloween lunch that I made for Gabe & myself today:

Habanero skull shaped grilled cheeses & spicy chili, a hearty & cozy skull-rattling lunch!

The skull imprint was done by my Halloween waffle press that I got from Target & the two dishes in the pictures are also from Target. Target & I have a very good relationship! & the socks are also from Target, though I'm gonna guess that you guys already guessed that.

Lunch was a hit though, to circle back around. You'd be surprised at how good a waffle press is at making grilled cheese. I was!

Anyways, later this evening Gabe is hosting a DnD one shot that is horror themed & I'm both nervous & excited about it. Nervous b/c I'm playing a class that I've never played before & I've never played with his friends who I've only briefly met. Oh, they also play online which isn't something that I am use to. Excited b/c it's DnD! It's with Gabe, who is the DM (no, that doesn't stand for Dream Man, though that is what he is. It stands for Dungeon Master!) & b/c I'll be playing a truly badass character who is Neutral Evil, which I've never played before! I'm worried I'm going to be too nice!

There will be some Halloween movies to watch in between now & then, mainly by me since Gabe does need to name before the DnD one shot. But, it'll be a good day!

I hope you all have a spooky, safe, & festive day,

Until Next Time,

Haunted Lore