Ritual Theme: Death and rebirth, Celtis new year, God and Goddess in the Underworld, honouring the ancestors, third harvest - meat

 

Astrology: Sun in Scorpio

 

Lunar Correspondances: Waning crescent Moon

 

Deities: Death God, Death Goddess, Hornèd God, War Goddess, Underworld King and Queen, Morgan, Dagda, Cernunnos, Dis Pater, Pan, Hades/Pluto and Persephone/Proserpina, Hel, Osiris, Ereshkigal

 

Altar: pumpkins, qourds, leaves, acorns, animal horn, crow feathers, plates of food, photos/mementos of the ancestors, black candles, scrying mirror

 

Colours: black, orange, scarlet, brown

 

Herbs: All herbs of Scorpio and Pluto; all poisonous and hallucingenic herbs, as well as roots and rhizomes. Traditional herbs include apple, pomegranate, pumpkin, oak, ginger, sarsaparilla, ginseng, mushroom, mandrake, wormwood, mullein, almond, hazel, hemlock cones, garlic, yew, chrysanthemum, pear, thistle, all grains, harvested fruits and nuts, corn

 

Symbolism: The end of the Summer, the dead are honoured

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 quides them to the lands of eternal summer, and burying apples in the hard-packed earth "feeds" the passed ones on their journey.

For food, beets, turnips, apples, corn, nuts, gingerbread, cider, mulled wines and pumpkin dishes are appropriates, as are meat dishes.

Samhain, pronounced sow-en, was the ending of the Celtic year. The ritual was known as the Feast of the Dead or Ancestor Night. Becasue the veil between the worlds is thinnest on this night, it is considered to be an excellent time for divinations. Feasts are made in remembrance of dead ancestors and as an affirmation of continuing life. A time for settling problems, throwing out old ideas and influences.