Celebrating Samhain

Honoring the seasons has been a part of my personal spiritual practices for more than 20 years. Connecting with the nuances of the eight holidays associated with the Celtic Calendar or the Wheel of the Year, has been a way for me to access my spiritual practices, throughout the year, with a specific energetic theme to each event. Below are some suggestions for celebrating the season of Samhain (pronounced Sow-wain), the third of three harvest celebrations. Samhain happens on October 31st. Enjoy the turn of the wheel of the seasons!

Energies of the Season

• Contemplating ancestor connections

• Thinning of the veil between worlds

• Travel between worlds

• Lean into the darkness

• Turning towards introspection

• Easier access to divination, psychic abilities and spirits.

Colors-Deep golds, scarlet, brown.

Crystals- Smokey quartz, jet, obsidian, amber, ruby, hematite

Herbs- Rosemary, Hawthorne leaves and berries, pumpkin seeds, mullein seeds, sage, nettle, garlic, mushrooms,

Decorating for the final Fall harvest has been made easier by the secular holiday of Halloween. Bringing elements of nature indoors, such as fall leaves, squash and pumpkins, even spider webs can help you get into the energy of the season.

This time of year many people feel the thinness of the veil between the material world and the spiritual world. Some people find it easier to hear the messages of the dead or other spiritual helpers during this season. Practicing divination skills can be more fruitful when practiced during the Fall. Creating a daily practice of pulling tarot or oracle cards can increase your confidence in your intuitive skills. I believe everyone is psychic and it is just a matter of developing this skill.

Practice Ideas:

Ancestor Dinners

Ancestor research

Ancestor Altars (see my blog post here)

Release Ritual

Ancestor Healing

Divination (12 cards spread for coming year)

One Samhain practice that focuses on of the thinning of the veil is creating a divination practice for the coming year. Consider pulling twelve cards from your tarot or oracle deck and make a note of each card in your journal. I have practiced this many times at this traditional new year time and it has helped me have insights into the coming months and seasons.

If you are comfortable mixing Samhain and Halloween, another favorite practice of mine is to dress up as my 'new self' for Halloween. My family celebrates Halloween, as a secular holiday, so dressing up as an adult wasn't a big social stretch. I didn't feel weird dressing up with my kiddo as we went trick or treating. My workplace also dressed up for Halloween so that was another opportunity for me to use this as a practice to bring in my new self with a magical twist. For years, I dressed up as a medieval spice vendor, as I was studying herbs, and I eventually had the opportunity to purchase an herbal medicine and metaphysical store. I owned this store with my partner for 15 years. I often feel as though my practice brought me this wonderful opportunity.

Crafts:

Pumpkin Carving Finding a wand

Create your future costume

Making candles

Samhain Feast: Mulled Cider or Wine

Oven roasted potatoes with Rosemary (for remembrance)

Roasted squash

Roasted Herb Chicken or Roasted Tofu

Green Salad with herbal dressing

Split pea soup in pumpkin shells

Homemade bread from a family recipe

Fortune Pumpkin muffins with cream cheese frosting

I love to share food with family and friends! Consider sharing your harvest feast with others. It can help you feel as though you are honoring the season if you set aside, time and resources to create a special dinner. Set a place at the table to honor all of the ancestors and serve that plate first, with the choice pieces. Once the meal is complete the food from the ancestor plate can be buried in the earth or composted! Above is a suggested menu to get your creativity started!

As you discover the best way for you to honor this time of year, give yourself some time to slow down, rest and be quiet. Moving deeper into the fall and winter season, notice what nature is doing, notice how the plants are not putting energy into growing leaves and fruit but they are putting energy into roots. What are your roots and how can you nourish that part of your life? How can you augment your foundations through the winter season? What are you doing to strengthen your bones, both figuratively and materially?

Enjoy the season and play and explore with what works for you! You do not have to get it perfectly this time around, this circular calendar comes around every year! Take each season and holiday as an opportunity to get to know your self better.

Karin Olsen is a healer, a seer and a teacher. Her experience includes studying plants for more than 20 years, owning an herb shop and metaphysical store for 15 years. She has been a massage therapist for over 25 years. Karin learned her psychic medium skills from her mother and sees clients via zoom. She teaches classes on earth-based spirituality through Moonhill Mystery School in the Salish Sea area. In 2021 she earned a Master of Ecopsychology from Naropa University. Go to www,moonhillnysteryschool.com to learn more about her classes and events.