pagans, how do you celebrate halloween/samhain?

Question

please give some details of your rituals to educate non pagans who fear what we do, thanks.

Answer 1

This is my first year really embracing my pagan roots, with Wicca. I have an altar that my 8 year old and I have had fun decorating with Autumn things like leaves, acorns, feathers, flowers, etc. I will celebrate by lighting candles for my mother and those that have gone on before me. I will go trick or treating with my children and hand out candy to adorable children. I will visit with the moon and thank God/Goddess for life, and for death. I will relish the wonderful Autumn night.

Answer 2

Halloween = All souls eve It is a time of honoring those who have passed away during the past year. It is concurrent to an extent with the Pagan Samhain and the Christian all Souls Day. Halloween was a night that transcended the rife between religions. In the last two centuries that has changed as some sects and denominations of the Christian Church have connected their Demigod Satan to the name Halloween. To me, it is still a night for the Dumb Dinner and childrens' delight in becoming play ghosts--at least in the past--It is a time of the Jack-O-Lanterns to be spread over porch and tree.

Answer 3

i am very casual when it comes to celebrating samhain. i usually invite a bunch of friends over and we have a feast. then we'll usually camp out in the woods and have a bonfire and do some rituals for the new year, usually consisting of burning certain herbs or oils and writing things thats you'd like to change about yourself in the coming year and putting them in the fire. very basic spells since most of them are not pagan.

for me it is mostly an informal celebration. but for many other pagans it may be an elaborate, elegant one.

Answer 4

Prob. hand out candy to the neighborhood kids, then light candles to honor those in my family who have died. I decorated my alter with picture of those who have passed away as well as Autumn leaves, squash, pumpkins etc. Will prob. leave out gifts of food for the spirits! What is so scary about that? If I can get the material I might even make a costume and dress up this year! Blessed Be!

Answer 5

Since my kids have decided they're too old for the trick or tricking part of Halloween, we hang out and watch horror flicks. We also read together "Halloween - The World Between". For Samhain, we visit the graves of family members (and the river where my grandmother had her ashes thrown in) then have a quiet dinner (its hard to keep kids silent so we keep chatter to a minimum), then have a small private ritual. Also, our coven joins together at some point within that week to celebrate together. We try to attend some harvest festivals in the area - about two weeks ago we went to a local winery's grape harvest festival.

Answer 6

for many pagans, halloween--or samhain--marks the beginning of the new year and on that day the "veil" between the spirit world and our world is very thin, so spirits are able to walk among the living. So this is a great day to honor our ancestors. I do so by remembering what people who have died were like in life and what they meant to me, and thank them for having shared a part of that life with me. At the same time, I enjoy doing the pumpkin carving and passing out candy thing, too. Since it's "new years" I also tell goddess what my hopes are for the next year and light a candle to thank her for her help in obtaining those desires. This year's full moon is tomorrow so that's the day I will be doing spellwork to lay the foundation to get what I want--for those who are wondering, I want my lawsuit to successfully conclude and my money from it to get here, and i also want my relationships to continue to grow and prosper, and i want healing for some of them so that they can be better than they are at present. Also I want to see my sister prosper financially next year, she is very worried about poverty in the coming year and needs all the positive energy she can get. For the world at large, I am hoping for the end of the stupid war in Iraq, and I am sending healing energy to California in the midst of their tragedy with being on fire and lots of people suffering losses as a result. So these issues will all be put before the goddess on halloween and I will be lighting a big candle on my altar to "get divine attention" for the issues i mentioned. Then my sisters and I will be going out to play bingo and have some fun.

Answer 7

I celebrate largely the same way most people do, dressing up, passing out candy, drinking etc.

Some practices that are different include leaving a candle in the window to invite ancestors in. Leaving them a small plate of food to honor them. And a cleansing ritual designed to rid myself of unwanted negativity and undesirable qualities.

Answer 8

Well I don't have a full ritual written out yet but I know we are going to have a bon fire on that night. I will also be throwing a stone into the fire, so will my husband. As soon I am done with the finishing touches on the rest of the ritual I will know more.

I'm such a procrastinator.

Answer 9

Halloween is Winternights for me so I will probaly be spending it holding a small faining to Skadi, the Goddess of Winter since the day marks the first day of that season and I will probaly do something to honor the dead too. Oh and of course butchering the neighbor's dog to Satan is on the agenda too.

Answer 10

Pretty much the same way everyone else does, really. I decorate with a lot of fall things -- leaves and pumpkins and squashes. The greatest appeal of paganism for me has always been the marking of the passing of time -- rejoicing in each season as it comes.

One thing I have done for years is leave a bowl of Cheez-its out for my mother. A pagan friend of mine talked about leaving nourishment for those who have left this world, so they have strength for their journey. I do not believe in spirits, but I leave mom's favorite snack out in memory of her.

My pumpkin this year has the face of the Horned God on it! : )


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