Samhain: The Celtic New Year Festival (Rituals & Guide)
As the days grow shorter, the year gradually comes to a close. With Samhain, the festival of darkness, we approach the final weeks of the year. Leaves fall from the trees, nature retreats, preparing for winter’s stillness—a stillness that holds the seeds of the new. This is a time when the veil between worlds is particularly thin, allowing for connection with the departed. It is a magical period, similar to the Rauhnächte (the Twelve Nights).
Meditation for Samhain: Lifting the Veil of the Otherworld
When is Samhain in 2024?
Samhain is a lunar festival celebrated on the night of October 31st to November 1st or on the 11th New Moon after Yule. According to the witch’s calendar, Samhain occurs on the 11th New Moon of the year, which in 2024 falls on November 1st.
Halloween is celebrated on October 31st, and in Christian tradition, All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days (November 1st and 2nd) honor the dead and ancestors. In Mexico, Día de los Muertos celebrates the connection between life and death. Halloween’s name derives from “All Hallows’ Eve,” the evening before All Saints’ Day. In the Celtic tradition, Samhain marks October 31st and November 1st, a time to remember the dead and offer food at the “Festival of the Dead,” a custom still seen in Halloween’s candy-giving and dressing up.
Samhain (pronounced “sow-in”) also marks the beginning of the Celtic New Year (although some Irish legal texts cite Beltane as the start). It is one of the four major Irish-Celtic seasonal festivals: Imbolc (February 1st), Beltane (May 1st), Lughnasadh (August 1st), and Samhain (November 1st). On these days, the connection between worlds is said to be especially close.
Traditionally, it is believed that on this day, spirits can be seen and communicated with. Samhain and the following days and nights usher in the magical period of the Rauhnächte. Use this time for retreat, inner reflection, divination, and dream journaling.
Rituals for Samhain
1. Letting Go and Transformation
Letting go can be a liberating experience. Old habits, thoughts, and relationships that no longer serve us can be released to make way for the new. Light a fire or candle for reflection. Write down everything you want to release on a piece of paper, add herbs like sage, and let it burn to ash.
2. Farewell to Broken Dreams and Wishes
A beautiful Samhain ritual (or for Winter Solstice) involves writing down broken dreams and what you wished for instead, along with your values. Draw a circle around yourself, light a candle, and gaze into it for a few moments. Burn the paper with a candle, placing it in a fireproof container with incense as it burns. Take salt into your mouth for physical cleansing, or even treat yourself to a salt bath.
3. Divination
Now is a time for divination: tarot cards, runes, or any oracle cards are ideal tools.
4. Journey to your ancestors
Honor your ancestors by looking through pictures or memories, or visiting places that connect you to them.
5. Retreat and rest
Take time for yourself: enjoy quiet, rest, enough sleep, and self-care. Honor this time of retreat and introspection.
6. Inner Journey
More than ever, November is an ideal time for inner journeys. Reflect, say goodbye to the old, and let go.
7. Gathering wishes
Consider what you wish for in the coming year and make a list. You can continue adding to this list in the weeks ahead.
Goddesses of the Samhain Wheel of the Year Festival
The goddesses of Samhain are the dark, wise goddesses of the underworld, death, and destruction. They teach us that death is not an end but holds the potential for rebirth. All is part of an eternal cycle.
The Greek goddess Hecate, goddess of magic, death, and transitions, opens gates at crossings and is one aspect of the Triple Goddess (the white maiden Persephone, red mother goddess Demeter, and wise black death goddess Hecate). In Celtic tradition, these goddesses include Cerridwen and the dark Morrigan. In Indian mythology, Kali, the black goddess and aspect of the motherly Durga, confronts you with your fears and helps you journey through darkness to reach the light.
Samhain and Additional Rauhnächte
The following two nights are also part of the Rauhnächte or “release nights”: time for divination, dream journaling, and introspection.
All Saints’ Day / All Souls’ Day (November 1st / 2nd)
A Christian tradition that honors saints and ancestors. Connect with holy men and women or ancestors for protection and guidance. As with the Rauhnächte, note events and dreams—they may relate to the New Year. Remember: this is for inspiration, not prophecy—your fate and what you make of it are in your hands.
Hubertus Night (November 2nd / 3rd)
Hubertus Night, dedicated to Saint Hubert, the patron of hunters, foresters, and woodsmen, is also a “wonder night,” ideal for divination, dream journaling, and inviting luck and blessings.
In Celtic tradition, the stag god Cernunnos descends into the underworld to return as a mediator between worlds, symbolizing the cycle of life, death, and rebirth.
Festival of Lights
Besides the dark festivals of Samhain, Halloween, All Saints’, All Souls’ Days, and Día de los Muertos, we also have famous festivals of light:
- Diwali, an Indian festival of lights, falls around late October to early November. It involves lighting clay oil lamps (diyas) to honor the goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity, inviting success and wealth.
- Hanukkah, celebrated in Israel in November or December, commemorates the victory of the Israelites over foreign invaders and the rededication of the Temple. It also recalls a miracle: only enough consecrated oil remained for one day, but the temple lamp burned for eight days.
