Samhain (October 31)   Samhain, is pronounced (Sow-wan) is an ancient Celtic holiday, and where many of the traditions of our present day Halloween has come from....and one of the most important sabbats celebrated by all pagan traditions.... This is final harvest.....all of the pagan holidays are based on the wheel of the year, and the changes of the seasons..... This is also the ending of the old year and the beginning of the new year.....and the entering of the dark half of the year..... This is a time, when we reflect on the year that has passed, and we begin to focus on the upcoming year.....and what we want to bring into our lives, and the changes we need to make to continually grow spiritually.... Because it is the time of going from the light half of the year to the dark half of the year, on this night, the veils between the worlds are the thinnest....(the world of the living and the world of the dead, those not here, but in the spiritual plane) therefore, it is a time when people on this plane are able to most easily communicate with those who have passed to the other side.....and for those on the other side to make their presence most felt here..... Because of this.....this is the holiday, that we remember and give reverence those who we love who have passed on. WHAT WE DO ON SAMHAIN: We have big bonfires, as fire is so important at Samhain..... to illuminate the darkness of the coming dark half of the year.....And... because it is a new year, the annual rekindling of new fire takes place that the blessed influence of fresh fire may last throughout the whole year....therefore, on Samhain, we light the first candles from the Samhain bonfire to therefore light all the other candles in the house, to symbolize this..... It is a time, when we take all of the things of our lives, from the past year, that we no longer desire in our lives, and we release them in the fire..... which therefore purges them from us and dissipates it into the universe.... and plan for our hopes of coming year..... We also have what is called a "silent supper" to honor our loved ones who have passed on... the way we do this is, before we eat our own feast, we put out and burn a white candle, for each person we want to remember, and we may put out a picture or a possession that once belonged to them, to symbolize their spirit..... and we put out a plate of food for that soul.... we believe that on this night, our loved ones can take essence from the food..... after this is done, we eat our own feast in silence..... Also on Samhain, we do divination, as this is a time when you will get the most accurate readings, and also it is to help us with decisions for the coming year..... Another thing pagans may do is make themselves up as "Shades" . What this means is that we paint our faces with black and white and gray colors, to look like the dead......and then go out and about.... We do this based on tradition... the reason for this is because it is believed that because this is the time where the veils between the worlds is the thinnest that the dead may walk among the living..... and the pagans at this time, if they wronged someone in a past life, and they were about, on this plane, did not want that "soul" to recognize them.....so this was a way for them to "disguise" and protect themselves on this night..... and that is where the Halloween's custom of "dressing up" as someone else came from..... Some other common Halloween practices which came from this ancient holiday are: -Bonfires....were believed to scare off the faerie folk, which were out and about on this night.... often causing mischief.....we believe that even to this day, this is also a time when you can most easily see the fairies and elementals.... -Jack-O-Lanterns: were in the past, carved out gourds with scary faces.....that were lit with candles from within....and hung swinging on sticks....... this came from two things, the first being if one was traveling on the "night of the dead" they wanted something that would scare off the fairies....the other thought comes from those witches during the burning times, who would go to meet at their sabbat, and afraid of being caught would wear black, which would blend into the night....they would carry these scary gourds and the townspeople would only see this scary lit faces, seeming to be "floating in the air" and believe them to be the mischievous fairies traipsing about in the night, and they would be so afraid they would stay in their houses where they were safe, therefore not venturing out to see the witches going to their sabbat..... -Trick or Treating: once again, during the old times, people were very fearful of the tricks the fairies would play on humans.... and of the spirits walking this plane, especially on this eve.....so they would therefore leave "gifts" or treats at their back doors to "appease" the spirits and the fairies, to keep them from playing "tricks" on them, or causing mischief..... and also, they would never know whether it was real people dressed up as shades....the fairies or the spirits, so they didn't take their chances.... -Bobbing for apples.....was a divination practice to tell ones future love life....or who they would marry....I cant quite remember how this worked...but that is why it originated.... as in the practice, that I remember as a child of turning an apple stem, and saying the alphabet as you go and whatever letter it broke off at was the first name of your one true love.... ~Tala~