I am the hallow-tide of all souls passing,
I am the bright releaser of all pain,
I am the quickener of the fallen seed-case,
I am the glance of snow, the strike of rain.
I am the hollow of the winter twilight,
I am the hearth-fire and the welcome bread,
I am the curtained awning of the pillow,
I am unending wisdom’s golden thread.
~ Song of Samhain, Celtic Devotional:
Daily Prayers and Blessings, by Caitlín Matthews
The Wheel of Time has turned again, and we are now in the magical period that ancient Celts and modern Witches call Samhain. Also known as Samhuinn by our Druid friends, the Great Sabbat of Samhain (pronounced SAH-wen, SAH-ween, or SOW (rhymes with cow) -wen) is the third and final harvest, marking Summer’s end.
It is the celebration of the New Year in both the old Celtic calendar and also in many traditions of the Craft. In the Northern Hemisphere, this marks the midpoint between the Autumn Equinox and the Winter Solstice, although by strict astronomical reckoning that falls on Nov. 7 this year, depending on your time zone.
I would suggest that this encourages us to observe this hallowed time, not only for one day, but for a sacred stretch of time.
Samhain is the opposite point of the year from the celebrations of life and fertility of May Day, or Beltane, which our friends below the equator are celebrating today.
A most merry Beltane to all our dear ones in the Southern Hemisphere!
Sparks from the Hearth of the Queen of Death and Life
Today, we stand in the gateway between the old, which is utterly and forever gone and the new, which has not fully arrived.
It is now that our beloved dead are remembered. Here the veil thins and Mystery comes upon us, ready or not.
There is so little in our Western secular culture that even remotely prepares us for the irrevocable powers of Life, Death, and chthonic transformation, as they overturn the haute couture pretense, plastic pumpkins, pointy hats, and chocolate bars.
Once again this year, that superficiality is being relentlessly exposed in all its corruption and failure, and nothing will ever be the same, no matter how much Wall Street and Washington might pretend otherwise.
We would do well to learn from the wisdom of other cultures, who take this threshold time to honor and celebrate their Ancestors.
For once again, we are entering the dark half of the year. What if you, at least momentarily, stepped away from the artifice of our culture and listened to the whispers of your forebears? For there are treasures in this liminal time, bittersweet as they may sometimes be.
A Witch’s View of Human Nature
As most educated people know, neither Witches nor Samhain have anything whatsoever to do with “satan,” who is strictly a Christian invention. While our stories have plenty of tricksters and even a few nasty villains, there is no entity of supernatural evil in the beliefs or practices of Witchcraft or Paganism. Witchcraft is NOT “Satanic.”
Satanists are a whole different thing. And by the way, our Constitution STILL (for now) protects their rights.
Note: As I have written in past years, it would be naive and wrong to say that baleful use of the natural magic and energies of the Earth never occurs. For instance, we know for a fact that many of the despicable and dangerous people who are right now busy overthrowing our democracy in America are knowingly employing malefic magical practices, including the wicked powers that were adopted by Hitler's Nazis, and must be taken seriously in their intentions.
➡️ They do not identify as, nor would they be recognized as, Witches.
More tellingly, most Witches and Pagans do not believe in the myth of fundamental wrongness being at the heart of the world or human nature.
We especially reject the notion of “original sin” and the subsequent eternal punishment of all humanity, or that the “fall” was caused by the inherent wickedness of Woman.
For millennia, Western civilization has been haunted and manipulated by the terror that a taint of evil lurks in even the most innocent of us.
Sadly, the fallout from this is that most people are alienated from, and deeply afraid of, the natural cycles of living, aging, and dying. And yet a morbid fascination with violence, death, and horror is central to popular entertainment pastimes.
For our ancestors, as well as in cultures not dominated by the Abrahamic religions, when you eliminate the fear that there is a stain of evil or accursedness dwelling within every single one of us (mediated only by the Church), then you have a very different relationship to the fact of death. It also completely changes the way we relate to the Earth Herself.
Death may bring deep grief to those left behind, but it is not the grotesque horror that we have turned it into, in our modern, “enlightened” times.
On the contrary, we sense that the boundary that lies between the living and the departed, and between what is past, present, and future has become thin.
This is not a spooky, terrifying thing to us. Consensual reality shifts, and other dimensions are revealed, enabling us to welcome and commune with our beloved dead, as well as our Otherworldly guides and contacts. It reminds us that we are not alone and that love endures.
The End of the End, the Beginning of the Beginning
Halloween and All Saints Day have their origin in the ancient Celtic feast of Samhain. The All Saints ceremonies had originally been in the Springtime, but the Catholic church, in an attempt to stamp out the Pagan rites of Samhain, superimposed their celebrations to this time.
We do not, in fact, really know what went on at those most ancient rites, as the wise Ronald Hutton reminds us.
In the modern Gaelic languages, the name of the feast means “summer’s end.” In the modern Brythonic languages, it means “the first day of winter.” 
It is the end of the end, the beginning of the beginning. The Celts honored the intertwining forces of existence: darkness and light, night and day, cold and heat, death and life.
Celtic knotwork art represents this intertwining. The old ones observed time as proceeding from darkness to light. Thus, the Celtic day began at dusk, the beginning of the dark and cold night, and ended the following dusk, the end of a day of light and warmth.
Similarly, the Celtic year began with An Geamhradh (“an gyow-ragh”), the dark Celtic winter, and ended with Am Foghar (“am fu-ghar”), the Celtic harvest. So Samhain marks the beginning of both An Geamhradh and the new Celtic year.
Throughout history and across cultures, this is a time for making peace with one another, and with the inevitability of death.
This would have been the third and final harvest of the growing season, with Lughnasadh (Aug. 1) being the first harvest of grains and Mabon (Equinox) being the final harvest of fruits and vegetables. Samhain marked the blood harvest of cattle, pigs, and other animals that had to be culled to survive the encroaching Winter.
Thus, stories with a theme of the death and the transformation cycle, as well as rituals honoring and welcoming the spirits of our beloved dead Ancestors are central to our rites.
Our Magical Legacy
While the revelry of Halloween can be fun, it is not Pagan. Instead, Halloween is a commercialized, secular event. It is amusing that some conservative churches are trying to “clean up” what they fear is the Pagan influence of this night by having “Fall Harvest Festivals,” since that is actually much closer to the Pagan observances.
This night is our most holy, reflective, and deeply sacred time.
So to my friends who love to party, dress up, and carouse on this night, enjoy.
But for me, especially in light of another year of violence and death that registers for a moment and then is swept away as if it never happened, my feelings and sensibilities at this time could hardly be further away from those activities.
Instead, like most other Witches, Druids, and Pagans, I will be in sacred space on this most spiritual of nights. We’ll be bidding welcome to our beloved departed ones by freshening their resting places if nearby, decorating our altars in their honor, preparing their favorite foods, perhaps hosting a dumb supper, and lighting candles to show them the way.
We review the old year’s triumphs and shortcomings, and we may burn symbols or actual items in our bonfires representing that which we wish to release for good.
For a good resource of more suggested rites, including a well-thought-out guide to choreographing a dumb supper, stop by here. And thanks, Selene.
The Start of the Wild Hunt
This is a night of great power, when we may seek wisdom through divination and sacred contact with the Otherworlds.
It is a time to contemplate our own ephemeral existence in this Middle World of life and to accept with grace our place in the Spiral Dance of life and death.
Our predecessors took Samhain quite seriously. Any crops not harvested by this day were known to belong to the “Shrouded One” and left alone. Thus, I leave a stalk of my Summer basil as an offering.
Ancestors not honored at this time could be expected to plague the living with ill luck. Thus, tonight is an important time to set a place at the table for your beloved dead and give offerings to those who have crossed over to the Summerlands.
The most fierce Faery races, led by the Lord of the Faery, Finvara, King of the Dead, ride forth, beginning on this night. Along with the hosts of the dead, they sweep up all the souls of those who have died within the past year.
Commonly known as The Wild Hunt, this fabled activity continues until Yule, so beware of dark, lonely places at night, lest you be taken by mistake.
We Honor the Old Ones
On this sabbat, in addition to giving our honor to the Gods of the Wild Hunt and Gatherers of Souls, like Gwyn ap Nudd, we offer our devotion to the Underworld Goddesses and the Old Ones. They include the Morrighan, Demeter, Hel, and Orchil.
This year, there are hopeful signs that the brazen neo-Nazi, misogynist, racist, authoritarian cruelty that has been infesting our imperiled planet is not inevitable after all. Thus, I implore each one of you reading this to VOTE!
And call upon your Wisest Ones, They who guard wisdom, justice, and democracy. They might include the Goddesses Columbia (who watches over our U.S. Capitol Building as the “Statue of Freedom”), Justitia, and Athena.
And on this day especially, since the last day of the month is always sacred to Her, let us call upon mighty Hecate. It is She who advocates for the downtrodden and marginalized on behalf of mothers and children. And She is our own Goddess of the Witches.
The Burning Times
In addition, on this day, we remember all those men, women, and children who have been burned, hanged, imprisoned, beaten, drowned, tortured, starved, and murdered as Witches.
The Witch hunts during The Inquisition and European wars of religion peaked between about 1580 and 1630, but there were over three centuries of terror, with an estimated total of 40,000–100,000 people executed. Mostly women.
But let’s be clear.
Witchcraft continues to be misunderstood and persecuted across the globe today. In some countries, including so-called “modern” ones, suspected Witches are still routinely put to public and torturous death.
Alas, those persecutions are on the rise again, for when fear and ignorance tip into the extreme, scapegoats become targets. This includes in America, where greedy, extreme fundamentalist factions feel emboldened to attack, harm, and condemn us.
But we will continue to strive for justice and understanding for all in danger. And we vow:
Never again the burnings! And hangings. And drownings. And torture.
The Wall of Remembrance in Salem, Massachusetts
Dates of Execution from America’s REAL Witchhunt
(And, frankly, screw those who keep trivializing this term for their self-pity and ego!)
I invite you to remember them aloud in your rites on this holy day:
- Bridget Bishop (June 10, 1692)
- Rebecca Nurse (July 19, 1692)
- Sarah Good (July 19, 1692)
- Elizabeth Howe (July 19, 1692)
- Susannah Martin (July 19, 1692)
- Sarah Wildes (July 19, 1692)
- George Burroughs (August 19, 1692)
- George Jacobs Sr. (August 19, 1692)
- Martha Carrier (August 19, 1692)
- John Proctor (August 19, 1692)
- John Willard (August 19, 1692)
- Martha Corey (September 22, 1692; wife of Giles Corey)
- Mary Eastey (September 22, 1692)
- Mary Parker (September 22, 1692)
- Alice Parker (September 22, 1692)
- Ann Pudeator (September 22, 1692)
- Wilmot Redd (September 22, 1692)
- Margaret Scott (September 22, 1692)
- Samuel Wardwell Sr. (September 22, 1692)
- Giles Corey (September 19, 1692) – Pressed to death, the only such execution on record in America. Last words, “More weight!”
Died in prison
- Ann Foster — convicted and died in custody in December 1692
- Mercy, infant daughter of Sarah Good
- Sarah Osborne— died in prison (May 10, 1692) before she could be tried
- Roger Toothaker – died before trial (June 16, 1692) probably due to torture or maltreatment
- Lydia Dustin – found not guilty but died in custody
Convicted but escaped:
- Mary Bradbury
A Few of the Beloved Dead of 2026
This year, a number of contemporary Witches, Pagans, and other non-traditional magical people crossed the veil. My thanks to Rebecca Crystal of the Church of All Worlds (C.A.W.), who tracks these each year.
These are a few of our luminaries. We take a moment to thank them and wish them blessed journeys:
Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki (6/11/1929-1/8/2026): Beloved British occult writer, third generation psychic, Priestess, and practitioner. Published many books and designed two Tarot decks (Servants of the Light Tarot and Shakespearean). Succeeded Walter Ernest Butler as Director of Studies of the Servants of the Light.
Rev. Mari Chandra Powers (9/14/1956-2/24/2026): Feminist, poet, chantsinger, ritualist, teacher, published writer, and longtime Circle Sanctuary Community Member and Minister. Mari helped develop the childcare/family center and programming at Pagan Spirit Gathering (PSG). Mari was part of the Feri tradition and a member at large with the Covenant of the Goddess. Mari did prison ministry work and also was active in interfaith and intrafaith networking.
Carolyn Elliott, PhD (7/26/2026): American occultist, author, professor of occult philosophy through writing, lectures, online coaching, and her Sleep Over Mystery School. Founder of the online magazine, Witch.
Priestess Miriam Chamani (9/10/1943–8/16/2026): Mambo and co-founder of the Voodoo Spiritual Temple on North Rampart Street, New Orleans. Born Mary Robin Adams to sharecroppers and raised Baptist in a segregated Mississippi that expected her to work cotton. 1982 was ordained a bishop in the Angel Angel All Nations Spiritual Church in Chicago. She gave bone readings, officiated weddings and funerals, prepared gris-gris and oils, and sat with people after Katrina.
Timothy White Eagle (2/23/1955-9/12/2026): Founded Pagan, queer, and Earth-centered spiritual haven Wolf Creek Radical Faerie Sanctuary in Oregon and staged open-mic queer-punk-performance-art cabarets. He studied under Two-Spirit Shoshone-Métis elder Clyde Hall.
Kim Fitch Tharp (2/23/1955 – 9/12/2026) Department Manager since 2019 for the Rosencomet Project, including the Creation Station at the Starwood Festival. Massage therapist, and loved as the “Dolly Parton” of Starwood.
Claude Lawrence “Larry” Cornett (8/28/1947 – 4/30/2026): A vital member of the U.S. Pagan community for decades, a civil rights activist, an environmentalist, and an early supporter of the Buckland Museum. He published the vital pre-internet Pagan Events Calendar, which led to the founding of the Chameleon Club and subsequently the long-running Starwood festival. He encourages us to “freak out the squares!”
Valentina Burton (10/27/60 – 10/24/26): Also known as the Fortune Teller of Dallas, she was a beloved Tarot reader, spiritual practitioner, teacher, and author from Dallas, Texas. She combined the ancient arts of astrology, palmistry, and card reading with a wickedly delicious sense of humor, an elegant, stylish flair for the dramatic, and a deep commitment to an ethical, compassionate practice.
The Unnamed, But Remembered
The conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East and the war on the environment being led by the oligarchs drag on and on. As of June this year, one in every 70 people, or 1.4 percent of the entire world’s population, has now been forcibly displaced. There is no way of knowing how many children, women, and men are falling through the cracks of statelessness.
Gun violence, ICE murders and kidnappings, and ongoing mass shootings in the United States threaten to numb even the most aware of us. Let us remember this night all law-abiding protectors and innocent victims, even as we work towards an end to the state-sponsored terror. Let us pray for—and VOTE for—a far more compassionate and enlightened governance.
Last but certainly not least, no matter how much the current administration tries to hide and deny the global climate crisis information from our government websites, there is no erasing the staggering loss of life we are now enduring, including countless non-human family members dead, dying, and becoming extinct.
The Earth is losing animal species at 1,000 to 10,000 times the natural rate, and as many as 30 to 50 percent of the planet’s species may be extinct by 2050, the Center for Biological Diversity warns. The natural rate is around one to five species lost each year.
Let us give honor to them, as well as the memory of the men, women, and children who have perished this year due to Earth changes, although their names and sometimes the events themselves may not be known to us. From wildfires to catastrophic flooding, drought and resultant famine, and toxic pollution, current estimates are that millions of people are dying every year due to the climate crisis.
What is remembered lives.
Blessed Be
Whew. Yes, it’s a lot, I know.
Still, though, as people of real magic, we do not hide in denial or fantasy. We see with clear eyes and opened hearts, for they truly are our magical superpowers.
Thus, this day and night, may the transformation you most need come to you gently, lovingly, and surely. May you celebrate with your beloved dead and merry meet at the crossroads of your destiny.
Rather than shun or fear them, may you embrace the quiet, needful gifts that the endarkenment offers. And with the blessings of the Dark Mother’s infinite compassion and wisdom, may you begin a very Happy, Hope-filled New Year.
To you, and all your beloveds, I wish you a most blessed Samhain!
