Samhain Blessings and Divination

 

It’s May 1st, the traditional time of the final harvest festival – Samhain. In the Northern Hemisphere this is often referred to as Halloween or All Hallow’s Eve, a time when the veil is thinnest between the worlds and the dead walk amongst us once again. In the Southern Hemisphere we celebrate Samhain April 30/May 1st although the astrological date is early morning hours May 6th…auspiciously the morning after an eclipse (or not, depending on how you view eclipses). This year I am going to be trying to move forward with rebuilding my ancestor altar and looking at how I want my practice to progress because of late I have been somewhat disconnected to it.

There are some changes coming to the shop, the Sabbat boxes are being dialled back to 4 a run of the wheel; if you read the newsletter I explained it all in there but if not, the short version is that they are a lot of work, they take a lot of planning and creating and with my partner working a bit more and my Mum in a different town; it’s just me doing most of it. There are a few different things I want to focus on and achieve this year – or at least start – and the boxes tend to mean I don’t get as much time focus on other aspects of my life. On a spiritual level my background and ancestry is predominantly Gaelic/Brythonic and as I want to start really connecting with my roots there and moving toward a more authentic practice for myself, I realised that the solstices and equinoxes – while I enjoy them – are not in line with that. The Four Fire Festivals are Samhain, Imbolc, Bealtaine and Lughnasadh/Lammas – these were festivals observed by the Irish/Scots/Isle of Man and in similarity, festivals in that vein in England and Wales and I would like to build my practice centered around a modern interpretation of the practices/beliefs that my ancestors would of held.

Samhain is often a time of reflection and letting go to make way for the things that you want to come into your life; it is a time of honouring the Dead (if you have Dead you wish to honour) and reconnecting with our spiritual selves. We are entering the darker part of the year and this gives us time for pause and evaluation, to know what we need to thrive and what we need to part with in order to be able to thrive. This season take a moment to pause and reflect, see what you can let go of, what no longer supports you and how you want the rest of the year to go. It’s not always easy, but when you come off eclipse season, you may find that you are changed whether you want to be or not.

Samhain Altar 2023

So I did miss Mabon, but here is my Samhain altar, it’s not fancy. I’m still trying to get myself into the routine of creating Sabbat altars more regularly – it’s a work in progress I suppose.

And continuing on from Lughnasadh, here is a spread to try during Samhain to see what is being revealed to you. I am liking the idea of doing a spread for each Sabbat celebration, it’s an interesting way to connect with the season and any divination that you need to know.