While Halloween is considered a fun holiday for children, Samhain is a serious celebration to most pagans. It is believed to be an "in between" time and is often called "Night of the Thin Veil", because at this time, it is believed that the "veil" between the worlds is the thinnest and it is easier to communicate with those who have passed on.
It is also called Ancestor Night or Feast of the Dead, as it is a time for remembering one’s ancestors, known and unknown. Some pagans put a lit candle in the window to help their ancestors find their way home on this night and an extra place is set at the table in invitation for them to join in Samhain dinner. Rituals often center around giving honor to ancestors and asking for their guidance. Measures are taken to keep out harmful or negative spirits.

Samhain dinner often consists of root and vine vegetables, such as pumpkins and other gourds, carrots, and potatoes, as well as red wine. One reason may be that they are in season at this time of year. This, of course, is not the only reason. They do have some significance as being symbolic of remembering ones ancestors.

In the Celtic traditions, November 1 is considered New Year’s day, so many pagans regard this day as a good time for completing old projects or habits and starting new ones. Divination is also commonly performed at this time.

Many Halloween traditions originated from the traditions and ideas of Samhain. One example would be costumes. As stated above, Samhain is considered an excellent time for communicating with and honoring, those who have passed. In earlier times, some people believed that the dead literally walked the earth on this night. Out of fear, they dressed themselves in costumes to attempt to blend in with them.

Another surviving tradition is Jack-O-Lanterns. Some believe it stems from the story of Bran the Blessed. In Celtic mythology, the Celtic god Bran ordered that when he died, his head be cut off and buried facing France to protect the country from invaders. Pagans carve faces into gourds and place a candle inside as a symbol of Bran’s head. It is often used for protection. Some older rituals call for a "circle of heads". This is what they are referring to. They are still sometimes used by modern day pagans for the same purpose. They are also occasionally used on Samhain at the door of the house to keep out unwelcome visitors and harmful spirits

Bobbing for apples was at one time used as a means of divination.

Samhain was considered one of the four fire festivals of the Druids. This is where the tradition of making bonfires at Halloween came from.

Different countries celebrated and honored different deties on this day. Often the focus was on darker aspects of deities, or those ruling the dead. The day itself was named after a deity. Cailleach was honored in many Celtic countries, while the Norse honored the goddess Hel. Bast and Sehkmet were honored in Egypt.

For more information on Wicca and the harvest celebrations, visit Azure's Gateway

Costume Arena wishes you a Blessed Samhain!

Ghosts And Apparitions

Ghosts are beings that have passed on from the material world to the spiritual world, but occasionally wander throughout our world as apparitions. Some people claim to have seen these ghosts or apparitions, as some people do not believe that they even exist. 

People who believe in ghosts claim that these spirits appear as a misty fog-like substance, a patch of light, or a faded image of the deceased. Those who were thought of to be asleep when viewing such supernatural images testify that they are quite conscious when witnessing these apparitions.

In many religions, particularly in primitive faiths, the belief is that spirits wander in the astral realm during moments of sleep. This is known as ""astral travel"". The difference between ghosts and astral traveling today however, is that when we astral travel, our spirits are free and our bodies are still alive. But a ghost is a free spirit that comes from a dead body. 

The practice of ancestor worship was a similar term for honoring the ghosts of dead relatives. Primitive religions teach that the spirits of the dead bodies do not wander far from their actual grave (or place of death). It is not uncommon for some believers to claim that their houses are haunted by spirits of people (or even animals) that either died in their home or lived there when they were alive.