The Wheel is spinning toward my favorite holiday, and I hope the celebration ideas in this newsletter speak to you. The suggestions below for honoring the Celtic New Year holiday, which is also called Halloween, were originally printed in an earlier newsletter, and I’ve had requests to reprint them.  Enjoy!

Ideas for Celebrating the Celtic New Year

Samhain (pronounced sow-en or sav-ven) is the third and final harvest celebration in the Celtic pagan tradition and occurs on October 31.  It also celebrates the start of the new year in the pagan wheel of the year.

Hosting a Silent Samhain Dinner

I invite you to consider a lovely practice at Samhain.  This is the time when the veil between worlds thins and we can most easily communicate with departed loved ones. 

The practice of connecting with our departed loved ones can be a gentle, joyous event.  One of my favorite ways to do this is to host what, in old days, was called “a dumb supper.”  (“Dumb” in this context meant “silent”.)

Here’s what you do:
Prepare a meal with foods that celebrate the season.  Include a dish or two that were favorites of your departed loved ones.

Set the table with flowers, candles, and holiday decorations.  Add one additional place setting and chair that will represent a place at the table for your departed loved one(s).

Bring food and drink to the table, being sure you have everything you need so that no one has to leave the room once you begin. (Remember matches for lighting the candles!)

Create a circle of energy around the table by offering prayers or thoughts, and inviting those guests from beyond the veil who you are willing to have join you.  Simply holding hands around the table and speaking your desire is a lovely way to do this. 

Light the candles. From this moment forward, not a word is to be spoken.

As dishes are passed around the table, each person serves him/herself, with the person nearest the empty place setting putting a spoonful of each food on the plate reserved for the departed. 

Eat in silence, meditating on kind thoughts of those who have crossed the veil, and listening for their communication with you.

At the end of the meal, hold hands again, offer thanks for the visit (whether you sensed someone or not), and thanks for the time together.  Extinguish the candles.

When the circle is opened, someone should take food from the plate for the departed one(s) that is safe to do so, outside for the four-legged, winged, and crawling people.

Creating a Samhain Altar

Of all the altars I create throughout the year, my Samhain altar is the most cluttered, and often the most colorful.  It contains many candles, representation of the Divine Feminine and the Divine Masculine, symbols of the five elements (air, fire, water, earth, spirit), the directions (east, south, west, north, above, below, within), symbols of the season (leaves, acorns, nuts, gourds, apples), a bell for marking the passage of time and parts of the ritual, incense, essential oils for anointing candles, matches, and books from which we offer readings. 

Usually, a pomegranate graces the altar, reminding us to honor Persephone, as she descends into the underworld for the winter, and her mother Demeter, as she lays waste to the land in her grief.  Also on the altar are photos and precious reminders of departed loved ones. 

On the evening of Samhain, the candles are lit, prayers are said, passages from beloved books are read.  We meditate and we invite our relatives to join us.  We laugh and tell stories, and sometimes we cry.  Sometimes we sing.  There are soul cakes and a pot of tea nearby for the “cakes and ale” part of the ritual.

At my home, we begin our Samhain ritual with a silent supper, then finalize the creation of the altar.  We then offer a ritual around the altar that honors the season, our ancestors, and our commitments for the coming year.

I hope these ideas are helpful to you as you plan your own celebration of the turning of the Wheel at Samhain!

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6. Symbolism from Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Celtic, Roman, Greek, and Egyptian beliefs and cultures throughout the keys
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Evening: 8:00-9:30 PM EASTERN US time
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Tarot Key of the Month: The Wheel of Fortune

 
As the year spins to a close, and Samhain marks the coming year in the Celtic calendar, what better Tarot key to represent this transition time than the Wheel of Fortune?

Once again, Tarot teaches us to pay attention to connections among belief systems, cultures, and symbols.  Because one is the number of new beginnings in numerology, The Wheel of Fortune symbolizes a new phase of learning along The Fool’s journey.  As The Wheel of Fortune spins, there is a reminder for you to find balance between that which you perceive to be negative and positive and to realize that light and dark are two sides of the same energy that is ever-spinning in the universe. 

Three wheels turn within each other, signifying creative force, power, and the physical world, just as you saw in the tiers in the Hierophant’s crown.  Adorning the corners of the key are four animals that represent the four fixed signs of the zodiac: the bull of Taurus, the lion of Leo, the eagle of Scorpio, and the man/angel of Aquarius.  These beings also represent the four elements of, respectively, Earth, Fire, Air, and Water.  The Sphinx appears again, this time at the top of the Wheel, representing balance and choice.