Samhain: The Original Halloween

What is Samhain?


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Samhain (pronounced sow-in) is a Gaelic harvest festival held on October 31–November 1. It was linked to festivals held around the same time in other Celtic cultures, and was popularized as the "Celtic New Year" from the late 19th century, following Sir John Rhys and Sir James Frazer. The date of Samhain was associated with the Catholic All Saints' Day (and later All Souls' Day) from at least the 8th century, and both the secular Gaelic and the Catholic liturgical festival have influenced the secular customs now connected with Halloween.
The medieval Goidelic festival of Samhain marked the end of the harvest, the end of the "lighter half" of the year and beginning of the "darker half". It was celebrated over the course of several days and had some elements of a Festival of the Dead. Bonfires played a large part in the festivities. People and their livestock would often walk between two bonfires as a cleansing ritual, and the bones of slaughtered livestock were cast into its flames.
Samhain is celebrated as a religious festival by some neopagans.

Samhain is one of the eight annual festivals, often referred to as 'Sabbats', observed as part of the Wiccan Wheel of the Year. It is considered by most Wiccans to be the most important of the four 'greater Sabbats'. It is generally observed on October 31 in the Northern Hemisphere, starting at sundown. Samhain is considered by some Wiccans as a time to celebrate the lives of those who have passed on, and it often involves paying respect to ancestors, family members, elders of the faith, friends, pets and other loved ones who have died. In some rituals the spirits of the departed are invited to attend the festivities. It is seen as a festival of darkness, which is balanced at the opposite point of the wheel by the spring festival of Beltane, which Wiccans celebrate as a festival of light and fertility.



^{Samhain Incense Recipe}

2 parts Cinnamon
1 part ground cloves
1 part Dragon’s Blood resin
1 part Hyssop
1 part Patchouli
2 parts Rosemary
1 part Sage
A dash of sea salt

If you don't have Hyssop use Mint or Thyme. Parts are whatever amount you want, oz, ml etc. Leave this mixture in almond oil and you will have the oil. If you don't have time to make the oil the long way here is another recipe. 


Samhain Oil Recipe


4 drops Pine Oil 
2 drops Frankincense oil 
2 drops Patchouli oil 
2 drops Lavendar oil 
Blend with 1 oz oilve oil or almond oil in a bottle. 

Burn it in your scented oil burner.