Connecting to Samhain through Ritual

At Samhain, it is important to take at least a moment to honor the natural end of the life cycle and acknowledge that without death there can be no rebirth. Here is a simple ritual just for that purpose and to request the end of other things you hope will soon come to a close in your life in the coming year.

The following ritual is all about aligning yourself with the meaning of this sabbat and all it recognizes and honors. It is for acknowledging where that energy and its influence exist in your life and showing gratitude and/or acceptance for its effects. In fact, I would suggest performing this prior to any other spells or ritual workings you may want to utilize the energy of this day for.

If you are looking for intentions and spellwork than can be enhanced by casting near or on Samhain, you may want to consider spells for cleansing, banishing, grief acceptance, intuition, communication with the dead, and overcoming fear.

As with all spells I provide, please feel free to customize the wording, actions, and ingredients to what feels right to you. You can even adjust this ritual to make it a group or coven celebration.

The Ingredients

• Basic altar set up - this can be makeshift or portable, just something that will function as a workspace during your ritual

• 2-6 candles and a lighter or matches - tealight candles work great for this. The number of candles will depend on how many things died in your life in the past year that you wish to acknowledge and how many things you wish to use this ritual to end. I recommend keeping them equal (for every one thing you are ending with this ritual, you are acknowledging one thing that has already come to its natural end), although they do not need to be related pairs.

The Instructions

• Time: On Samhain, at night.

• Note: The entirety of this ritual should be performed in solemn silence. If you wish to include your own incantation or prayer, recite it in your mind.

1. Before you begin, I suggest you create a list of two things: a. 1-3 things that died in the past year. This could be the end of a relationship, job, bad habit, a general phase in your life, etc. It does not matter if you were happy or unhappy that they ended and I would encourage you to have at least one of each--one thing you are grateful ended and one thing you did not want to end. (I do not recommend using the literal death of a loved one. You will be considering what purpose was served with this metaphorical death, and it can often be a painful and fruitless endeavor to try to make sense of the death of someone you cared about.) b. 1-3 things you would like to see come to an end in the coming year. This could be an unhealthy relationship, a bad habit, unemployment, a health issue, etc. Each of your candles will represent these items. I recommend making a physical list so it is easier to focus on your ritual in the moment rather than trying to remember your list items or come up with them on the spot.

2. If it is a part of your practice, cleanse your tools, ingredients, and space.

3. Arrange your candles in front of you however you like. You should begin your ritual with the candles representing the "dead" items on your list unlit. The candles representing the items on your list that you wish to "die" should be lit before you officially begin.

4. You can begin by opening sacred space however you prefer, if this is something you incorporate into your craft.

5. Sit before your candles and altar. Take a moment to ground and center.

6. Look at the first unlit candle that represents something in your life that died in the past year. Consider what purpose it served and the energy it carried before it came to an end. Now think on what purpose was served by its death. What was able to be born or reborn because it died? Depending on your feelings regarding this ending, either project your feelings of gratitude for its end or project your need for acceptance of its end. Light the candle and know that in doing so, you are acknowledging that this items purpose lives on.

7. Now look to your first lit candle representing something you wish to come to an end in the coming year. What purpose has it served, if any, and how/why did it stop serving that purpose? How do you see this item coming to its natural end? How would its ending make you feel? If this item were to die, what would have the opportunity to be born or reborn now that it is gone? Blow out the candle and in doing so, know that you are bringing about the death of this item.

8. If you have more than two candles, repeat this process for each pair of items.

9. End your ritual with your chosen closing phrase ("Blessed be", "As I will it, so it shall be", "Thank you", etc.) spoken silently in your mind.

10. If it is safe to do so, allow the lit candles to burn until they naturally extinguish on their own.

Final Note

Seeing as how you're a normal human being with responsibilities and a shifting schedule, don't feel downtrodden if this year or in many years to come you simply don't have the time to pull off a full ritual.

If the issue is schedule, yes, it would be best to perform this ritual right on the night of Samhain. However, if that day is completely booked, just do it as close to the date as possible.

If even that is not doable, here are a few quick ways to honor this sabbat in a more time-friendly manner:

• Create an altar to honor the deceased and include symbolism of what has either literally or figuratively died in your life in the past year.

• On the night of Samhain, burn a candle in your window to guide the recently deceased to the spirit world.

• Place out an offering to the dead (especially if you do not have time to host a dumb supper).

• Create a list of all the things in your life that have died in the past year. Even without doing the entire ritual, you can take time to jot down items as you think of them in order to acknowledge them.

Finally, if you have more than enough time to do this spell and you're looking for more, check out my Witches' New Year Pumpkin Spell! (Coming 10/29/23. Be sure to subscribe for email updates on the website or to my YouTube channel to get a notification of its release.)