Ancestor supper
A meal with an empty place for those who have died.
- Lay the table with one extra place.
- Light a candle and name the people you are remembering.
- Share a story about one of them.
- Leave a small portion of food outside afterwards.
Wheel of the Year · cross-quarter day
Samhain
The end of the harvest and the start of the dark half of the year.
- Northern Hemisphere
- 1 November Next: 1 November 2027
- Southern Hemisphere
- 1 May Next: 1 May 2027
History and names
Samhain is an Irish festival marking the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter. It appears in medieval Irish stories as a time when the boundary between this world and the other world grows thin. The name is often said as SOW-in. A Gaulish calendar found at Coligny has a month called Samonios, which some scholars connect to it, though the link is debated.
Similar autumn festivals survived in Scotland and the Isle of Man, and many Halloween customs, such as lanterns and games with apples and nuts, descend partly from Gaelic Samhain. Most modern pagans mark it as a time to remember the dead.
Also known as
- Samhainn (Scottish Gaelic; older spelling Samhuinn)
- Sauin (Manx)
- Hallowtide and All Hallows (Christian)
Customs
Common ways to mark it include lighting a candle for those who have died, laying an extra place at the table, building an ancestor altar with photographs, and holding a bonfire. In Ireland and Scotland turnips were carved into lanterns long before pumpkins arrived. Divination games with apples, nuts and mirrors were once popular.
Practices
A light for the dead
A short candle vigil at dusk.
- Light a candle at a window as it gets dark.
- Sit quietly and think of those you have lost.
- Say their names aloud and let the candle burn down safely.