Celebrate Samhain – Halloween

Happy Samhaim, Hallow’s Eve or Halloween!

This blogpost gives you some ideas of things to do on Samhain, the witchy holiday that happens today on October 31st. I’ll also show you some photos of my seasonal altar. Enjoy reading and celebrating!

Samhain

Traditionally, Samhain – pronounced “sah-win” – is the 3rd and last pagan harvest sabbat, after Lammas in August and Mabon in September. It’s considered as one of the two days (the other is Beltane on May 1st) during which the “veil between this world and the next is at its thinnest”, meaning that ghosts and other creatures can pass between those worlds. It’s also a day when loved ones who passed away and ancestors are remembered.

If you’d like some more historical information about Samhain and Halloween and other holidays around this time of the year, I recommend watching this video by Yvonne Aburrow:

 

Altar

So a Samhain altar will have a darker mood, darker themes, darker colours… For my own altar I wanted to honour friends and (virtual and IRL) communities of the past and present, with items that refer specific people or to the idea of friendship like the button bracelet that my friend F gave me and the moon phases coaster to celebrate virtual “covens”. I’ve also added the black LED tea lights I recently bought and I love them! Looking at everything, I feel like I could write a story, going through all of it.

As usual, I’ve included objects on my altar that were made by creative people in my life such as Jérome of Chocs et Ennui (the golden Baby Fire silkscreen print on the wall), a ouija pendant by Shei of God Save the Queer, a Lavender Witch frame and crystal-shaped pendant by one of my band mates, a mysterious postcard by Theo Collective, and two home-made balms I got from Uncounted Galaxies two days ago! Other artwork includes a postcard by a member of the Koven collective, a hand-printed eye card and eye journal by Meghann and the Moon, and magickal artwork by Molly Roberts that graces my wall. Central on my altar are zines, mail-art and a print by Mawy Spencer (Rest in Power). By the way, there will be an exhibition to honour their work in the end of November at the LaM museum in Lille.

I thought about revamping the bulletin boards I have hanging in my living room that are full postcards, flyers, and other things but I’m gonna postpone this for a few months. It’s not urgent, I like all the artwork that they pin together but it might be interesting to have a more seasonal or evolving approach instead of the so-far quite permanent display.

   

Things to do

• I had planned to participate in Stitchtober this month but I didn’t have time because of all the zines I wanted to make and finish. 🙂 I did almost finish a crochet pumpkin though! If you like to crochet, there are lots of patterns you can look for online (just Duckduckgo them).
• I would like to finally build the paper spooky house I bought a few years ago. 🙂 You could make one of your own too! Or make one out of lego or clay.
• You can of course read witch zines, spooky stories, witchcraft books… I’ll read a book I recently ordered from the queer bookshop Kartonnen Dozen who sadly had to close their doors a few days ago.
• Or make witch zines! (I’ve got some new ones coming up soon!)
• I love brewing a DIY “pumpkin spice” oat milk or spiced apple juice. You just need simple kitchen herbs like clove, nutmeg, ginger, and cinnamon. You can experiment and mix your own potions. No need to go to that capitalist coffee shop (you can support small cafes though!). Read my zine about self-love potions for some recipes.
• A little while ago I assembled a seasonal self-care bag: my Autumn self-care bag contains the Tarot of Famous Witches, a small space-themed notebook, an Autumn-coloured worry doll, a spell bag I made, the Autumn Blues mini-zine I made, and a tiny shiny red-orange box with little trinkets inside. All reminders that Autumn can be beautiful. Find my self-care mini-zines here.
• Of course you can also honour your loved ones who passed away. Make space for them on your altar or visit a place where you used to hang out together. Or alternatively, celebrate, commemorate, and eat together with friends or (chosen) family.
• An activist thing you can do to give back to your community is cook or help out at a Food Not Bombs group or similar project. Or you can donate money, food, clothes, books… to those who need it.
• A small quiet but meaningful activity is writing in a journal about what Samhain or Halloween means to you.
• And finally: dress up as the powerful witch that you are!

Tarot / oracle spread

When going through my decks at the beginning of October I noticed that most of them are witch-themed! 🙂 For this month’s daily draws I decided to use the Tarot de la Sorcière et de la Roue de l’Année and the Everyday Witch Oracle. Other witch-decks I own are Believe in Your Own Magic Oracle, Art Witch Oracle, Tarot of Famous Witches, Literary Witches, and Seasons of the Witch Samhain Oracle. I’ll use the latter today for a Samhain spread and I chose the Illuminated Playing Cards, Samhain Oracle, Everyday Witch Oracle, Art Witch Oracle, and Tarot de la Sorcière during the Full Moon earlier in October.

Do you enjoy doing tarot spreads on Samhain too? Which deck(s) do you use?

More Samhain inspiration:

WitchTube always has plenty of inspiration for any witchy holiday but especially Samhain/Halloween. Here are some wonderfully creative ideas by Molly Roberts to commemorate ancestors and celebrate Samhain:

 

And finally, Chainsaw Bunny wishes you a spooky Halloween! (Warning: don’t take candy from bunnies!)