Editor’s Note: The opinions are that of the author, and not UNMC Today.
For weeks now, storefronts have been decorated with jack o’lanterns, skeletons, witches and goblins. Ripe pumpkins and gourds are seen everywhere at the market. Summer is over and winter is just around the corner. Halloween is here. For others, Samhain (pronounced “SOW-in”) is the celebration of summer’s end. For those who practice the ancient traditions of Wicca (Witchcraft), this Celtic-based holiday is one of solemn beauty.
Samhain begins at sundown on Oct. 30. Traditionally, this is the Celtic New Year and is also known as the Feast of the Dead. It has been said that Oct. 31 is the night when the veil between the spirit realm and physical realm are open. People once placed food out for their ancestors as an invitation to visit on this night.
Communion with the dead was thought to be the work of witches and sorcerers, although at that time the common folk thought nothing of it. However, with the rise of the Church’s growing condemnation of the pagan ways of country dwellers, Samhain also became associated with witches, black cats (“familiars” or animal friends), bats (night creatures), ghosts and other “spooky” things…the stereotype of the old hag riding the broomstick is simply a caricature; fairy tales have exploited this image for centuries.
For Wiccans, Samhain is a very important holiday. Practitioners are diverse and follow many different traditions. Some use this time to practice forms of divination; e.g., tarot or runes. Others perform rituals to honor the dead; and may invite their deceased loved ones to visit for a time, if they choose. This is not a “seance” in the usual sense of the word. Witches extend an invitation, rather than summoning the dead, and believe the world of the dead is very close to this one. So on Samhain, and again on Beltane (May 1), when the veil between the worlds is thin, we attempt to traverse those worlds through meditation and visualization. Because Witches acknowledge human existence as part of a cycle of life, death and rebirth, Samhain is a time to reflect on our mortality, and to confront our fears of dying.
Samhain teaches us on a deeper level there is no death. It is only change and the growth that it brings.