It's Samhain (aka Halloween) here in the Southern Hemisphere!

Samhain/Halloween Blessings, Beautiful People in the Southern Hemisphere!

Samhain is one of the eight Sabbats or High Holy Days celebrated on the Pagan Wheel of the Year. Significantly, for many witches, Samhain marks the very beginning of the Great Wheel. It officially marks the New Year. So . . .

Happy New Year, Witches!

Importantly, each of the Pagan festivals celebrate astronomical or seasonal events. Specifically, there are eight major seasonal sub-divisions of the year: the March and September equinoxes, the June and December solstices, and the four cross-quarter days in between them. And each of these seasonal events are celebrated on the Great Wheel of the Year.

Samhain is one of the cross-quarter festivals, and it's celebrated at the midpoint between the Autumnal equinox (aka: Mabon) and the Winter Solstice (aka: Yule).

It's a time that heralds the dark and the coming cold. Leaves are falling from the trees. Some animals are going into hibernation. Life is leaving this realm, and Winter is coming. Death is upon us. At Samhain, the veils are the thinnest between the worlds, and it's a time of honouring our ancestors and the beloved dead. It's a time for introspection and divination. Sometimes referred to as the third Harvest Festival, Samhain is also a time to reflect on all that we've achieved over the previous year, and to start dreaming into our hopes and aspirations for the year that lays ahead.

In the Northern Hemisphere, this cross-quarter festival astronomically falls at the end of October, which is why they celebrate Samhain/Halloween, then. And why our social media feed fills up with Halloween imagery, every October.

But here in the Southern Hemisphere, the midpoint of the Autumnal equinox and the Winter solstice falls at the very beginning of May. In fact, the High Holy Day (or Sabbat) of Samhain is officially recognised on 1 May. But if we're going to get all technical and astronomical about it, Samhain changes slightly from year to year. This year, Samhain is celebrated today, 6 May.

(I would note that, rather than thinking of the Sabbats as 'single-day' events of ritual and celebration, I think of them as whole seasons that last for five or six weeks each. This year (2023), the wisdom of Samhain will guide and direct us from 6 May all the way through to Yule on 22 June.)

I mean, if you stop to think about it, doesn't this make sense to you? Doesn't it seem odd or incongruent for people to celebrate Samhain in October, here . . . in mid-Spring? Doesn't it feel weird to decorate our homes with skulls, ghosts, and other symbols of death and the Otherworld in the midst of mid-Spring's warmth and the flurry of new life, blossoms, and bees?

Long story, short . . . NOW's the time to dig out your crystal skulls; to carve a jack-o-lantern to ward off mischievous spirits; to create an ancestor's altar; and to dive into your divination practices to seek guidance on the year ahead. (e.g. Dreams, scrying, or casting a tarot or runes spread for the upcoming year). 👻🎃🔮

Let's energetically align with the magic and cycles of Life where we actually live, rather than intellectually, unquestioningly adhering to a calendar that is created for the Northern Hemisphere.

Celebrating Samhain

With the Great Wheel beginning its cycle, yet again, it’s a time to seek guidance for the year ahead. Traditionally, this is done through dreams, scrying, and divination (eg: casting a tarot or runes spread for the upcoming year). Have you had any intense dreams these past couple of nights?? Pay attention to them!

Samhain (and it's Sister Sabbat, Beltane) are known as the time of the year when the veil between the worlds is at its thinnest. Spirits can more easily travel between the realms. And we can more easily communicate with the Otherworld.

This means two things for us...

Divination

We can more readily seek the advice of our ancestors; our own Higher Self; and even the guidance of our former lives. (Whether our former lives are in the ’past’ or the ‘future’ from our current perspective in 2023 is irrelevant!) If you’ve been considering a session with a past-life regression therapist, now would be a great time.

We are asked to write down any visions or messages that we receive, either through our dreams, divination tools, or by communicating with the Otherworld.

We do this so that our goals and actions over the coming year will be soul-led, and soul-aligned, rather than being guided by societal or familial expectation. In choosing to live a soul-led life, we consciously invite the guidance of the other realms.

This is a great time of year to seek a session with your favourite tarot reader, astrologer, or psychic. Personally, along with seeking the guidance of my own astrology/numerology charts, I seek a tarot session with Angelica Walker of Mystical Fool! She's amazing, and highly recommended.

Perhaps take a photo of your New Year tarot or runes spread, and place it where you’ll see it frequently throughout the coming year. I invite you to reflect often on this divine guidance, and allow these messages to shape your magical work, especially over the next few weeks, between Samhain and Yule; as well as your goal setting for the year ahead.

Ancestor Altars

Samhain is the Sabbat when we honour our ancestors and the beloved dead. If the term "beloved dead" is unfamiliar to you, these are the people of great significance to us, whom we honour and remember, but who may not be our direct ancestors. For example, I remember Carl Jung, Juno Jordan, Dane Rudhyar, Heraclitus, Pythagoras, and Porphyry on my altar.

With the thinning of the veil, we invite them to visit us here in our realm. Particularly, we welcome those who have passed over during the previous year. This is a blessed opportunity to commune with them, and to adjust to their new role in the Otherworld as one of our ancestors.

We can create an altar with their photos, and share their stories with our children. Let’s ensure they’re remembered!

We can set a place for their spirits at our table; toast them; and serve their favourite foods and treats. We can share with them all that is happening in our world, and seek their advice and guidance for the upcoming year. We can also invite them to join us in Circle, if this is part of our spiritual practise.

My Altar for the Ancestors and the Beloved Dead

Incense for your Magical Work/Meditation:

Here is an incense recipe from Wiccan High Priestess, Phyllis Curott. It’s specifically created for Samhain, to enhance our psychic powers and spiritual vision.

Grind equal parts:

• Gum mastic

• Cinnamon

• Musk

• Patchouli

• Juniper

• Sandalwood

• Ambergris

• Lo-John powder

• Myrrh.

Add drops of:

Cedar and Orris oil.

Samhain Traditions:

You may be wondering why people tend to dress up in costumes and carve Jack o’ Lanterns at Halloween? Sometimes, along with our beloved ancestors, nasty or mischievous spirits may also come through the veil ... or perhaps even the spirits of people that we wronged while they were alive. People may dress up in costumes at Halloween in order to disguise themselves so that these mischievous spirits won’t be able to recognise or trouble them.

This is also why people carve frightening Jack o’ Lanterns and place them in their windows and entrances - to ward off any wandering, mischievous spirits.

And on that note, I wish you all a blessed Samhain!

As always, if you have any questions at all, please feel free to reach out, or to book a session in with me. I love hearing from you. Thank you for your company on this path. I am so grateful for it.

Blessed Be! 🙏🎃👻 Peace Juliette xo

Click Here to Access Your Free Numerology Mini-Lesson

on the Birth Path Number

Access Your Free Mini-Lesson Here!

#samhain #halloween #wheeloftheyear #witches #witchcraft #southernhemispherewitch #priestesspath #pagan #sabbats #asabovesobelow #alllifeissacred #paganwheeloftheyear #greatwheeloftheyear