An Altar for Samhain

“The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

The season of Samhain (pronounced SAH-win) is upon us — an ancient Gaelic festival marking the end of harvest and the beginning of the darker half of the year. Also known as the Celtic New Year, Samhain is a juncture between the two halves of the year, suspended in time. It does not belong to the old year or to the new.

On Samhain, time stands still and the threshold to the spirit world is flung wide open. The earthly world of the living becomes entangled with the spirit world. It is the perfect time for transformational magic and inviting your inner wisdom to take center stage.

Samhain begins tomorrow, on the evening of October 31st, and ends on the evening of November 1. This year, Samhain also aligns with the Full Hunter Moon, certainly an auspicious sign! And since it is also the second full moon of the month, it is also considered a “blue moon”. Pretty cool, right?

This year I've decorated my Samhain altar with skulls, skeletons, pine cones, dead leaves, dried flower stalks, and Fuller’s Teasel head. This time of year embodies magic, mystery, creative incubation, and the shadow self.

In celebration of Samhain, I will set a place at the table for my brother, Joel, now six years dead. I, and thousands of mourners like me, will make offerings of bread and wine and decorate their mantels with flowers, fruit, and photos of loved ones who’ve passed on. Cicero says it perfectly: “The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living.”