Q&A: What sort of magical stuff goes on with Halloween?

Hey occulties,

Since I get this virtually every year, today I'm going to discuss the "magical provenance of Halloween." Let me smoosh this into a generic question (I've had SOOOO MANY of the same question for this every year, that I may as well,) and get discussing the topic.

Q: Is Halloween/Samhain like a super special day for magic or spirits or ghosts or something like that? Are there special rituals that I can do?

A: Samhain is a harvest festival....think of it a bit more like a combination of modern Halloween and Canada and the USA's "Thanksgiving." It would basically mark the time where animals where slaughtered, and fields harvested (thus a feast,) to the cold part of the year where everything became "dead and dormant" until the winter solstice. So, this was the time that ancient people felt that veil between the living and the dead was at it's thinnest (you're culling your fields and animals, so there is a lot of other death going on, it's getting dark, and if you're having a big feast, you need to get your dead ancestors in on that, to honor them...so it makes sense that "death" and "dead" are a big part of this harvest festival.) This is kind of an armchair historian summary for you, so feel free to check out the Wikipedia for more info. Modern Halloween celebrations are also based on the Catholic "Day of the dead," - a day to honor all souls who are departed.

But, let's digress a bit here.... The timing of this holiday has far more to do with what is going on in the field in the NORTHERN HEMISPHERE, than it would in, say, Australia. ;) This is true of a lot of angloid/western holidays. The placement of Christmas on the calendar is actually based on the rebirth of the sun (winter solstice,) as Christ was probably born in September.

So why is this important? Well, magically speaking, our ancient forebears actually would have based when the veil between the living and the dead is thinnest, or when a fertility festival, or a celebration of the sun's rebirth, or etc is best placed by the SEASONS and CONDITIONS OF THE EARTH AROUND THEM. In modern times, we attach certain energies to the seasons, definitely, by collectively celebrating holidays to mark these times of year which carry certain elements (I have annoyed more than one of you by telling you how my Australian grandma would say "Feels just like Christmas!" in July) but in a proper magical/spiritual sense, I would say the value of the time of year has more to do with the seasons and the earth itself. Hopefully, I am making sense...so right now, in Australia, you aren't harvesting your fields and culling your livestock, whereas herein the USA, the end of the growing season is upon us. This means if the veil between the living and the dead being "thinnest," - in the spiritual sense, - is likely happening where the growing season is OVER.

What does that have to do with spells and magic and stuff? Well, it means that if you wanted to celebrate the holiday or plan special rituals, that, while it's always awesome to honor your dead ancestors (which is part of the basis of Samhain,) that it might, depending on your global location not really be the time when the "veil is the thinnest" between the living and the dead.

Also, if you're not really a spiritual person, why are you celebrating a spiritual holiday? Some people just like Halloween because they want to dress up as a pirate and drink a lot. If you don't belong to a religion that celebrates Halloween or Samhain, there really isn't anything wrong with that. In the USA, I celebrate the signing of the declaration of Independence with beer and fireworks and barbecues. I don't expect people in the Ukraine to celebrate that holiday, as they aren't from the USA. So, if your religion doesn't have All Souls Day/Day of the Dead or Samhain in it, don't worry about celebrating it as a religious holiday.

Can you do anything magical? Well, if you're in the Northern Hemisphere, now is the time to do some ancestor work. :)