We’re coming up on one of my favorite holidays which most of you know as Halloween, but we Wiccans know as Samhain (pronounced Sow-en). We have 8 specific celebrations we share during the year, some of which happen near the holidays of other spiritual paths and others that don’t. Since several women have expressed interest in reading about Pattyann’s and my spiritual beliefs earlier, I thought I’d tell you a little about what this holiday means for me.
Interesting that it’s so near the Jewish new year because it’s our new year also. It’s the celebration of the last harvest of the year and the time to start going inward and honoring the ancestors and loved ones who’ve passed on. I do that in a number of ways. I have a shelf in my kitchen that I decorate and change with the different seasons—right now there are pictures of pumpkins, colorful ears of dried corn and things having to do with weaving along with a candle I like to light when I cook, on the shelf. I spend time before Samhain especially thinking about the people in my family who have died and on the day of Samhain I bury an apple in my garden as a symbol of my hopes of peace for them and all others who have died in the last year.
The going inward is lovely but, like most everyone else, I also like to party. Sometimes my family and I have gotten into the whole Halloween costume thing (my kids definitely liked trick-or-treating) and we witches generally like to laugh at ourselves and have fun with the stereotypes of the old witch on a broomstick etc. But I also like gatherings of people who celebrate the deeper meaning of the holiday, and I especially like celebrating it with other women. A few days ago I got to celebrate early with a small group of ladies in one of the women’s little cabin she calls her moon hut which is for women only. It was lovely. This year though, my husband and I are also going to 2 gatherings that I’m looking forward to: one on Sunday in Vancouver, BC where there will be several hundred people partying, singing together and doing a spiral dance—an amazingly fun weaving dance that is hard to explain; and a much smaller potluck and celebration on the actual night.
That’s a bare bones explanation from my perspective. Pattyann may have more to say about it too. Anyway, happy Halloween, Samhain, New Year, Harvest and daylight savings time to everyone!

Dream of the Circle of Women
by Dahti Blanchard
published May 2004 by Spilled Candy Books
visit: www.dahtiblanchard.com