Samhain

Hi witchy friends!  Samhain is a feastival on the wheel of the year.  This wheel is new to me, so I'm learning about it as I go along.  The first mistake I made was thinking that Halloween was the same as Samhain.  In fact, they are different. After speaking online with someone that seemed to know more about this stuff than myself, I learned that the festival with start at sunset on the 31st of October and finish on sunset on the 1st of November.  With this in mind, I have planed food and drinks for these two days.  

What I discovered about Samhain

From searching online, I learned that the festival is about remembering the dead.  Family, friends and pets that are no longer with us are invited to join in with the celebrations since the festival is in there honour. Some dictionaries say that it marks the 1st day of winter but winter in the UK starts between 21st and 24th of December and ends in March. Samhain signifies the darker half of the year and is seen as a doorway to the otherworld. So, it looks like I will be calling it Samhain from now on.   

What am I going to do?

My plan has not changed to be honest.  I plan to have a nice dinner and some drinks on both day with the climax starting at 12 midnight on the 31st of October and will have sweets.  The 1st of November will be a nice dinner and a few drinks and then an early night. For dinner, I plan to have Juicy Marble Steaks with mash and runner beans.  Sweets are likely to be homemade vegan pumpkin ice-cream and homemade chocolate orange dessert. I was thinking of having sweets like kids have but I really need to watch the calories. 

Since it is about remembering our loved ones that have passed to the otherworld, I will be looking at photos of them and spending time remembering them and pets I had as a child. I plan to make a list of their names and spend a little time on each of them.