Samhain Altar: The Thinning Veil and the New Year
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Samhain falls on October 31st and November 1st, halfway between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice, and it is the most sacred and most powerful of all the Sabbats — the Celtic new year, the festival of the ancestors, and the night on which the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead is at its thinnest. It is the end of the old year and the beginning of the new, the final harvest and the first night of the dark half of the year, the moment at which the Wheel completes its turn and begins again.
Samhain is the night of the ancestors — the night on which the dead are closest to the living, when communication with those who have passed is most possible, and when the wisdom of the ancestors is most available to those who seek it. It is also the night of the new year's intention — the night on which the seeds of the coming year are planted in the darkness, to germinate through the winter and emerge at Imbolc. The Samhain altar is the most powerful altar of the year: it honors the ancestors, acknowledges the thinning veil, and plants the intentions of the new year in the fertile darkness of the Wheel's turning point.
Colors
The Samhain altar works with black, deep purple, orange, and silver — the colors of the night, the veil, and the harvest's end. Black for the darkness of the new year's beginning and the depth of the ancestral realm. Deep purple for the thinning veil and the spiritual power of the night. Orange for the final harvest and the warmth of the ancestors' presence. Silver for the lunar energy of the night and the shimmer of the veil between worlds.
Symbols and Objects
Samhain symbols include photographs of ancestors for the ancestral altar; a black cauldron for the darkness of the new year and the transformation of endings into beginnings; candles lit for the ancestors; jack-o-lanterns or carved turnips for the traditional Samhain lights; and a mirror for scrying and the thinning veil.
Crystals
Samhain crystals include obsidian for protection, scrying, and the deep darkness of the ancestral realm; labradorite for the thinning veil and the magic of the between-worlds; amethyst for spiritual connection and the wisdom of the ancestors; and black tourmaline for protection during the night when the veil is thin.
Plants and Botanicals
Samhain botanicals include mugwort for prophetic dreams and ancestral communication; rosemary for remembrance of the ancestors; apple for the sacred fruit of the dead and the wisdom of the otherworld; and pumpkin and squash for the final harvest and the abundance of the earth's last giving.
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The thinning veil and the Celtic new year. Black, deep purple, orange, silver. Ancestor photographs, black cauldron, scrying mirror. Obsidian and labradorite. The Samhain altar — the most powerful altar of the year, at the Wheel's turning point.
