A Remembrance Altar: Using Sacred Space to Honor Your Ancestors

As the month of October unfolds and the daylight hours grow shorter, many witches and other practitioners of magic begin to turn their thoughts to honoring their ancestors. One practice that allows us to express this desire to reconnect with our honored dead is the creation of an ancestral altar or shrine. Creating an altar dedicated to honoring one’s ancestors is a magnificent way to connect with your roots, remember loved ones who have passed, and tap into the themes of death and remembrance associated with the autumn season.

Samhain Divination: Divining the Unknown at Samhain

Samhain is one of the four major festivals within the Gaelic calendar, and easily the most widely known of the lot. The festival marks the end of harvest season, the transition into winter, and the beginning of the dark half of the year. Samhain is a time when the walls between our world and the Otherworld – the realm of spirits of all kinds – are down. During this time, it is easier for the Otherworld folk to walk among us, and easier for the living to see and commune with these spirits. For many, this time of year is when the connection to the spirit world feels stronger than otherwise. Because of this Samhain is considered an auspicious time to practice divination.

A Guide to Samhain: Exploring the Customs & Origins of Samhain

Samhain (pronounced sow-in or sah-win) is one of the four major Gaelic holidays, a festival that marks the passing of summer into winter, of the ‘light season’ into the ‘dark season’, and the end of the old year and beginning of the new. Now celebrated or acknowledged by many modern pagans, wiccans, druids, and magical practitioners throughout the world, Samhain’s origins lie in Ireland.