Samhain

Finding your peace amongst the goblins 🦇

Oct 26, 2024

“In a rush, I dream of the woods. I’m soaring over the pine tops among an outcrop of startled crows, feeling the low cloud trail in my long hair. I dream of moss-heavy rocks, my feet skimming sticky ferns, and I see the grey-haired Goddess with her hand outstretched over her cauldron.

“She is smiling at me.”

– The Wheel: A Witch's Path Back to the Ancient Self

Hello there, darling.

Happy Samhain. The Witches’ New Year, Halloween, the Day of the Dead - the day we’ve all been waiting for is almost here, witches.

As we get closer to 31st October - the biggest of the “Big Four” Pagan festivals - you may be feeling the spine-tingling thinness of the Otherworldly veil in the air. Samhain (pronounced “sow-in”), of course, is typically associated with ancestor magick, honouring the dead, contacting spirits, divining the future and shadow work.

But I want to stress something: there is time for calm and peace amongst the spookiness too!

We began autumn with some intense lunar energy (I’m sure you remember crying in the bathroom during early October, right?), so I’ve made sure to focus on gentleness in my own life for the past six weeks. This has included somatic yoga, forest walks and plenty of time in my pyjamas. Autumn isn’t always omens and phantoms. I wrote this autumn blessing ritual so you can sink into the season while protecting your peace, or you can scroll down to the bottom of this email for an uplifting ritual to welcome in the Witches’ New Year 👇

Part of being a witch means “doing the inner work.” While this can be touching palms with the darkest part of your shadow self as the clock strikes midnight, it also means getting yourself to a place where you are ready to do the work. We can only do the inner work if we are centred, grounded and at peace in our bodies.

I invite you to sink into this energy as Samhain approaches. Even the most magickal of people need to rest.

In this Samhain edition of The Green Witch, I’ll be sharing:

ways to (peacefully) celebrate Samhain
a trip to the Fairy Glen
a very magickal giveaway! ✨
your exclusive Witches’ New Year Ritual

I’ll also be sharing “Your Guide to Ancestor Work” the day before Samhain itself, so you can upgrade your membership to receive this post directly to your inbox!

Have a beautiful Sabbat - I hope it brings you exactly what you need right now.

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P.S. Yule will be here sooner than you think! Here’s your seasonal gift guide:

How to celebrate Samhain

Ghouls, goblins and spooks - oh, my!

It is said that at Samhain (which translates to “summer’s end”), the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead is whisper thin. Meaning it is easy for spirits to cross over the divide. But it is also easier for us to make that crossing in our astral bodies and seek out arcane knowledge for ourselves.

Divination is a large part of the festival of Samhain. The Crone goddess Cerridwen stirs her cauldron, revealing messages in its steam, and flickers of wisdom are shuffled fiercely from Tarot decks. The answers are there for us to find, if we lift the folds of night just so.

While there is certainly an invitation to lean into the occult nature of the festival and take your witchcraft knowledge to the next level, I have some gentler ways to celebrate the season that still bring you magick. But you’re less likely to welcome any creepy unwanted spirits into your home (which is never fun, believe me!).

Celebrate Samhain by:

creating a simmer pot! Every year, I talk about the blacks, the oranges and the Jack o’ Lanterns (turnip, pumpkin or otherwise), but this year I want to focus on scent. Yes, the decorations are amazing but a Samhain simmer pot will bring the festival to every corner of your home. Go for sandalwood resin, cedar, cinnamon, frankincense and chunks of apple.
meditating on the darker side of life. I’ve touched on this above but now truly is the time for staring your shadow self hard in the face. Take your journal, light a troupe of black candles and ask yourself what is holding you back. Whether it is shame, fear or lack of self-worth, you should get the answers you need to hear this Samhain.
casting protection magick; those spooks do love an excuse to come through, even when they’re not invited. Make your own protection amulet, carry the Evil Eye, cover your mirrors with black fabric or try one of these protection charms.
embracing the harvest. Samhain is the third (and final) harvest of the calendar year after all, so go all out with the pumpkin bread, the apple cinnamon rolls and aaaaaall the stew.

making space for the Crone goddess on your altar. Some of the most well-known Crone goddesses are Hecate, Baba Yaga and Cerridwen - find out their symbols (Hecate loves a good key, while Cerridwen has a thing for cauldrons) and place them in your sacred space to honour the wise goddesses of the world.
letting your witchy inner bookworm shine with these Halloween reads.
welcoming in the positivity and fresh start of the Witches’ New Year (with a ritual like the one below ⬇️)!
Serving a Dumb Supper with offerings for your ancestors. I’ll be talking more about this in my ancestor worship post next week.
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A witch takes a trip to the Fairy Glen

My husband and I recently took a trip to North Wales, where we stumbled upon this beautiful spot.

It was the day of the Aries Supermoon and - as many of us have been feeling recently - my emotions were running high. This felt like the perfect place to harness that autumnal “Water” energy and let all that collective anxiety and overwhelm just flow away.

The Fairy Glen near Betws-y-Coed is home to many tales of the Fae and even Arthurian legend. Held in this flow-carved valley with its treacherous, slippery rocks and gushing blasts of stormwater, I couldn’t help thinking about the darker side of the fairy realm.

Last year, I read a book called Cunning Folk and Familiar Spirits by Emma Wilby. She argued that in the 1400-1600s, fairies, witches’ familiar spirits (the devil dogs, cats and hares of Early Modern Europe), sprites and ghosts were once perceived to be the same thing. The Fae were seen as the spirits of past loved ones, meaning that the fairy festival of Beltane was - essentially - the same as the death celebration of Samhain.

The graceful fairies, feasting and playing tricks on anyone who dared to get too close to Elfhame, were actually the dead, enjoying their afterlife. While the ghosts that haunted our autumn nights were actually fairies planning their next jump scare.

Magick, grief, fear and the supernatural were once inextricably intertwined.

It makes me wonder about the fluid nature of spiritual beliefs. What might we expect to see in the woods in 400 years? What kinds of eyes might we feel on the backs of our necks?

Now, at Samhain when the veil is translucent, the Fairy Glen is a-glister with the eyes of the water spirits but also with those whom the river had swept away for their curiosity.

We are never too far from that gently blowing veil.

Win a signed copy of The Wheel and The Witch’s Survival Guide!

Surprise! To celebrate the witchiest time of the year, I'm giving away a signed copy of The Wheel and The Witch’s Survival Guide to one magickal winner 💫

To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is head to my Instagram post and:

follow me (@thegreenwitchwriter) and @septemberpublishing on Instagram
like this post
comment below the post tagging two (or more) witchy friends - each comment is a separate entry
get an extra entry by sharing the post to your IG story and tagging me so I can see it!

Enter by 8 pm on Sunday 3rd November (winner announced on Monday 4th Nov). Open to entrants worldwide. Good luck!

Enter the giveaway

Your Witches’ New Year Ritual 🎃

white and red wooden concrete house — Photo by Craig Tidball on Unsplash

So often, we focus on the spookiness of Samhain, but we often neglect the fact that this is the Witches’ New Year! 💜 Samhain is the end and the beginning of the Celtic New Year and is the ideal time for setting intentions and welcoming in new energy for the next full turn of the Wheel.

Lately, I’ve been really interested in making my home as happy and protected as it can be, focusing on bringing in joy and prosperity. What better qualities could we ask for at New Year?

I’ve created this Witches’ New Year Samhain ritual that incorporates a herbal wash to bring all the good things to your door.

Enjoy!

You’ll need:

a broom or large brush
a stick of garden sage (OR your preferred cleansing method)
matches/a lighter
a handful of lemon balm (for joy)
a handful of rosemary (for happiness and protection)
a handful of mint (for prosperity)
3 bay leaves (for protection)
2 tea towels
a large glass pot or teapot

Before you begin, place your herbs into a teapot or a large glass pot and pour hot water over them. Leave this infusion to steep for at least six hours.
Take a moment to centre your energy and focus your intention before you start this ritual. Stand at your front door, facing into the house, and say out loud, “I am welcoming joy, prosperity and protection into my home with this ritual.”
Take your broom/large brush and, heading back inside to stand in the hallway, brush the floor of your hall outwards so that any negative energy that has accumulated there goes out the door. As you do this, say, “I brush away negativity, out with you, out. You are released.“
Go outside again and light your garden sage. Cleanse your front door, moving the smoke in a clockwise circular motion over it. As you go, say: “Earth, Fire, Water, Air: cleanse, dismiss dispel.”
Using plain hot water and a tea towel, wash any dust and grime off the door so you have a clear surface to work with.
Then take your infusion and another tea towel and begin washing your front door with the herbal water. Do this by starting at the bottom lefthand side of your door and washing in a clockwise motion to welcome in new energy. As you do this say:
“As the Wheel brings a new year, only joy and prosperity may enter here. This home and its inhabitants are divinely protected. We are blessed with light. So mote it be.“
Once you have washed your door as much as you please, close your eyes and visualise your door pulsating with positive, white light. Continue visualising this for as long as you need.
Repeat the ritual every few months. You may also wish to go a step further and use the Salting the Boundaries ritual from last year’s newsletter.

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I'll see you on the next turn of the Wheel: Yule will be here on Saturday 21st December (oh, we do love it when a festival falls at the weekend!)🎄 Watch out for your newsletter a few days before. See you then!

Thank you so much for reading! I really appreciate your ongoing support and feedback on my Substack. If you want to share some love or wish to support me, you can upgrade your newsletter subscription below ⬇️

The Green Witch