“Tonight we raise our energies to the moon, to the Goddess and to the dead. Tonight, the world is preparing to be reborn.”
– The Wheel: A Witch's Path Back to the Ancient Self
Hello, beautiful witches! Welcome to this *very special* edition of The Green Witch Writer Newsletter. It is Samhain after all 💁🏻♀️
This one’s the big one! 🎉 Samhain (pronounced “sow-in”) is one of the four primary Pagan festivals (alongside Imbolc, Beltane and Lammas), meaning it is always on the same date spooky each year in the Northern Hemisphere – 31st October.
Literally translated from the Celtic languages as “summer's end”, witches across the world are gathering (right now!) to celebrate the third harvest festival of 2023 and to use this heightened psychic energy to tune into knowledge from beyond the veil.
Have you felt a few shivers down the spine lately…? 👀
Samhain is typically associated with ancestor worship, divination, protection magick and letting go, but you may have also noticed the extra dense, heavy energy this October has carried with it. Wow, it’s been intense, right? 🥵 But don't worry – autumn is the season ruled by Water. Just as quickly as this energy has built up, it has the ability to flow away just as fast. Perhaps you can use your Samhain to let go of any stagnancy in your life and welcome in the fresh energy of the Witches’ New Year.
How will you be celebrating this Samhain? (I've put my suggestions below!) 👇
But right now, let's delve into:
some spooky Halloween legends and lore
ways to celebrate the festival
preparing for Yule (not long to go, guys!)
my autumn top 5
your exclusive Samhain protection ritual
And if you're feeling extra witchy, there's still time to make it to one of my Halloween author events in London this week! I'll be at The Common Press in Shoreditch at 2pm on Friday 27th October and MCM Comic Con at the ExCel Centre on Sunday 29th October. Book your tickets in the links above and I hope you have a *gorgeous* Samhain! 😃
Keep safe: the Wild Hunt is about 💀
Ever find yourself out on your own on a dark and stormy night? 🌬
Consider this your warning.
I’ve heard about the Wild Hunt since I very first started practising witchcraft back in the early 00s and it is a legend that has been told across Europe for hundreds of years. But what’s it all about and how can you avoid it at all costs?!
Every Samhain, the Wild Hunt is a spectral procession of huntsman and hounds that roams the land, causing doom and chaos wherever it passes. They ride across the night sky or wilderness chasing the souls of the dead, animals or sometimes people…
And making an awful racket about it as they go.
The Wild Hunt is typically led by a supernatural or mythical figure, such as Odin from Norse mythology, or Herne the Hunter from British folklore.
If seeing and hearing a herd of ghostly screaming men on horseback wasn’t enough to inspire a speedy exit, they are often accompanied by their demon dogs – large, ferocious hounds with huge red eyes, similar to the Black Shuck of folklore 🐺
The Wild Hunt is believed to appear in the night sky during stormy weather, and is often associated with a tumultuous atmosphere and imminent danger. Basically… you don’t want to be caught outside when the Wild Hunt is hunting. Witnessing it is often considered an ill omen, and those who encounter it are believed to be at risk of being taken away to another world or suffering misfortune.
The Wild Hunt is associated with the change of summer to autumn/winter – one last hurrah before it’s time to huddle up. But its connection with the restless dead lends itself to Samhain traditions and the idea of keeping bad spirits away.
Don’t forget to keep yourself safe from the Wild Hunt by staying inside on Samhain and putting Jack-O’-Lanterns or mirrors outside your door. You can also use a potent magickal ritual to protect your home (scroll down for more info!).
Stay safe, everyone!
Celebrate Samhain by:
Decorating your altar with Samhain colours: yep, all the oranges, blacks and deep purples. You can also add pictures of departed loved ones to the space as a mark of respect, as well as your best-carved Jack-O'-Lantern 🎃
Making sure to put food front and centre (this is a harvest festival, after all!). Check out these recipes for pumpkin pie, cosy roasted parsnip soup and cute Halloween biscuits
Meditating on the darker side of life. As with Mabon, the descent into the colder months is a good time to get introspective with yourself. Questions of balance and stability may have arisen for you at Mabon – now is the time to seek the answers. Divination, journalling and meditation are useful tools to help you connect with yourself and receive divine messages
Sweeping out the old. This is the first day of the Wheel of the Year for many witches and pagans so it's a time for getting rid of the old and bringing in the new. Sweep your house with a brush or your ritual broom (besom) to cleanse your space of last year's energy, leaving space for something even better in its place
Dancing with Hecate. Why the heck not? Let your hair down this Witches' New Year, create a circle and dance with the crone goddess to soak up all that juicy Samhain energy!
Tis (almost) the season 🎄
Samhain might be just around the corner, but we all know what that means. Yule is 6 weeks away! I've got a few things that are the perfect gifts for a loved one's stocking 🥰
One for the book lovers 📚
This year, treat your friends and family to a copy of The Wheel, The Witch's Survival Guide or The Black Air (or maybe it's a gift for you!).
Distance Reiki voucher ✨️
For the first time ever, I'm offering gift vouchers so you can give a friend the gift of relaxation & balance this Yule.
Take a look at my distance Reiki offerings here and get in touch via my website to book a session or buy your voucher!
The Green Witch Writer Newsletter Subscription 🫖
Enjoy receiving spells, seasonal living & writerly content straight to your inbox? Buy a gift subscription for a friend and share the witchy love!
My ultimate Samhain top 5
I'm not one for spooky films but I have been getting into the spirit of Samhain in other ways! Here is my Samhain top 5 😃 What's yours? Let me know in the comments 🧡
1. Book. I've just finished Foxglove by Adalyn Grace (the second in her Belladonna series). I was OBSESSED with Belladonna last year and couldn't wait for Foxglove to follow. It did not disappoint. Think Agatha Christie meets Jane Austen all with a Bridgerton-esque setting and a few juicy bits. 10/10 would recommend for spooky season.
2. Film. I’ve ALWAYS been really freaked out by horror films, so what do I watch at Halloween? I can’t wait to curl up with The Nightmare Before Christmas. Is it a Christmas film… no, it is not. It reminds me of being eight years old in my best friend’s bunk bed and thinking, “What the hell am I watching?” I’ve loved it ever since.
3. TV. OK, I know you're going to be shocked by this one but I never watched Gilmore Girls when it first came out (probably because my sister liked it and I would NEVER been seen liking anything that she did). But I've fallen in love with it over the past few months and now it is my sole reason for keeping my Netflix subscription. You’ll forever find me in Luke’s eating pancakes.
4. Scent. Sandalwood is one of my ultimate faves but at this time of year the scent takes on a deeper quality. An opulent richness that makes me think of smoked pumpkin and jewels glinting in the fire light. It will always be a joyful scent for me. I used it in my Autumn Happiness Spell a couple of weeks ago too (go check it out).
5. Spell. Scroll down to the bottom and check out my Samhain Protection Spell. This is a spell I perform pretty regularly to keep my home, my partner and my cat protected against negativity and harm. It's time to salt those boundaries! 🐱
Samhain protection spell: salting the boundaries ritual 🏡
Protection, protection, protection. Keeping our homes and loved ones safe is absolutely crucial in a world of intense energies and not-so-good intentions. This is probably the spell that people ask me for the most and it’s the one I use the most regularly in my own life.
Samhain is a night when spirits - the good and the bad - are out in force. But that’s not the only thing we need to worry about. Because the veil between the worlds is at its thinnest on 31st October, magick can be amplified, and not always the best kind of magick…
So how can you protect yourself against a spiritual or psychic attack?
Salting the boundaries is a traditional form of protection in many spiritual practices. It is often used to create a protective barrier around a space or home to ward off negative energy, entities, or unwanted influences.
Best of all, it’s really easy to do!
Perform this ritual before dawn on Samhain to really harness this powerful energy and enhance your magickal protection.
You’ll need:
a large dish of sea salt
Take a moment to centre your energy and focus your intention before you start this ritual. Take some deep breaths and say out loud, “My home and all those who live within it are protected from harm. No negative energy can touch us here.”
You may also want to cleanse yourself: this can be done through smoke cleansing, sound cleansing or visualisation. Make sure you feel completely ready to put out the most positive of intentions before you start.
Beginning at the northern-most point of your property (whether this in your garden or otherwise), in a clockwise direction start to sprinkle a fine layer of salt on the ground, saying: “With this salt, I protect my home and those who live here. No harm shall pass through this barrier, only love and light.”
As you do this, be logical - if you live in a flat or terraced house, you will most likely have to do this inside, unless you want to protect the whole building or housing block. If you live in a semi-detached house, you may have to do the ritual mostly outside but then partially inside to cover the adjoining wall. Do what makes the best sense!
Move slowly and methodically in a clockwise direction around the property. You may wish to incorporate other protective symbols as you go. I tend to use the rune Eolh and a sigil of my own making.
Once you have done this to the whole area three times, come back inside and stand at the most central point of your property. Close your eyes and visualise the salt barrier you have created pulsating with white light and rising up to create a white dome around your property. Continue visualising this for as long as you need.
Do not clean up the salt barrier outside. If it is inside, leave if on the ground for as long as possible before you need to vacuum.
Refresh your salt barrier once every three months but you can visualise the white circle/dome every day to keep the energy strong.
I'll see you on the next turn of the Wheel: Yule will be here on Friday 22nd December! 🎄 Watch out for your newsletter a few days before. See you then!
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