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The Llewellyn Encyclopedia

Term: samhain

DEFINITIONS

Samhain: October 31
Expect the unexpected if you celebrate Samhain—the Celtic New Year—on All Hallows Eve...
source: Llewellyn's Witches' Datebook 2004, K.D. Spitzer

Samhain: October 31. Also called Hallowee, Hallowe'en, and All Hallows Eve. This holiday is widely celebrated by people of all faiths with costume parties and trick-or-treating. But this night also marks the Wiccan new year. In the wheel of the year, Samhain is the night when the God dies and leaves the Goddess alone until Yule, when he is born again. Halloween/Samhain is a time when the doors between the words are said to open, stirring up much ghostly and otherworldly activity.Llewellyn

Also See: Hallowmas

ARTICLES

Samhain Ritual
Setup Items for this ritual include: Two white candles and four black candles; Four small sprigs of bittersweet; One branch of bittersweet; Strands of black, white and red yarn cut to twelve-inch lengths placed in a basket on the altar; Pomegranate ...
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Happy New Year!
We’ve all heard that the ancient Celts regarded October 31, or Samhain (pronounced sow-when), as the beginning of the New Year. Now, why would this be so when days are still getting shorter, and the dark part of the year has not yet ended? The most ...
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Time
The earliest Indo-European measurement of time was by the moon, and this reveals the nature of the Celtic calendar. The Celts never deviated from lunar time measurement, as their Druids had preserved it from the Indo-European tradition. Luckily for ...
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Beltane Ritual
Setup Items for this ritual include: Two white candles for deities; Four candles for the directions in pastel shades or colors of bright flowers; Chalice; Athame; Sweet juice such as peach nectar; Shelled sunflower seeds on a plate suitable for the ...
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Who Were the Druids?
To mention the word Druid is to evoke images of ancient wizards and wonder-workers from old Irish sagas, Welsh legends, Caesar’s Gallic Wars and Scottish folktales. If you have read about the Druids, you’ve probably retained one of their many images ...
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Festivals
A year was called a bleidoni (twelve months, or thirteen in a leap year), and it was divided into two main seasons: samon, "summer," and giamon, "winter." A sonnocingos, "solar-march," was the term for a solar year of 365.5 days. A bleidoni ...
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Review of the Celtic Oracle
Summary: The twenty-two oversized cards of the Celtic Oracle provide both an excellent divination tool as well as an introduction to Celtic studies. It elegantly combines Celtic astrology with the Ogham (or Celtic alphabet) and tree symbolism ...
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Witchy Tarot Deck Review
Summary: The Witchy Tarot is like your best friend: smart, pretty, funny, surprising deep and always clever…and always very real and honest. It helps you embrace your power while accepting your shortcomings. This deck gives great Tarot readings but ...
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The Fairy Ring Oracle Review
Summary: An oracle deck (not a Tarot) with photorealistic (and surrealistic) art that crosses the boundaries between our physical world and the spiritual world of the fairy. It’s ideal for learning about the classical myths of fairies and various ...
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The Sabbats
The Sabbats are a combination of solar and earthly celebrations. The daily cycle of the sun and the seasons of the earth determined the rhythms of activity for our ancestors. They lived close to the land and on an everyday basis observed its subtle ...
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When I first came up with the idea of writing the book Spells for Tough Times, I did so because I knew people out there needed help. They may need help with their finances, they may need help with their families, they may need help with their health; whatever the topic, there are people in this world in need, and it seems we often tend to forget... read this article
A Growing, Ghostly Intimacy
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