Samhain - Halloween

**LyxisMorgan** Sun 5 Aug 2012 - 23:48

A chant to say at the beginning of your Samhain feast to welcome home parted loved ones
Author Unknown

And so it is, we gather again,
The feast of our dead to begin.
Our Ancients, our Ancestors we invite, Come!
And follow the setting of the sun.

Whom do we call? We call them by name
(Name your ancestor that you wish want to welcome.)

The Ancients have come! Here with us stand
Where ever the country, where ever the land
They leave us not, to travel alone;
Flesh of our flesh, bone of our bone!

Grandmothers, Grandfathers, Great be their Power!
Past ones and present-at this very hour!

Welcome within are the dead who are kin,
Feast here with us and rest here within
Our hearth is your hearth and welcome to thee;
Old tales to tell and new visions to see!

A History of Samhain
(Incomplete at the moment)

Halloween was the Celtic New Year’s Eve, when the new year begins with the onset of the dark phase of the year, just as the new day begins at sundown.

The Celts called Halloween; Samhain, which means “Summer’s end”, according to their ancient twofold division of the year, when Summer ran from Beltane to Samhain and Winter ran from Samhain to Beltane. (Some modern covens echo this structure by letting the high priest “rule” the coven beginning on Samhain, with rulership returned to the high priestess at Beltane.) According to the later fourfold division of the year, Samhain is seen as “Autumn’s end” and the beginning of Winter. Samhain is pronounced (depending on where you’re from) as “sow-in” (in Ireland and England), or “sow-een” (in Wales), or “sav-en” (in Scotland), or “sam-hane” (in the U.S).
Correct me if I'm wrong there

Some Witches use it as a time to remember relatives that have already left our world as the veil between our world and the world of the spirits is the thinnest at this time of year making it easy for them to pass through to us. It is a good time to lay an extra place at your table to remember them by.
An old tradition (I think Celtic - but I'm not sure until I find my notes) was to carve out a turnip and put a candle inside so that their relatives could find their way home. (obviously this became a pumpkin later)
the "trick or treat" was originally children going door to door asking for soul cakes (??? - What are soul cakes) if the person who answered did not provide the soul cakes the children would play a trick on the adult because if the spirits found out they were mean they would do a lot worse (to the adults)
Costumes were added so that the wrong spirits did not find you.

when I was younger I researched all of this so that I could go Trick or Treating as my father had told me that it was an American tradition and not something to celebrate in England, it was too much like begging as far as he was concerned... Well I produced my argument and then sneaked out. lol!

When I find the notes I've made I'll redo this...