In modern day, Halloween is seen as a scary holiday with witches and ghouls. However Samhain brings so much more. Samhain is when the veil between the spiritual and physical world is at its thinnest; this means that the connection to the spiritual realm is much stronger. The first thing you may think when hearing this is; ghosts, ancestors, and mediums. And while Samhain does enhance the communication and connection between us and the dead, it has many more important benefits.
The separation of worlds allows you to have access to a higher knowledge. It also means that your manifestations and spells will be more powerful at this time. Your intuition will be better and divination will come easier to you. You can call upon spirits to help you with your rituals using fire, mirrors, water and other conjuring objects.
Samhain first originated to draw the line of seasons, it marks the end of the harvest or summer. The harvest is symbolical of growth, creation and abundance. With that symbolism ending, comes Halloween, the holiday of death. In American culture death is viewed in a scary and sad light, that ideology is made very apparent in our traditions of Halloween. However in other cultures death is a celebration, peaceful, and bittersweet. Samhain is one example of cultures that celebrate death.
Samhain is a traditionally Gaelic and comes from Irish culture. Some traditions they follow is dancing, bonfires, eating and fortune telling, Fortunes were traditionally told through apples or hazelnuts. However now the mending of cultures can be seen when tarot reading is brought into the mix.
Many traditions having to do with apples were to predict who would be married soon, bobbing for apples is just one common example we still do today. Hazelnuts would be roasted over a fire to see if a couple was the correct match, if the hazelnuts jumped while roasting and left one another the couple was not meant to be.
Today Samhain can be celebrated in many ways; eating and giving candy by bonfires seems to be a common practice. While others who are more spiritual may read tarot, cast spells, or manifest as the veil is aids with intentions.
