You may have heard this Halloween is a full moon. This happens once in a Blue Moon. Oh yeah, it's also an actual Blue Moon this Halloween. That's when there's 2 full moons in the same month. This 2020 we had one on the first of October. Too bad there wasn't also a Friday the 13th in the middle, that would've made for a fun Halloween month.
The full moon will set on Halloween morning and rise again on Halloween night. That should let you get some full moon craziness in whether you're a morning or a night person. Halloween is the time of year when the veils between the worlds is said to be the thinnest.
Samhain (pronounced sow-win in Gaelic) is a wiccan sabbat, one of the Celtic pagan holidays on the wheel of the year, and the third and final harvest and fire festival of the year. The first of November is the mid-point between the autumn equinox and winter solstice. It marks the end of summer and harvest and beginning of winter; it embraces the darker half of the year.
Witch's consider this their New Year. Many cultures celebrate a holiday around this time of the year. It goes by other names like Allhallowtide, All Soul's Day, All Saint's Day, All Hallow's eve, or in catholic Latin America: El dia del muerte - The Day of the Dead. Most of these are celebrated on the first and second of November, and the eve is the night before.
Some traditions and practices related to festivals around this time of year include:
- Trick or treating
- Ancestor alters and divination
- Soul cakes
- Bonfires & sacrifice
- Candle in the window to guide spirits
- Dumb Supper - a feast with your deceased
- Offerings (treats and candies) for good spirits
- Carving Jack-o'lanterns into gords, potatoes, and turnips
- Wearing masks or costumes and smuding to ward off bad spirits