Samhain Reflections: Connecting with Ancestors and Nature

Celebrating Samhain: the end of the harvest and the arrival of the dark half of the year

Hello and thanks for being here. I’m Laura, a counsellor, therapist, a nature therapist and a Pagan priestess. I work 121 with clients in Birmingham and online, as well as offering group nature embodiment sessions. I have been curating and sharing playlists around the Celtic Pagan Wheel of the Year for some time now. Each time the wheel turns I update my post and playlist from the previous year. This is always a really interesting exercise in observing my own repeating themes and cycles. For an overview of The Wheel of the Year you can check out this post.

I have been curating and sharing playlists around the Celtic Pagan Wheel of the Year for some time now. Each time the wheel turns I update my post and playlist from the previous year. This is always a really interesting exercise in observing my own repeating themes and cycles. For an overview of The Wheel of the Year you can check out this post.

Samhain: Honouring the Darkness and the Ancestors

Samhain (pronounced Sah-win) is one of the eight festivals on the Wheel of the Year. It’s traditionally observed on October 31st, though some honour it on November 8th, which is the halfway point between the Autumn Equinox and the Winter Solstice. For me, Samhain is one of my favourite celebrations in the Celtic year. It marks the end of the harvest season and the beginning of the dark half of the year. I love the sense of quiet it brings and the sense of turning inward, along with the invitation to rest. There's a cosiness to this time of year that I find really comforting, as the world becomes colder and darker.

Samhain is steeped in folklore and ancestral tradition. Many of the customs we now associate with Halloween have their roots in ancient Samhain practices; the belief that the veil between the physical world and the spirit world is at its thinnest, the lighting of bonfires to ward off darkness, the wearing of costumes to confuse wandering spirits. It’s a fire festival, and fire, as always, carries both destructive and transformative power. We light fires not only to honour the darkness, but to illuminate it.

This time of year is also connected with the figure of the Cailleach, the ancient Crone goddess of winter, transformation, and decay. She strips the last leaves from the trees, bringing death to the land but she does so as a necessary act to make space for new life in the spring. Her presence reminds us that endings are sacred and decay is not something to fear but something to honour.

The Veil is Thin: A Time for Ancestral Connection

One of the most meaningful aspects of Samhain for me is the opportunity to honour our ancestors. It feels important to acknowledge that ancestors aren’t only those we’re related to by blood. Our ancestors include the land itself, the trees and stones and waters that have witnessed the passing of time. They include the plants and animals we share the Earth with. The people who once worked this land, who built the homes we now inhabit. Our teachers and their teachers are ancestors. The traditions we carry, the songs we sing, the stories we hold are all passed down from somewhere, through someone.

If your relationship with your bloodline is complicated or painful, you might choose instead to connect with the land beneath your feet. With the local river. With the old oak tree in the park. With a beloved teacher, living or passed. I have shared some deeper reflections in this post about ancestry beyond blood lines.

Leaning Into the Darkness

I don’t know about you, but I can feel the weight and depth of Samhain as I write this. 2025 has been another challenging year both for me and for lots of people around me. Samhain feels like a sacred pause. A moment to close out cycles, to tend to what's been and to prepare for the long exhale of winter. It's an opportunity to say goodbye to what is no longer needed, and to honour all that we’ve carried, survived and learned.

I’ll be marking Samhain with friends around the fire and as part of this I’ll be taking some time to connect with my ancestors. To support you to do the same and to explore the energy of this beautiful festival, here are some prompts that you might like to reflect on. You can also use the playlist below as a background for ritual, breath work or meditation. You can find some guidance about how to practice breathwork here.

Reflective prompts: what have you harvested this year that you’d like to celebrate?

• What do you notice when you connect with the idea of ancestors?

• Is there anything you’re holding on to in terms of your relationships with those who have passed?

• What have you harvested this year that you’d like to celebrate?

• What are you letting go of as we move into winter?

• How do you feel about welcoming in the dark?

• What is ready to be laid down?

• Who or what am I ready to honour?

• What wisdom lives in this darkness?

  Whether you’re celebrating Samhain with community, in solitude, or simply feeling your way through the season, may it be a time of deep connection, gentle reflection and quiet magic.
  
  Thanks for being here. If you’d like to explore ways to bring more ritual into your life check out this post. You might also want to check out this post about moving through Autumn.