The Healing Power of Ritual at the Festival of Samhain

Today is one of my favorite seasonal festivals, called Samhain (that’s pronounced sow-wen btw and is the Gaelic word meaning ‘summer’s end’). Samhain is one of the cross-quarter festivals on the Wheel of Year, the traditional Celtic/Germanic way of observing seasonal cycles. It’s believed that on this day the veil between the earthly and spirit realms is at its thinnest which is why it’s the perfect time to consider how engaging with our spirituality can support our sense of wellness. Evidence suggests that having a spiritual practice benefits mental health. In particular, the power of ritual cannot be understated in the mind-body-spirit connection (the holy trinity for those who consider ourselves Integrated Healers).

Regardless of how we define ‘spiritual practice,’ at this time we look to our ancestors and nourishing rituals for assistance as we move deeper into the collective Death Cycle and therefore, our healing journeys.

what is Samhain?

Samhain is a Celtic festival that occurs at the peak of autumn during the final harvest, around the evening of 31 October through 1-2 November, halfway between the Autumn Equinox and the Winter Solstice (I say “around” because the actual festival aligns with the moon cycle so it occurs at the New Moon, which this year happens to be on 1 Nov). Samhain is the first festival on the Wheel of the Year, making it the Celtic New Year (one of my favorite Van Morrison songs…) and is often referred to as the “Witches’ New Year”. This date will look familiar to most of us as being that of Halloween, All Saints’ Day & All Souls Day, and the Day of the Dead depending on which traditions we subscribe to, but many aren’t aware of the festival’s pagan origins.

Although it originated in Ireland a couple of millennia ago, Samhain is still observed in many cultures as a sacred threshold between the light and dark halves of the year. This window of transition results in the veil between the spiritual and earthly realms being at its thinnest, making this an opportune time to connect with our ancestors; those who’ve transitioned during our lifetimes; and with our spirit guides. In fact, the traditions of dressing up in costumes (or ‘guising’) and carving fearsome faces into pumpkins (or turnips as the Celts did - trust me, a gruesome turnip is far more terrifying than a jolly pumpkin!) derive from the belief that not-so-benevolent spirits needed to be warded off while people welcomed in their ancestors for ritual feasts.

“The nights are longer than the days now…Fog creeps in, cloaking the Earth in a mysterious, spooky softness. The colors of Summer have faded, but as one season ends, another begins, and in the transition magic shimmers in the air.”

-Fiona Cook, The Wheel of the Year

Spirituality and Mental Health

Contrary to almost everything we’ve been taught in the West, psychology and spirituality are not always antagonistic. Despite Freud’s assertion that religion is a “universal obsessional neurosis,” modern research has demonstrated a positive correlation between spiritual practice and mental health. For many, a religious or a spiritual practice can be an enormous source of peace and inspiration. (Remember that spirituality and religion aren’t always the same thing. Some have found deep spirituality in religion while others have had to leave religion to find spirituality)

In his book The Psychology of Spirituality, Larry Culliford says,

“There can be no doubt that our attention to spirituality (or neglect of) will be a major influence on our psychology; on our emotions; as well as on our thoughts, words, and actions.”

Having a spiritual practice, or at least curiosity about it, brings ancillary benefits that may not be obvious. These can include a supportive community of individuals bound not by blood but by shared values; the means to help cope with adversity; higher chances of experiencing Post-Traumatic Growth (positive psychological experiences following trauma); reduced levels of depression and anxiety; reduced risk of suicide; lower rates of substance abuse; higher rates of successful psychiatric interventions; and reduced rates of obsessive and compulsive behaviors.

In fact, in his article, Spirituality and Its Contribution to Mental Health, psychologist Sebastian Salicru concluded:

“Spirituality has been recognised as an important feature of the therapeutic process and a contributor to improving life satisfaction and wellbeing and reducing antisocial behavior, substance abuse, and suicide rates.”

Don’t be put off by the idea of developing a spiritual practice though! Instead, I invite us all to define it in whatever way works for us. It can be anything that makes us feel connected to something bigger; supported by nature, our ancestors, deities, or spirits; or something that fills us with vitality. For some this looks like participating in formal, structured services. For others, it may look like a hike through the forest; a swim in the cold sea; meditation; lighting a candle and breathing; Tarot; prayer; reading books about folklore; visiting ancient sacred sites; or whatever spirituality means to you! For me, observing the Wheel of the Year festivals has become one of my main spiritual practices because it allows me to flow with nature’s rhythm. It doesn’t have to be dogmatic or prescriptive, but a spiritual practice can become a deeply nourishing ritual.

Ritual and Ancestors

Few festivals make use of ritual as much as Samhain does. Between carving gourds, wearing costumes, bonfires, and lighting candles in windows to guide spirits home, the power of ritual is on full display this time of year!

CALLING ON ANCESTRAL SUPPORT

Many of us don’t know our ancestral origins, were adopted, or have fractured relationships with our ancestors and and that’s okay. We don’t need to have traceable bloodlines to connect with our ancestral magic. For those of us who do have these connections, it’s a beautiful privilege, but whether we do or do not doesn’t stop the embers from burning deep within us. When I talk about ancestral lineage, I’m talking about ritual, magic, myth, and land. As author Fiona Cook reminds us,

“Ancestors are not only the people you descended from. The place where you live holds the spirit and history of all who once lived there.”

I believe that the energy of Samhain invites us to reestablish our ancestral links even if our ancestors, like mine and many of us from New World countries, suffered the trauma of displacement. The spiritual unrest caused by broken bonds to our ancestral lands can be significant. Visiting these lands can be one way to reestablish peace - it’s a sort of Rewilding process really. But this festival can take us deeper still.

RECONNECTING THROUGH RITUAL

What is ancestral magic? It’s the link that connected our ancestors to their spiritual origins and to their lands; a link that has been broken in recent generations. It would behoove us to remember that ritual was a core part of life until recently. By nature humans default to creating rituals in whatever it is we do whether it’s our nightly bedtime routine or how we spend our Saturday mornings. When our rituals are interrupted we feel unsettled.

Ritual is essential for wellbeing.

It can help this reclamation work to ask, “How did my ancestors observe ritual?” Some of us derive from cultures or individuals whose ritual centered around the spirit world, whether it was going to Sunday mass or observing the Wheel of the Year’s solar and lunar festivals. Many of us hail from healers, astrologers, alchemists, Shamans, mediums, seers, and so forth who were guided by the cosmos. Some of our ancestors were storytellers, priests, makers and craftspeople. Some spent their time in Red Tents, others conducted their rituals in forests hiding from persecution. One universal ritual was the preparation and sharing of food.

Anecdotally, I spent the Covid lockdown learning how to cook the Slavic food that my grandmother and her grandmother did. Admittedly, the slavish preparation of pierogi and barszcz drove me towards another ancestral tradition of consuming vodka like there was no tomorrow…Nevertheless, while my hands were stained purple from beets I embodied my grandmother and I worshipped in the same temple that she did, the kitchen. I was rewarded by a visitation from my grandmother via a lovely medium at The College of Psychic Studies in London. A singer who was silenced in labor camps, she told me I had been imbued with the gift that was taken from her - the gift of being able to use my voice freely. So in my writing of this, and in your reading of it, I am reclaiming my own ancestral magic.

HOW CAN WE CREATE RITUALS?

Looking for ways to create your own rituals? Start by asking the following questions and find what is available to you:

What myths and folklore resonate with me?

How did my ancestors honor their gods?

Where did they practice ritual? The kitchen? The forest? By water?

What foods did my ancestors share in the ritual of feast?

What language did they use to pray?

What was their creative practice? What is my creative practice?

What lands did my ancestors call home? Is there a land in particular that makes my soul feel settled?

Do I share any of the talents or gift my ancestors are said to have possessed? How can I lean into them?

Is there a legacy of trauma that I feel called to clear once and for all?

Next Steps

If you’re feeling called to reconnect and reclaim - or as I would say, reintegrate - and want to learn more about how Integrated Therapy can serve you, feel free to schedule a no-commitment Discovery Session during which we can have a short chat about how you’re feeling; how I work; and where you’re feeling disconnected.