Celebrating Samhain By Cosette Paneque For many modern Pagans, Halloween is known as Samhain. It is a magical night when the veil between the worlds is at its thinnest. It is the final harvest, a time to give thanks, remember those that have passed on, and as the Witches New Year, it is time to make vows for the future. Getting children into the spirit of Halloween is not very hard, but teaching them about Samhain can be, especially when the holiday is so closely tied to death and often associated with fear. Pagans are not afraid of the spirits of the dead, however. We see them as our beloved friends and ancestors. While nobody really knows what happens when a person dies, most Pagans believe we move on to somewhere pleasant – Summerland, the Land of Youth, Avalon, and so forth. It’s important that children understand that Samhain is not an evil holiday and that scary things like witches and ghosts aren’t really scary at all. Regardless of whether or not you want to address the issue of death with your child, teach him/her the origins of Halloween and the true significance of Samhain. Stress that the ghosts of our friends and ancestors are friendly and can help and guide us. Remind them that real witches are not bad. You don’t have to do this all at once of course. Most families don’t trim the Yule tree, buy and wrap the presents, decorate the house, bake the cookies, and send out cards all on the same day (at least, I hope not for sake of sanity). You have all month. Here are some ideas to get you started. You’ll have to decide what’s appropriate for your child given his/her age and level of maturity. Decorate Decorate your home in the spirit of the season. Use pumpkins, ghosts, witches, black cats, and everything else you can think of. Involve your children as much as possible. This is a good time to explain the origins of Halloween and the real meanings of these images of witches, skeletons, and ghosts. Create an altar Make a big family altar. Put symbols of the seasons on it, like pumpkins, fall leaves, pomegranates, and corn. Put pictures of your beloved dead on the altar, as well as anything that reminds you of them – an aunt’s string of pearls, a grandfather watch. Encourage your child to add to the altar. They can add a drawing, a favorite picture, photo of a beloved pet that has passed away, or just something that evokes the spirit of Samhain like a witch doll or a small scarecrow. If possible, make the altar low, at your child’s eye level. Have a special meal Set an extra Ancestor Seat to your dinner table and let the children decorate the chair. If your children are older, you could hold a Dumb Supper, where dinner is served and eaten in complete silence in honor of the Spirit. Be sure to give thanks. If your children are younger, you could have them leave a plate outside for wandering ghosts on Samhain (like leaving cookies for Santa). Visit ancestors Pick an especially beautiful day and visit a cemetery with your children. Choose an interesting cemetery – one that is especially old, has leaning headstones, statues, and beautiful gardens. Walk around examining the headstones, piecing together stories from the family burial plots or mausoleums, reading about lives well lived. See the old headstones and image what life was like in the 1800s and early 1900s. If you find a neglected grave, tidy it up a bit. Leave flowers and other offerings such as breads or sweets. This is a good time to answer children’s questions about death, ghosts, and other mysteries. In the bright sunshine and peaceful quiet of the cemetery, they’ll be less afraid, more likely to respect death, and find added joy in life. Visit family Let your child spend time with older family members, a grandmother for instance. Encourage your relative to tell your child stories about the family. What is the family history – did someone immigrate from Ireland, Russia, and so forth? Did anyone grow up during the Great Depression? How did grandpa and grandma meet? Share your family stories with your children. Bring out old photos. Carve pumpkins This is practically a Halloween must. If you can, go to a pumpkin patch. Later, as you help your child carve the pumpkins, tell them the history of pumpkin carving and Halloween in general. Make special treats If you’re not too handy in the kitchen, you can buy ready to bake cookies in the frozen aisle of your grocery store. At this time of year, you’ll find many already come decorated with Halloween themes. If you’re really handy in the kitchen, borrow from Mexican tradition and make sugar skulls. Prepare any dough for sugar cookies as you normally. Divide the dough into golf-size balls and sculpt them into skulls, using toothpicks and other kitchen tools to make the skull’s features. Decorate them with frosting. Share a great story There are many Halloween books for children, but beware if you’re trying to pass on positive images of witches to your children. Be sure to look a book over before giving it to your child. The same goes for movies. Some book recommendations appear at the end of this article. You can also share your own stories and stories about the Goddess and God and their roles at Samhain. Create simple rituals Keep your rituals simple if you’re going to include young children. They’ll be able to follow better and are less likely to get bored. A ritual can be as simple as lighting candles for your ancestors at your altar and saying some simple words. One simple ritual you can do with your family is having everyone write on one piece of paper something he/she would like to leave behind (like a bad habit, for instance). Write down a wish for the future on another piece of paper. The first piece of paper can be burned (by mom or dad) and the ashes blown into the wind. Tell your children to imagine the wind taking these bad habits far away from your home. Take a small pumpkin and cut slits into it, one for each family member. Have everyone insert their pieces of paper containing their wishes for the future into the pumpkin. Bury the pumpkin in your front or backyard. Be sure to bury it as deep as you can because a local animal might be able to scent it and dig it up. Go trick-or-treating I didn’t really have to tell you this, did I? Remind the kids to leave a little candy for the ancestors. Perform divination Samhain is an excellent time to do some divination. Choose your favorite tool and do a reading for and/or with your child, but be sure to keep it positive. If you use a tarot deck, avoid using one with dark images that might frighten your child. Samhain also provides a great opportunity to introduce your child to the tarot. Present him/her with his/her very own deck. Even if your child is too young to do readings, he/she will begin getting familiar with the images. Some recommendations for tarot decks for children appear at the end of this article. Make a witch’s cord Witch’s cords are beautiful and make great decorations. The Samhain witches cord should be an expression of what you wish or hope for the New Year. Take three strands of ribbon or silk cord in three different colors, each about three feet long. Choose colors that symbolize your hopes for the New Year. Fold one end down about five inches and tie together in a knot to make a loop so the cord can be hung. Braid the strands together, reciting your wishes and hopes and tie at least three knots on the tail. You can add anything you want to the cords – feathers, stones, herbs, little toys, tokens in remembrance of a loved one, etc. Samhain is a great time to look for a wand. Venture outdoors with your children, to a park perhaps, and look for branches or fallen pieces of wood. When you’ve found your wand, be sure to thank the tree and leave an offering. Once you’ve cleaned it up by whittling it and sanding it if necessary, let your child decorate it. Halloween is a fun time for children, but it’s also a celebration of the cycles that bring growth and transformation. With its deep connections to family, our rituals and stories are perfect for sharing with our children, teaching them about the past, and giving us all hope for the future.
Posted on: Fri, 18 Oct 2013 01:07:08 +0000
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