Samhain | The Portal of Surrender
Death, Birth, and Ancestral Connection
Samhain, (pronounced Sow-in) is more than Halloween’s mystical roots; it is the Celtic New Year, a sacred portal of death and rebirth. This year, while we celebrate on October 31 and November 1, the astronomical midpoint between Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice falls on November 7, carrying the deepest energetic significance.
As the last of the leaves fall and the nights grow long, we arrive at Samhain, the ancient Celtic fire festival marking the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter.
From an Animist perspective, Samhain is not simply about folklore or the past. It’s a living conversation between the seen and unseen worlds. It’s a time when we remember that everything around us is alive and in relationship with us. The land, the ancestors, the trees, and even the breath we take are part of one great web of being.
As a spiritual healer walking the Animist path, I see Samhain as a profound reminder that we are never separate from the cycles of life, death, and renewal. We are always in communion with the greater rhythm of Spirit.
A few weekends ago, I was teaching the Animist Practitioner program and specifically the module on Death and Dying. It was a profound weekend exploring the illusion of separation between life and death, the importance of grief and mourning rituals, processes of Ancestralization, but mostly how Death can be our greatest teacher!
This is because Death pushes us to feel how precious life actually is. It teaches us how to live more fully, love more deeply, and surrender with grace.
LEARNING SURRENDER WITH THE EARTH
At this seasonal threshold, the Earth herself teaches us about surrender. The trees release their leaves, the soil rests, and we are invited to do the same. This is an opportunity to let go, to rest, to reflect on what truly matters most. This is also the season to lay things to rest and to honour the wisdom of endings.
It’s a time to remember that in the quiet darkness, within the tomb, lies the womb, the place of gestation and renewal where something truer can be born.
Samhain reminds us that life is not a straight line but a circle, a cycle of cycles. Like our in-breath and out-breath, there is an invisible thread that connects death and life. This thread is woven through the presence of our Ancestors, who continue to live through us in memory, blood, and breath. They remind us that death is not an ending, but a transformation - a changing of form. They remind is that nothing truly dies; everything shifts, transforms, and continues in new ways.
At Samhain, we also honour the veil between worlds, said to grow thin at this time. I often wonder whether this veil is actually an illusion! What if it’s a wall we’ve built ourselves? What if it’s actually the disconnection we feel as a result of living in a culture that doesn’t actively honour our Ancestors? Like any relationship, when neglected, it fades. But when we tend to it, intimacy grows, and the whispers of those who came before us become clear once again.
I hope this Samhain you will have the space to tend the living bond with those who have crossed over and to listen for their wisdom about letting go, living fully, and loving deeply.
“Should you shield the valleys from the windstorms, you will never see the beauty of their canyons”
A SimplE Ritual to Honour Your Ancestors
To honour this sacred threshold, here’s a simple ritual for Ancestral connection you can do at home.
We’ll use apples, because in Celtic tradition, apples were sacred gifts to the dead. They are symbols of immortality and the soul’s return.
Find a quiet place and light a candle.
Speak the names of your Ancestors aloud or simply acknowledge the unknown ones whose lives made yours possible.
Place an apple slice outside or in the earth as an offering of love, remembrance, and gratitude for all your Ancestors lived so that you could experience life.
As you do, imagine that invisible thread between you and them growing luminous, a reminder that the bond between the living and the dead never truly breaks.
JOURNAL PROMPTS: WHEN DEATH BECOMES A TEACHER
Take some time this Samhain to journal and reflect on how Death can teach you how to become more alive, how to live more fully and authentically. Let these questions guide you back to life:
What would you finally release if you knew endings were just beginnings in disguise?
Whose voice from the past still lives in your bones?
What are you clinging to that no longer gives you life?
If your time were short, what would suddenly become clear about what truly matters?
What parts of you are waiting to be reborn through surrender?
Samhain is not just about death, it’s about relationship. It’s about remembering that endings are sacred, and within every ending lives the seed of something new.
From an animist and spiritual healing perspective, this is a time to remember that our souls are woven into the living world - into the ancestors, the land, and the elements themselves. The invitation is to walk gently, listen deeply, and let the season of darkness teach us how to live with greater reverence and wholeness.
May this Samhain remind you that death is not the opposite of life, but its sacred partner.
If you’re moving through a season of letting go or seeking deeper connection to your inner world, my Soul Medicine Sessions offer gentle support through life’s thresholds of transformation.