Image @digital_errors

As with many traditions and celebrations that appear in our modern age, Halloween holds strong roots to pagan rituals. While the term pagan can make people a bit uncomfortable, it simply refers to cultures and groups of people whose religious beliefs were/are strongly rooted in nature.

Back in the day, Halloween was referred to as Samhain, a word that meant “summer’s end”. For the pagans, October 31st was a day that marked the transition into a long, dark winter. This was a time that required an investment of faith with many questions up in the air regarding survival; will we survive through winter? do we have enough provisions? if a sickness runs through the clan, have we stocked enough healing herbs for cures?

And while faith needed to be strong, ritual was there to assist. On October 31st, pagans lit large bonfires to symbolically stave of the darkness and honour a new year, while curing their harvested meats for the winter. They also left out offerings for spirits and faeries, like the best meats and finest herbs. With October 31st being the darkest day of the year, it meant that spirits have more time on earth and pagans paid tribute accordingly.

The Underworld Veil 

Pagans honoured the crucial moment when October 31st became November 1st (or 1/11), as this is when it it was believed spiritual activity was at its highest. The vibration around the number 111 offers up symbolism surrounding the thin veil between the underworld and the living world. The number 1 in the middle is representative of being stuck between those two worlds. The veil between the living and dead is also thinnest as the sun moves into the sign of Scorpio, where intuition and connection to both the underworld and our shadow selves runs deep. This thin veil is also why we put out carved pumpkins and dress up, in order to confuse and keep away negative spirits that may be out and about.

As the veil thins between the two worlds at this time, spirits and humans alike have easier access to travel to different dimensions, offering a wonderful opportunity for us to connect deep with our shadow selves and find what may be holding us back. This accessible time to spiritual revelation can help open our eyes, letting us know what we need to let die, in order to move forward,  beautifully and with power.

Celebrating Our Deaths 

The alignment with Scorpio season is no coincidence. The energy of the Scorpio is all about celebrating transformation and honouring cycles. Death and rebirth are prominent themes during this time, bringing us to reflect that our lives, like nature, undergo deaths and rebirths frequently.

From a spiritual perspective, we can leverage the opening of this portal between the underworld and the living, and invite connection to our deeper shadow selves, as well as celebrate the deaths we experienced this past year. What old patterns did you let die? What new creations are you ready to birth? Halloween is a time to honour your past self, your past relationships, mindsets and habits and allow them to die. Halloween is a time to let go.

This is when we allow our energy to shift into a new cycle, in tune with nature and with the spirit realm. It is a powerful time to embrace change and move forward into a new journey, a new self.

Happy Halloween!