Samhain Blessing scented jar candle

Before the pumpkin, Irish and Scottish children carved turnips into lanterns with grimacing faces for the night the dead came close.

Origin & Traditional Use

Samhain, held on 31 October to 1 November, marked the start of winter and the dark half of the year in Gaelic Ireland and Scotland. It was a time when the barrier between the living and the dead was believed to thin, and it is now the most important sabbat in many witchcraft traditions, a night for honouring ancestors and divining the year ahead.

Uses by Tradition

Witchcraft & Folk Magick

• Ancestor altar: light the candle among photographs, heirlooms and favourite foods of your dead, and speak their names aloud.
• Dumb supper: set a place at the table for the dead, eat in silence by the candle’s light and leave their portion outside afterwards.
• Samhain divination: read tarot, scry or try old apple and nut divinations by its light.

Ceremonial & Occult Magick

• Opening the sabbat: burn it in the west of the circle, the direction many traditions give to the dead and the setting sun.

A Simple Working

• On Samhain night, set up a small table with photographs of your ancestors.
• Place the candle at the centre with a glass of water and a slice of bread.
• Light it and call each ancestor by name.
• Tell them what the past year has held and ask for their blessing on the coming one.
• Sit quietly for a while and note any thoughts or memories that come.
• In the morning, leave the bread outside and pour the water at the foot of a tree.

Pairs Well With

• An ancestor altar photo frame: to give the dead a place beside the candle.
• Apples: for traditional Samhain divination and offerings.
• Mugwort: for dreams of the dead on the same night.
• Tarot cards: for a reading for the year ahead.

Lore & History

Medieval Irish tales set many great events at Samhain, when the doors of the sídhe, the fairy mounds, stood open. Carved turnip and mangel lanterns were part of the night in Ireland and Scotland, and Irish and Scottish emigrants to North America switched to the larger, easier pumpkin.

What You Receive

One pumpkin-scented Samhain Blessing ritual jar candle topped with a scent and herb blend; colours vary from candle to candle; burns approximately 3 1/2 days.