Another way to honour the ancestors at Samhain is to pay respects to everything in your past that has led you to this place, physically and metaphorically, spiritually and emotionally.
Take a handful of drive leaves, or incense with charcoal bricks, along with a fireproof bowl (unless you have a hearth or wood burner) and some matches.
Extinguish all the lights in your household and spend a few moments sitting in silence, in darkness.
Open the windows to let in the night and feel the breath of the underworld around you, the raven wings of the goddess as crone, the Cailleach upon your cheek.
Hold the leaves, and using your imagination, pour all the deaths you have felt over the year, all sorrow, pain, anything negative, into them.
Face the darkness, not as something to fear, but as an ancient friend that you have met many times before.
Then when you are ready, light a single candle and feel the brightness that this brings.
Throw the leaves or incense, into your bowl or onto the fire, and watch them burn.
Relight every candle in your home from the flames.
For more rituals, crystal magick and kitchen witchery – treat yourself to The Magickal Book of Samhain.
Blessings.
