🕯️ When the Veil Thins
Every October, when the air chills and the leaves decay into copper and gold, the world feels different. Doorways creak open that don’t exist at any other time of year. Dreams grow vivid. Animals act strangely. And somewhere deep inside, we all feel it — the thinning of the veil between the living and the dead.
This belief is older than Halloween itself, tracing back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced Sow-in). Celebrated over 2,000 years ago, Samhain marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter — the “dark half” of the year. The Celts believed that on this night, the boundary between worlds dissolved, and spirits could cross freely among the living.
But Halloween wasn’t always about fright or fun. Beneath the modern costumes and candy, this night once held mystical rituals, ancestral devotion, and omens of fate — traditions that whispered of life, death, and everything in between.
🕸️ The Cat Síth: The Soul-Stealing Fairy Cat
Long before black cats were associated with witches, there was the Cat Síth, a creature of Celtic mythology feared and revered in equal measure. Described as a massive black cat with a white patch on its chest, the Cat Síth was no ordinary feline — it was a fairy creature from the Otherworld, said to roam the Scottish Highlands and Irish hills on Samhain night.
According to legend, the Cat Síth would steal the souls of the recently dead before they could pass on, unless a proper vigil — called a Feill Fadalach — was kept over the body. People left out bowls of milk as offerings, hoping to appease the creature and ensure safe passage for their loved ones.
Some witches were even rumored to shape-shift into cats eight times — but if they transformed a ninth, they would remain trapped as the Cat Síth forever.
In modern witchcraft, the Cat Síth is seen as a guardian of the spirit realm — a reminder that not all who walk between worlds do so with malice. Some simply protect the boundary.
🍰 The Dumb Supper: A Silent Feast for the Dead
Victorian occultists and Celtic pagans alike practiced a Samhain ritual called the Dumb Supper — a meal held in total silence to honor and commune with the dead.
At midnight, witches would set a table in reverse order — dessert first, silverware backward, chairs facing east — and leave an empty seat for the spirits. Candles were lit, prayers whispered, and plates filled for those who came unseen.
It was said that if you performed the ritual with sincerity, the spirits of your ancestors would join you — and sometimes, if your heart was open, you might even glimpse your future lover’s face flicker in the candlelight.
Today, modern witches still host Dumb Suppers on Samhain as a way to connect with ancestral energy, show gratitude, and seek guidance from beyond the veil.
💀 The Dullahan: The True Headless Horseman
Before Washington Irving wrote The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, there was the Dullahan — an Irish harbinger of death.
The Dullahan rides a dark horse under the moon, carrying his own head in his hand. His eyes glow like candles, his mouth twisted in a deathly grin. Where he stops riding, someone is fated to die.
Some tales say the Dullahan calls out a person’s name — and the moment he speaks it, their soul is claimed. Others describe him pouring blood upon the doorstep of those whose time has come.
No lock, gate, or charm can keep him out, except for one thing: gold. Even a small piece of it could drive him away.
The Dullahan represents the raw, unfiltered truth of Samhain — that death walks among us, not as an enemy, but as a part of the natural cycle of endings and rebirth.
🌑 The Will-o’-the-Wisp: Spirits of the Marsh
In the boglands and moors of Europe, strange lights were said to appear on Halloween night — flickering blue or green, leading travelers astray. These were the Will-o’-the-Wisps, or “corpse candles.”
Folklore claims they were restless spirits of the unburied dead, tricking mortals into following them into swamps or bogs, never to return.
Other stories say they were fairy lights, marking hidden treasure or testing the purity of one’s heart.
Witches see them differently — as symbols of intuition, calling us to trust our inner light even in the dark, and reminding us that not every glow is meant to be followed.
🕯️ The Soul Cakes: Origins of Trick-or-Treating
Before candy and costumes, there were soul cakes — small round pastries baked to honor the dead. On All Hallows’ Eve, children and beggars went door to door, offering prayers for the souls of the departed in exchange for these cakes. The practice was called souling, and each cake eaten was said to release a soul from purgatory.
In time, souling evolved into mumming (performing in costume for food), which eventually became our modern trick-or-treating tradition.
Few realize that this innocent childhood custom began as a sacred exchange between the living and the dead — a form of sweetened prayer.
🕸️ Spiders, Mirrors, and Other Halloween Omens
In English folklore, seeing a spider on Halloween night meant a deceased loved one was watching over you.
If a spider descended from the ceiling, it was said to carry a message from the Other Side. Witches still see spiders as symbols of fate — weaving the web of destiny that connects all souls.
Mirrors, too, carried power on Samhain. It was believed that gazing into a mirror by candlelight at midnight could reveal your future spouse — or a skull, foretelling death before the next Halloween.
These old divination rituals remind us that Halloween was once a night of prophecy, when even the simplest objects could reveal the unseen.
🔥 From Sacred Fire to Pumpkin Light
Long before pumpkins glowed on porches, the Celts carved turnips and skulls to hold candles during Samhain. These “soul lights” represented guidance for wandering spirits and protection from malevolent ones.
When Irish immigrants came to America, they found pumpkins larger and easier to carve — and so the jack-o’-lantern was born.
Even the name “Jack-o’-Lantern” comes from an old Irish tale — Stingy Jack, a trickster who cheated the Devil and was doomed to roam the earth with only a glowing ember inside a carved turnip to light his way.
🕯️ Halloween: The Witch’s New Year
For modern witches, Halloween — or Samhain — is more than a holiday. It’s the turning of the wheel, the witch’s New Year.
It’s the time to honor ancestors, face shadows, and set intentions for rebirth. It’s when we pause between light and dark, life and death — and recognize that both are sacred.
When the night grows long and the air feels charged, remember: Halloween isn’t about fear. It’s about remembrance. It’s about the unseen threads connecting us to those who came before — and those who walk with us still.
So light a candle. Leave out an offering. And when you feel the shift in the air, whisper a thank-you to the spirits passing by.
You are, after all, standing in the oldest magic there is — the moment between worlds.
