Samhain marks the turning of the Wheel of the Year into its darkest season. Known as the Witches’ New Year, it is the time when the veil between worlds is thin, and the spirits of our ancestors walk beside us once more. Today, many of its traditions live on in the Halloween festivities we know so well: jack-o’lanterns, spooky costumes, and games like apple bobbing.
Discover ways to celebrate Samhain at home: from creating ancestor altars and seasonal decorations, to exploring old divination customs like Nut-Crack Night and apple bobbing. You’ll also find a collection of historic recipes, from pumpkin bread to witch apples, that can help you set a truly magical Samhain table.
Traditional Magic. Recipes, and Tales for Halloween
Honour the Witches’ New Year with this magical guide to Samhain. In a collection of age-old traditions, powerful spells, and seasonal crafts and recipes, celebrate the mystical traditions of the Halloween Sabbat.
Bringing the Samhain Season Indoors
Just as the Autumnal changes outside our homes are central to the celebrations of Samhain, so are the decorations we put up inside our houses, bringing the spirit of the season into everyday spaces. Natural materials like leaves, gourds, twigs, and seasonal flowers take centre stage, offering us a chance to reconnect with the land and its abundance.
One of the most meaningful ways to honour the Sabbat is by setting up an altar dedicated to your ancestors. Use this space to place photographs, heirlooms, or offerings like food and drink that your loved ones enjoyed in life. Lighting candles and meditating at the altar can be a way to connect spiritually, inviting the presence of those who have passed.
For those hosting a gathering, decorating the hearth or supper table can transform the evening into a magical celebration. We suggest:
- Lining the mantel with a fringe of corn.
- Placing hand-painted silhouettes of bats, owls, and cats above the fireplace.
- Crafting candle shades from orange crepe paper, cut to resemble jack-o’lanterns.
At the table itself, papier-mâché pumpkins, chrysanthemums, and a carved pumpkin ‘basket’ filled with treats will create a festive centrepiece.
Samhain Rituals and Play
Samhain is also a time of divination and games. Placing charms in cakes or fruit was another way of weaving prophecy into the feast. Perhaps enclose a prophetic charm inside the peel of an orange for each of your guests to discover: a penny for prosperity, a heart for love, or a tiny button for marriage.
Nut-Crack Night
One of the most enduring divination customs of Samhain was known as Nut-Crack Night. Hazelnuts were thrown into the fire, each named for a sweetheart, to see how they would burn together. A nut that flared brightly was said to show strong passion, while one that popped apart foretold a quarrel or separation.
This tradition was so widespread across the British Isles that it inspired poets from England, Ireland, and Scotland alike:
‘Two hazel-nuts I threw into the flame,
And to each nut I gave a sweetheart’s name…’
—The Spell, by Gay.
‘These glowing nuts are emblems true/Of what in human life we view…’
—Nuts-burning, All-hallow Eve, by Charles Graydon.
‘Jean slips in twa wi’ tentie e’e…/Till fuff! he started up the lum…’
—Hallowe’en, by Burns.
Nuts were not only burned for prophecy but also cracked and eaten. In the north of England, the night of Samhain was often simply called Nut-Crack Night.
Apple Bobbing
One of the most familiar Samhain games, apple bobbing, also held divinatory power. In its simplest form, the first person to catch an apple with their teeth was believed to be the next to marry. Sometimes the apple itself was peeled, and the long curl of skin tossed over the shoulder. The shape it made on the ground was said to reveal the initial of a future lover’s name.
Another variation had participants mark their apples secretly before dropping them into the water. When the apples were caught and shared out, the pairings were thought to show who would be romantically linked in the year ahead.
The Samhain Supper
As the final harvest is brought in and the fields prepare for their Winter rest, the kitchen becomes a place of celebration. Food prepared during Samhain reflects the season’s bounty, with hearty meals, sweet desserts, and ceremonial dishes embodying the spirit of the festival.
Here are some historic recipes drawn from early twentieth-century sources that will bring your Samhain feast to life:
Cream of Mushroom Soup
A velvety blend of mushrooms, stock, cream, and a splash of white wine. Perfect as a warming starter.
INGREDIENTS
½ lb. mushrooms
¼ cup flour
4 cups stock
1 cup cream
1 slice onion
Salt
¼ cup butter
Pepper
2 tablespoons white wine
METHOD
Chop mushrooms, add to stock with onion, cook twenty minutes, and rub through a sieve. Reheat, bind with butter and flour cooked together, then add cream and salt and pepper to taste. Just before serving add wine.
Pumpkin Bread
A soft, rich bread made with boiled pumpkin, eggs, and a touch of yeast, wonderful with butter and honey.
INGREDIENTS
Pumpkin
Flour
Milk
Eggs
Salt
Sugar
Yeast
METHOD
Boil some pumpkin, adding a little salt; when tender, strain off the water, and add half as much flour; add milk and eggs (four eggs to a quart of milk); beat the eggs, whites and yolks separately; stir them to the pumpkin; add the flour, salt, a little sugar, a spoonful of yeast; sufficient milk for a soft dough. Bake in buttered tins.
Lentil and Cheese Roast
A savoury, comforting bake made with red lentils, tomatoes, onions, grated cheese, and breadcrumbs. Crispy on top and hearty within, this dish is equally delicious hot or cold.
INGREDIENTS
1/2 lb. red lentils
Good 1/2 pint cold water
3 shredded wheat biscuits, or their equivalent
in breadcrumbs
4 medium sized tomatoes
8 ozs. of dry grated cheese
2 English onions
1 oz. nut fat
METHOD
Place lentils, after washing them, in saucepan with the water and cook, gently stirring occasionally to prevent burning. When half done add the tomatoes skinned and finish cooking. Fry the sliced onions golden brown in the fat. Add these and the cheese and crumbled biscuits to the mixture. Mix thoroughly. Place in a shallow greased baking tin. Cover lightly with the other half biscuit crumbled and bake in moderate oven until brown and crisp on top. This is delicious hot or cold.
Witch Apples
Baked apples filled with marshmallows and cherries, then doused with brandy and set alight at the table. A dramatic, flame-kissed dessert.
INGREDIENTS
Large apples
Marshmallows
Sugar
Maraschino cherries
Brandy
Whipped cream
METHOD
Bake large apples from which the core has been removed until soft, but not long enough to burst the skin. When cooked, insert a marshmallow into the core space, put a teaspoonful of sugar on top and a few maraschino cherries. When ready to serve turn over each a scant teaspoonful of brandy and light just as the table is reached. The brandy will burn with a ghastly flame and melt the sugar and marshmallows. Whipped cream served in a bowl is a delicious addition.
Pumpkin Pie
A spiced custard pie with ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and lemon extract. The classic Samhain dessert.
INGREDIENTS
½ pint (1 cup) stewed pumpkin
4 heaping tablespoonfuls (4 ozs.) sugar
½ teaspoonful powdered ginger
½ teaspoonful powdered cinnamon
¼ teaspoonful grated nutmeg
1 teaspoonful lemon extract
2 eggs
1 tablespoonful cornstarch
½ pint (1 cup) cream
2 tablespoonfuls melted butter
METHOD
Line an earthenware pie-plate with pastry. Moisten the cornstarch with three tablespoonfuls of the cream. Bring the rest of the cream to boiling point, stir in the cornstarch, and continue stirring until thickened. Remove from the fire, add the eggs well beaten and all the other ingredients. Turn into the prepared pie-plate and bake in a moderate oven for
about one hour.
Traditional Magic. Recipes, and Tales for Halloween
Honour the Witches’ New Year with this magical guide to Samhain. In a collection of age-old traditions, powerful spells, and seasonal crafts and recipes, celebrate the mystical traditions of the Halloween Sabbat.
The gorgeous image featured in this blog is fro a vintage Halloween postcard, first printed c. 1900–1920
