It is the first seen dark after the final colors of the fading sunset.  It is the feast of the dead, the night of otherworldly travels, the evening of ghosts and goblins and little childrens knocking on your door.  Samhain, popularly known as Halloween, is the night when the feil between this world and the otherworld is the thinnest. 

Dispite its reputation (Halloween), Samhain is in fact the height of the energies of Order.  Samhain marks the beginning of Winter, and is the ending and beginning of the majority of Lunar calendars.  Samhain usually occurs under the Sorting moon. 

The primary themes of Samhain are death and rebirth.  It celebrates death as the fullfillment of life, the end to which we all will come. 

Mother, in sorrow for the death of Father, Her Lover, the Mother rests.  She dons the cloak of Her dark aspect, as the crone who cuts the thread of live or the dark sow who eats the dead.  In this time, the Goddess energy dominates the God, and the earth turns to slumber. 

As in the Celtic feast, Samhain is associated with the thinning of the veils between this world and the other world.  It occurs as early as October 23rd, and as late as November 21st.  In the Lunar calendar, it often falls under the Sorting moon, but at times it lies on the Death moon.  It is the begining of the winter that stays until Imbolc.  In ancient times, Samhain marked the 3rd harves when all animals that had been culled from the herds, were slaughtered and the meat prepared for winter storage. 

Samhain is a time of letting go of the past and looking on to the future.  A time to deving the future and see what the coming year will bring. 

Final Note: