Samhain, or Hallowe'en, as many of us continue to call it, at least in the Northern Hemisphere, is the end of Summer.  It is when we bid farewell to the Sun; the days get shorter, darker and colder with the approach of Yule.  The harvest is over, and everything that can be stored has been packed away in wait for winter.  Animals are fattening up and finding their Winter dens.  It's often when we bring our heavy sweaters and coats out of Summer storage, and pack away our shorts and t-shirts. With the fruits of summer having dropped their seeds, the God bids farewell to the Goddess as Crone, and heads West into the land of the dead, waiting to be reborn.  The veil between the lands of the living and dead are thinnest this night, and lost souls are more able to find their way to the afterlife.
It is said that lighting an orange candle at midnight and letting it burn until sunrise will bring good luck, but bad luck will befall anyone who bakes bread on this night.

Traditions

• Light candles or use electric candles in your windows to light the path of spirits.
• Carve pumpkins.  (There is a wonderful pattern out there of the Green Man)
• Bury some apples in the ground as a food offering to the dead.
• Remember and honour the dead, especially ancestors.
• Light a black candle to ward off any negativity.
• Scry, read Tarot cards, cast runes, or practice some other form of divination.
• Reflect on the past year, and vow to change anything that you feel needs changing.
• Light a bonfire in memory of the Sun.
• Burn a symbol of anything that has been holding you back in any way, as a method of setting yourself free from that thing.

Foods

Beets, turnips, apples, corn, nuts, gingerbread, cranberries, breads, pumpkin dishes, meat dishes, ale, cider, mulled wine, and herbal tea.

Incenses

Apple, heliotrope, mint, nutmeg, or sage.

Candle Colour

Black and Orange

Gemstones

All black stones (obsidian, onyx, jet, apache tears, etc.)