Samhain and dreams: the veil, the ancestors and your dream journal

Samhain, pronounced roughly sow-in, falls on the night of 31 October to 1 November. For many wiccans and other pagans it is the most important festival of the year: the end of the harvest, the beginning of the dark half and a time to honour the dead. It is also a night for dreams above all.

In short

Samhain, on the night of 31 October to 1 November, is for many wiccans the most important festival of the year: the end of the harvest and a time to honour the dead.
The veil between the worlds is said to be thin then, and many people dream of deceased loved ones.
Customs such as the dumb supper and an ancestor altar make room for those who are gone.
Many wiccans start a new dream journal at Samhain.

Where Samhain comes from

Among the Gaelic peoples of Ireland and Scotland Samhain was the festival that closed the summer. The cattle came in, the harvest had been gathered and the dark time began. Medieval Irish stories show that people believed the boundary between this world and the otherworld could stand open that night. Many Halloween customs later grew out of this time.

In modern wicca Samhain is one of the eight sabbats of the Wheel of the Year. Many wiccans see it as the witches' new year: the old year dies, the new one begins in the dark, like a seed in the ground.

The thin veil

A well-known image is that the veil between the world of the living and that of the dead is thin around Samhain. Because of that the dead, ancestors and other beings could make contact more easily, and intuition would also be sharper. That is why many wiccans hold divination, meditation or a ritual for the ancestors around Samhain.

Dreamkin does not say the veil really is thinner. What is certain: someone who is consciously occupied with the dead at this time, with photos, names and memories, gives the mind a lot to process at night. Whether you look at it spiritually or psychologically, dreams about the dead around Samhain are very common.

Dreams of the dead

The most common Samhain dreams are about deceased loved ones. A grandmother standing in her kitchen, a father saying something you cannot understand, a pet that is back. In wicca such dreams are often read as a visit: a greeting, a reassurance, or a request to be remembered. A calm, warm dream is usually read as a sign that all is well.

Not every dream is gentle. An unsettling dream about a deceased person can also be grief asking for attention. Many practitioners therefore say: you do not have to decide what it was. You can honour the dream by writing it down and remembering the deceased.

The silent supper and the ancestor altar

A well-known Samhain custom is the dumb supper: a meal in silence, with a place set for the dead. Others set up an ancestor altar with photos, candles, autumn fruits and something the deceased liked. After such an evening many people go to sleep with the conscious wish to dream.

Those who want to try it often keep it simple: lighting a candle, saying a name aloud, and before sleeping saying what you would like to ask or tell. Dreamkin does not prescribe rituals; wicca has no central doctrine and everyone does it in their own way.

A Samhain dream journal

For many wiccans Samhain is the moment to start a new dream journal, at the beginning of the new year. Put a notebook next to your bed and write down immediately on waking what you still remember: who was there, colours, sounds and above all the feeling. Fragments count too.

Look back after a few weeks. Recurring images, such as a particular door, an animal or a place, are often read in practice as personal symbols. Some people put a small pillow with lavender next to their head, mainly because the scent is calming. What helps above all is attention and regularity.

Common images around Samhain

A deceased loved one visiting: often read as a greeting or reassurance. A door, gate or bridge: the passage between worlds, or between old and new in your own life. A black cat, owl or raven: animals that in pagan tradition belong to the night and the hidden. A fire or candle in the dark: protection and light in the dark half. Falling leaves or a bare tree: letting go, grief and rest before new growth.

Many symbols on this site have a wicca reading, including dreams about a deceased loved one, fire and the forest.