Samhain Spells

The veil between the worlds is thinnest at Hallowe'en. Take advantage of this to cast extra-powerful spells, read the future and communicate with spirits who have passed on.

Need-Fire Spell
The Anglo-Saxon tribes that invaded Britain called Hallowe'en 'need-fire.' They lit bonfires to magically endow the sun with the strength to survive the winter. Such bonfire customs survive in Great Britain, but have been moved to the 5th of November and associated with the burning in effigy of Guy Fawkes. Revive the old magic by lighting your own 'need-fire' out of doors and add a colourful touch of the modern with fireworks.

Protection against Evil Spirits
The fierce faced lanterns carved out of pumpkins and, in colder climates where pumpkins are rare, turnips, are apotropaic charms intended to ward off evil spirits and protect traveller and household from harm. Make a Jack O'Lantern to keep the ghosties and ghoulies at bay. It is said that when you see the flame flickering, a spirit is near...

Hazelnut Love Spell
A girl might divine who her future husband was going to be by lining up hazelnuts in front of the fire, each of which represented one of the boys that was wooing her. She would then chant, "If you love me, pop and fly. If you hate me, burn and die."

Water Love Spell
Another tradition from America instructs the curious girl to take a lamp and go out on the night of Hallowe'en to a spring of water and peering in she should see the reflection of her future husband.

Apple Love Spell
To find out who your future partner in life is going to be try this simple divination spell. Take an apple and peel its skin off in one long piece, saying,

I pare this apple round and again
My sweetheart's name to flourish plain
I fling the pairing o'er my head
My sweetheart's letter on the ground be read
The peel should then have landed in the shape of your true-love's initial.

The Seining Ritual
It has been suggested that the game of Dooking, or Bobbing for Apples, in which a person must catch apples floating in a basin with his teeth is a forgotten survival of the Pagan 'baptism' ritual of seining.

The Samhain Spell
The following 'spell' is a modern Wiccan composition.

Be unafraid of Shadows dark
And to their whispers
Do Not Hark
Unfriendly words
You do Not hear
No worry, trouble
Loss or Fear
No Shadow falls
Upon your Heart
We Stand Together
Though Apart.
We Stand Together
Ever Winning
All our spells
Together Spinning
For Every End
A New Beginning
Wealthy, Healthy,
Happy, Free
If this your Will
So Mote It Be!