Editing Samhain (section)

==Modern paganism==
{{See also|Wheel of the Year}}
Some [[modern paganism|Modern Pagans]] hold Samhain and Samhain-inspired festivals. As there are many kinds of Neopaganism, their Samhain celebrations can be very different. Some try to emulate the historic festival as much as possible. Others base their celebrations on sundry unrelated sources, with Gaelic culture only one of them.<ref name="Hutton"/><ref name="Adler1">Adler, Margot (1979, revised edition 2006) ''Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America Today''. Boston: Beacon Press {{ISBN|0-8070-3237-9}}. pp. 3, 243–99</ref><ref name="McColman">McColman, Carl (2003) ''Complete Idiot's Guide to Celtic Wisdom''. Alpha Press {{ISBN|0-02-864417-4}}. pp. 12, 51</ref> Folklorist Jenny Butler describes how Irish pagans pick some elements of historic Samhain celebrations and meld them with references to the Celtic past, making a new festival of Samhain that is uniquely part of neopagan culture.<ref>Butler, Jenny (2009), "Neo-Pagan Celebrations of Samhain" 67–82 in Foley, M. and O'Donnell, H., ed. ''Treat or Trick? Halloween in a Globalising World'', Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. {{ISBN|1-4438-0153-4}}</ref>

Neopagans usually celebrate Samhain on 31 October–1 November in the Northern Hemisphere and 30 April–1 May in the Southern Hemisphere, beginning and ending at sundown.<ref>{{cite book |last=Nevill Drury |title=Handbook of Contemporary Paganism |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-9004163737 |editor-last=Pizza |editor-first=Murphy |location=[[Leiden]], Netherlands |pages=63–67 |chapter=The Modern Magical Revival: Esbats and Sabbats |editor-last2=Lewis |editor-first2=James R |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rwzttsI9-NwC&q=nevill+drury}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Hume |first=Lynne |title=Witchcraft and Paganism in Australia |publisher=Melbourne University Press |year=1997 |isbn=978-0522847826 |location=Melbourne}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Vos |first=Donna |title=Dancing Under an African Moon: Paganism and Wicca in South Africa |publisher=Zebra Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-1868726530 |location=Cape Town |pages=79–86}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Bodsworth |first=Roxanne T |title=Sunwyse: Celebrating the Sacred Wheel of the Year in Australia |publisher=Hihorse Publishing |year=2003 |isbn=978-0909223038 |location=Victoria, Australia}}</ref> Some Neopagans celebrate it at the astronomical midpoint between the autumnal equinox and [[winter solstice]] (or the full moon nearest this point), which is usually around 6 or 7 November in the Northern hemisphere.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chart of 2020 equinox, solstice and cross quarter dates and times, worldwide from |publisher=archaeoastronomy.com |url=https://www.archaeoastronomy.com/2020.html |access-date=24 October 2020 |archive-date=29 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221129220918/https://www.archaeoastronomy.com/2020.html |url-status=usurped }}</ref>

===Celtic Reconstructionism===
Like other [[Polytheistic reconstructionism|Reconstructionist]] traditions, [[Celtic reconstructionism|Celtic Reconstructionist Pagans]] (CRs) emphasize historical accuracy. They base their celebrations and rituals on traditional lore as well as research into the beliefs of the [[Celtic polytheism|polytheistic]] Celts.<ref name="McColman"/><ref name="Bonewits">Bonewits, Isaac (2006) ''Bonewits's Essential Guide to Druidism''. New York: Kensington Publishing Group {{ISBN|0-8065-2710-2}}. pp. 128–40, 179, 183–84</ref>
They celebrate Samhain around 1 November but may adjust the date to suit their regional climate, such as when the first winter frost arrives.<ref name="FAQSamhain">Kathryn NicDhana et al. ''The CR FAQ: An Introduction to Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism''. 2007. pp. 97–98</ref> Their traditions include [[saining]] the home and lighting bonfires.<ref name="FAQSamhain"/> Some follow the old tradition of building two bonfires, which celebrants and animals pass between as a purification ritual.<ref name="O"/><ref name="McNeill"/> For CRs, it is a time when the dead are especially honoured. Though CRs make offerings at all times of the year, Samhain is when more elaborate offerings are made to specific ancestors.<ref name="FAQSamhain"/> This may involve making a small altar or shrine. They often have a meal where a place for the dead is set at the table, and they are invited to join. An untouched portion of food and drink is left outside as an offering. Traditional tales may be told and traditional songs, poems, and dances performed. A western-facing door or window may be opened and a candle left burning on the windowsill to guide the dead home. Divination for the coming year is often done, whether in solemnity or as games. The more mystically inclined may also see this as a time for deeply communing with their deities, especially those particularly linked with this festival.<ref name="O"/><ref name="McNeill"/><ref name="McColman"/><ref name="Bonewits"/><ref name="FAQSamhain"/>

===Wicca===
[[File:Wheel of the Year.png|thumb|upright=1.2|Wheel of the Year]]
[[Wicca]]ns celebrate a variation of Samhain as one of their yearly [[Wheel of the Year|Sabbat]]s of the [[Wheel of the Year]]. Most Wiccans deem it the most important of the four "greater Sabbats". Some see Samhain as a time to celebrate the lives of those who have died, and it often involves paying respect to ancestors, family members, elders of the faith, friends, pets, and other loved ones who have died. In some rituals, the spirits of the dead are invited to attend the festivities. It is seen as a festival of darkness, balanced at the opposite point of the wheel by the spring festival of [[Bealtaine]].<ref name="SpiralDance">Starhawk (1979, 1989) ''The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess''. New York: Harper and Row {{ISBN|0-06-250814-8}} pp. 193–96 (revised edition)</ref>

Wiccans believe that at Samhain, the veil between this world and the afterlife is at its thinnest, making it easier to [[Séance|communicate with those who have left this world]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Nevill Drury |title=Handbook of Contemporary Paganism |publisher=Brill |year=2009 |isbn=978-9004163737 |editor-last=Pizza |editor-first=Murphy |location=Leiden |page=65 |chapter=The Modern Magical Revival |editor-last2=Lewis |editor-first2=James R |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rwzttsI9-NwC&q=nevill+drury}}</ref>