The Scriptorium is full of hollowed out gourds and...is that a turnip? Their various charming smiles are lit from within by candles, flickering as you walk by. The deceptive golden glow from the outside Autumn sun casts a peaceful light into the old Scriptorium, but you know it's much warmer in here than it is out there.
Dear Adventurer,
The cold has certainly settled in here. We've slowed down work and are preparing for a final harvest celebration - to invite our friends into our warm home full of warm food to enjoy all that we've grown and created over the last year and share stories of our ancestry.
This is what we do for Samhain, pronounced "Sow-en" or "Sa-wen". Samhain is the Celtic celebration of the end of harvest season, marking the darker half of the year and the beginning of Winter. Traditionally it is celebrated in the Northern Hemisphere on October 31st, we celebrate it April 30th-May1st.
It is believed to be a liminal time of year where the veil between our world and the spirit realm is at its thinnest. As such, it's a time used to celebrate one's ancestors and family - particularly to honour those that have passed on.
Sometimes Samhain is referred to as the 'Witch's New Year' and is seen as a good time of year for renewal - as it is a harvest celebration, it's a time to count our blessings and shed what will not serve us throughout the Winter months.
You may have clocked a turnip reference above, if you're lucky you will have already seen this positively cursed image on the internet before now:
Traditionally, Jack-o'-Lanterns were carved into turnips and other root vegetables in Ireland. It was when they moved to America and had easier access to pumpkins that the pumpkin jack-o'-lantern became what we know it as today. Jack-o'-Lanterns are traditionally used to ward off unwanted spirits from one's home. The image above is a preserved turnip lantern that resides in the Museum of Country Life in Ireland.
In honour of my Irish ancestry, and also just for fun, I'll be attempting turnip carving with friends this year.
Some other things you can do on this night, and during this season in general include:
- Making an ancestor altar to leave food and drink for those spirits you would like to honour. I like to make the Greek soup Avgolemono, a Greek cofffee for my Papou and Colcannon for my Celtic ancestors.
- Cleaning and cleansing your house before Winter starts. We tend to slow down a bit in Winter and focus on keeping warm and cozy. It's like a pre-Spring clean, make sure your house is clean and protected before you spend months struggling to get out of bed from the cold!
- Harvesting and foraging fruits, herbs, veg and mushrooms as well as preserving anything you've harvested. We'll be going foraging for mushrooms soon and will be sharing that adventure with you. You can preserve seasonal veg by making and freezing purees for soups, curries and stews. Pickling is another option and one of our favourite ways to preserve berries and herbs is with an oxymel. This is like a vinegar syrup - more on this later as well.
Our warm, buttery and spicy Samhain candle will be with me every day until the end of April, and I hope you've had an opportunity to grab one too. Tonight is your last chance for the season to grab a Samhain, and you'll also be getting access to some discounted out of season stock such as Wolf Moon, Atlantis and The Lovers.
After tonight, our Autumn collection will continue to be stocked as normal until the end of May.
Will you be observing Samhain? If so, I'd love to know more.
I hope you're staying warm and safe
