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Traditionally midnight 31stOctober - Until midnight 1stNovember
Modern midnight 30thOctober - Until midnight 31stOctober
Samhain ( Pronounced Sow-In ), Halloween, is a DEATH Festival, marking the move into Winter. The festival of DEATH is NOT human death but rather that of the summer livestock, which is slaughtered to provide food for the winter months. Leaves are falling and life withdraws from the surface and moves into the Earths depths. the spark of life now resides in plant seeds, bulbs and roots.
The Horned God, who was the Lord of Life and of the Greenwood, has now taken up his throne as the Lord of the Underworld, the Lord of Shadows and the Comforter of Souls. As the Earth energies are drawn inwards, this is the time of Introspection, as we also withdraw our own energies and get ready for the coldness of Winter.
There is not much that grows at this time of year & all seams Barren. This is the time of the Goddess Cailleach, the wize one, the Crone. She is the dark mother who devours the God in order to give birth to him later in the year. her Womb is also the Tomb, the underworld, so the Horned God rests within her womb over the winter season. In ancient times caves were treated with respect and offerings. Only the High Priestesses & High Priests were allowed to enter, in order to commune with the Horned God and Cailleach. | 
