Samhain (pronounced the Gaelic way, SAH-win) is celebrated on October 31. This holiday marks the beginning of the dark half of the year here in the Northern Hemisphere and is the perfect time to hold space for ancestor connection, intuition, the thinning of the veil, death, introspection, rebirth, divination, and honoring the dead! It's a day to connect with ancestors and honor those who have passed on. Samhain is also an introspective time that can heighten intuition & divination, and call for meditation on death and rebirth. *If you live in the Southern Hemisphere, you'll be celebrating the festival of Beltane today instead of Samhain to keep with the seasonal cycles.  The 3 Best Crystals to work with on and around Samhain are: Black Moonstone - A darkly reflective crystal perfect for promoting intuition and personal insight. Use it wisely when you're ready to ask big questions this month. Sangre Calcite - This deep red calcite is a powerful fire element symbol that makes it a great helper for vitality and motivation in the colder months. Howlite - This stone is associated with the world of dreams and that which lies "beyond the veil," making it a good complement for connection with ancestors and the spirit realm.     More Samhain Crystals: Black Obsidian Bloodstone Black Moonstone Black Onyx Carnelian Hagstone Howlite Jet Red Garnet Red Sangre Calcite Shungite Smoky Quartz Snowflake Obsidian Set Up Your Samhain Ritual Altar!        Samhain Symbols Ale or Mead Pumpkin Skull Besom or Broom Beans Cauldron Bat Key Squash Pomegranate Nuts Apples & Cider Bones   Samhain Herbs: Angelica Catnip Cinnamon Mandrake Mugwort Rose Hips Rosemary Vervain Wormwood     Samhain is Also Known As/Related To: Halloween All Hallows Eve Calan Graeaf Ancestor Night Third Harvest Final Harvest Day of the Dead Witch's New Year Sauin Bonfire Night All Saints' Day All Souls' Day Celtic New Year       Open yourself up to the messages of illumination at this time of the Fire Festival with a Sacred Samhain Card Spread!   This reading will cover 6 aspects of the Final Harvest and shift into the Celtic New Year with highly specific info to help you: Uncover hidden influences that are affecting the events in your life and navigate the thin, mystical spaces Hear messages from the universe specific to your unique spiritual path, intuition, and connection to your ancestors or guides Look into what you need to focus on now on your soul path by gaining insight into what to sow and cultivate now until the light returns     Interpreting Card #1 What are you harvesting now from the energy of this past year? This card helps summarize your journey over the past year and what has ripened and is now ready for harvest. Think of all you've been working to grow and create in your life - now is the time to reap the rewards of your efforts and call in the harvest.   Interpreting Card #2 What should you sow and cultivate from now until the time when the light returns at Imbolc? Now that you've called in the harvest and completed a cycle, what would you most like to sow the seeds of in this moment? What will serve you best in the coming year? The energy you focus on now will begin to show itself and come back to you in big ways by Imbolc. This card may hold some hints or inspiration on what to do next.   Interpreting Card #3 What should you release into the darkness and burn away in the bonfire of your soul? What needs to be released at this time? And what is no longer serving you? What is potentially holding you back from all that you'd like to embody in your life? This card is here to help you recognize and accept the things that are ready to be let go so that you can create space in your life for things that will better ...