Halloween and Samhain: witching hour in the Comox Valley

·12 min·1 clip

Kluani Atwater reveals how Samhain, the pagan sabbath, inspires Halloween and is honored by witches in the Comox Valley.

Kluani Atwater, a local witch and ritualist, explains the pagan sabbath of Samhain, which may have inspired the modern Halloween celebrated in the Comox Valley. This Gaelic festival marks the end of the harvest and the beginning of the darker months. Atwater describes Samhain as a liminal threshold time when the veil between the living and the dead is considered especially thin. The holiday is a time for honoring cycles of life and death and connecting with ancestors, whether familial or spiritual. It involves quiet reflection and practices like divination. Some practitioners in the community gather for a ritual called a silent dinner, where an empty seat and plate are set to symbolize feeding ancestors. The meal is conducted in silence to commune with those who have passed. Many people also create ancestor altars with photos and mementos of the deceased. The perceived thinness of the veil makes this period a potent time for divination practices. Atwater notes these traditions occur on the traditional territory of the Comox First Nation. The community's modern Halloween symbols, like ghosts and skeletons, are not far removed from these spiritual concepts. The episode presents a spiritual alternative to mainstream commercial Halloween celebrations. It frames the season as a serious time for ritual and connection rather than just costume and candy. The insights come directly from a practitioner's lived experience within the local community. The tone is educational and respectful, focusing on personal practice and community tradition. Listeners interested in paganism, local culture, or alternative spiritual histories would appreciate this episode. Those seeking only conventional news or skeptical of spiritual practices might find it less engaging.

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