Saturday 31st October. Fancy dress on, sweets gone by six, and everyone agrees it’s Samhain (that’s SOW-in, if you’ve been nodding along to a word you’ve never actually said out loud).
But the sky has a different answer.
Samhain is part of the Wheel of the Year, the eight festivals that mark the turning of the seasons. You’ve followed it round from Lughnasadh to Mabon, and Samhain is the last turn before the wheel begins again. In Wales it’s Calan Gaeaf, the first day of winter, and in many modern pagan traditions it’s treated as the end of one cycle and the start of the next, which makes it a rather big deal. Long before the pumpkin arrived, people in Scotland and Ireland were carving turnips into lanterns.
It was also tied to the sun, not the calendar. Samhain marks the halfway point between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice, what astronomers call a cross-quarter day. Work that out properly and it lands on or near the 7th November, when the Sun reaches the middle of Scorpio, the sign of endings, secrets and rebirth.
So, Halloween is the doorbell. The door opens a week later.
One week, and Britain is lighting something
Look at what sits inside that gap. Samhain fires on the 31st. Bonfire Night on Thursday 5 November. Then Diwali on Sunday 8 November, the festival of light, celebrated by Hindu, Sikh and Jain communities across the UK. Different stories, different traditions, and every one of them reaching for a flame as the dark closes in. Nobody coordinated it. People simply light things when the nights get long.
The sky joins in. Venus and Mercury are both still retrograde. Mercury turns direct on Friday 13 November and Venus follows a few hours later so the whole week has a “look back before you leap” feel. A new moon in Scorpio arrives on Monday 9 November, the darkest sky of the month. And the clocks went back on 25 October, so it’s black before dinner. The universe has turned the lights down on purpose.
The veil, explained without the spooky voice
The old belief was that on Samhain the boundary between this world and the next wears thin. You don’t need to believe in ghosts to get something from that. Think of it as the boundary between who you were and who you’re becoming. For one week, it’s easier to cross.
What it means for you
The wheel is about to tip into its dark half, and the dark half looks like a pause. It’s actually when roots grow. Nothing visible is happening, and everything that matters is.
So, treat the week as a doorway rather than a single night.
Then on 31st October, say goodbye. Light a candle and name what’s ending: a habit, a story you keep telling about yourself, the version of this year that didn’t work out. If you like old folk custom, set an extra place at the table for someone you miss. Keep what you loved and loosen your grip on the rest.
On 7th November, decide. This is the real midpoint, the actual turn of the wheel. Ask what you want the dark months to build, and be specific. Be a little greedy, too.
Then wait for Friday 13th November, when Mercury turns direct, and begin. A decision made in the dark and acted on in the light has a way of sticking.
That’s the whole plan. You don’t need fancy dress, a coven or a free evening. You need a candle, a pen and a bit of honesty.
Light your WYLDE MOON candle, let the room do some of the remembering for you, and walk through the door when it opens.
Reconnect. Realign. Rediscover your WYLDE. 🌙
