October 31 · Samhain

Samhain comes at the very end of October, when the harvest is largely finished and winter is ahead. In the old Irish calendar, Samhain marked the beginning of winter, and Irish folklore surrounding the season is full of feasting, gatherings, divination, stories of the otherworld, and the dead. Some of the customs we associate with Halloween have roots in these later Irish traditions, although Samhain itself shouldn't be reduced to simply an ancient version of modern Halloween.

You don't need to recreate an Irish tradition that isn't yours in order to notice the same seasonal threshold where you live. Instead, let Samhain remind us that people have been marking the end of harvest and the approach of winter for a very long time.

Garden
Take one last walk through the garden before November. Gather anything that truly needs to come in, but leave plenty behind for birds, insects, and winter habitat. Then let the garden rest. There will always be one more thing you could do out there.

Hearth
Bring photographs or objects connected to people you love into the room tonight. Tell their stories. Say their names. Cook with your grandmother's bowl or put your grandfather's old tool somewhere you can see it. Remembrance doesn't need to be elaborate to matter.

Kitchen
Make a meal from the late harvest and share it if you can. Apples are especially appropriate here: apple games and customs appear throughout recorded Irish Halloween folklore. Bake them, stew them, make a cake, or simply put a bowl on the table.

Apothecary
Make something warm for the evening rather than adding another project to your list. Brew an herbal tea from plants you've grown or worked with this year. If you've made Heart's Ease, check on it. Spend a little time with the plants that have taken care of you before the growing year closes.

Self
Remember your ancestors as whole people rather than idealized ones. You can love someone without agreeing with everything they believed. You can be grateful for what was handed down while deciding that something ends with you. And you can begin something entirely new that may someday become part of someone else's inheritance.

Invitation
Set an extra place at the table, light a candle, pull out an old photograph, tell a story, or simply speak someone's name. Then ask yourself one question before October ends: What do I want to carry forward?