Samhain/Hallowe'en Round-up

It's nearly time for Samhain (one of the most popular sabbats and my favourite apart from Lammas!). This year's it on a Sunday (31st October). I also celebrate Hallowe'en (thought to have originated from Samhain).

 

Note: If you're in the Southern Hemisphere Beltane is almost here! Check out my Beltane Celebration posts here:

Beltane Celebrations Ideas: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/04/beltane-celebration-ideas.html

Celebrating Beltane/May Day: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/04/celebrating-beltanemay-day.html

April Update + Beltane Inspiration: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2019/04/april-update-beltane-inspiration.html

More Beltane Inspiration: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2020/04/more-beltane-inspiration.html 

Winter-Spring Update + Beltane Round-up: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2021/04/winter-spring-update-beltane-round-up.html

 

The past few years I've done celebration idea and inspiration posts for Samhain. In 2021 I've written some round-up posts, featuring my past sabbat posts and articles from elsewhere. So here is the one for Samhain! :)

Samhain is the 3rd and final harvest festival of the Wheel of the Year. It comes after Lammas at the beginning of August and Madron/Mabon (aka the Autumn Equinox) in late September, and is a cross-quarter sabbat and a fire festival. It's considered by many to be the Witches' New Year and one of the two times of year when the veil between the worlds is thin (the other is Beltane in late April/early May). Halloween/Hallowe'en (since the name comes from All Hallow's Even, "Hallowe'en" is an alternative way of spelling it) is the modern-day counterpart. Check out the Celebrating Samhain/Hallowe'en post for more information.

Summer-Autumn Update

It's now October so time for my quarterly update! During 2021 I'm doing quarterly updates, from "season to season". You can see the previous updates here:

Winter-Spring (and a Beltane Round-up): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2021/04/winter-spring-update-beltane-round-up.html

Spring-Summer Update: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2021/07/spring-summer-update.html

 

In early July I went to the Black Rabbit pub in Arundel with my mum. It was ages since I'd been, so it was good to go back. Due to the pandemic you currently have to book a table. We sat outside by the river, and there's a nice view of the River Arun and Arundel Castle in the distance. It wasn't that warm and a bit cloudy but then the sky cleared. I had chips (fries) and garlic flatbread with a Coke, then some chocolate and cream (I think clotted cream type) ice cream.

Here's a photo of the view by the river:

 

 

Madron 2021

The other week it was Madron, (more commonly known as Mabon and the Autumn Equinox). It was Wednesday 22nd September this year. I was going to do a post last weekend, but was a bit busy, so I'm doing it today instead. :)

As I mentioned in the Madron Round-up + Autumn Baking post, my usual celebration for this sabbat is baking. This year I made some gingerbread muffins. You can see the recipe here: https://simplybeautifuleating.com/2020/10/05/super-moist-gingerbread-muffins/

They are kind of like some I made in 2019. As with those, I substituted the banana for apple sauce, since I don't like bananas. I also used treacle because it's easier to get here in the UK than molasses and it's similar. I made a few other substitutions too- mixed spices rather than cloves and nutmeg, "ordinary" milk instead of cocount or nut and sea salt rather than kosher. If you don't have or don't want to use kosher salt, here is a guide about what type you can use instead: https://www.acouplecooks.com/kosher-salt-substitute/

I made cream cheese frosting, using the one from the James Martin White chocolate Easter cake I like. I've used that frosting in the past and it goes well with ginger things. Here's a direct link to the cake and frosting recipe: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/frosted-white-chocolate-easter-cake

The muffins were quite nice and the substitutions worked ok. They were a bit heavy when first done but "settled" the next day. Here's a picture: