Samhain is the Celtic name for this Sabbat. This is the night where the veil which separates the land of the living from the land of the dead is at its thinnnest, and deceased ancestors and other spirits are easiest to contact. Rituals to honor the dead are performed on this night, and divination is at its high point. Scrying into fire, glass, or a dark bowl is a popular method of contacting the dead on this night, and guided meditation for the purpose of past-life regression is successful on this night as well. Spirits will help you in divination, and you may also wish to contact the recently departed to strengthen your karmic ties with them if you wish to help ensure that you will be together again.

It is an Irish-Wiccan (or Wittan) custom to place black candles in the windows for protection against evil spirits and to leave plates of food out for the spirits who will come and visit you on this night. Some people even set a special plate at their dinner table for their loved ones who have passed on before. The Crone is called upon during this night, the dying God is mourned, and we reaffirm our beliefs in the oneness of all spirits and in the knowledge that our own physical deaths are not a finality.