Pagans talk about Samhain

Some Pagan reflections on the festival of Samhain (these people are so efficient, there's still five days to go before Samhain):

Signs of Samhain (Tales from the Black Cat):

There are two schools of thought about the timing of the seasonal festivals like Samhain. Many people go by the calendar, making Samhain fall on 31st October, whatever the weather. Others go by natural events, and say that Samhain falls at the time of the first frosts. I have sympathy with both approaches. I like the local focus of the nature-oriented approach, where Samhain falls at different times as appropriate across the country. But for a modern Pagan community, with calendar-based approach makes a lot of sense, allowing for forward planning and a nice even spread of eight festivals across the year.

Twas the Evening of Samhain (Cather Steincamp)

A rather touching little ditty found at ExpressiveParents:

'Twas the evening of Samhain, and all through the place
were pagans preparing the ritual space.
The candles were set in the corners with care,
in hopes that the Watchtowers soon would be there.

Samhain and death and grief (Orchards Forever)

A discussion of coming to terms with death:

I am trying to come to grips with something.

Why is grief such a selfish emotion?

In other words, why do so many people respond to death in such self-serving ways?

Incidentally, there are some good resources for the bereaved Pagan or their family at Pagan Transitions.

Origins of Samhain (I am a witch)
(caveat - not everything in this article is historical fact, but some of it might be worth following up)

Two Roman festivals became incorporated with Samhain - 'Feralia', when the Romans commemorated the passing of the dead, and 'Pomona', when the Roman goddess of fruit and trees was honoured. The Halloween tradition of bobbing for apples is thought to derive from the ancient links with the Roman fruit goddess, Pomona, and a Druidical rite associated with water.

Two Coasts, Two Conceptions, One Samhain (The Wild Hunt)

Samhain events, held on different coasts, help illustrate the diversity of attitudes and approach within modern Paganism (specifically religious Witchcraft) while preserving essential elements of the holiday (honoring the ancestors, acknowledging those who have died, celebrating life through feasting and dance, connecting with divinity). To a certain extent, a shared practice (praxis) binds these Witches together far more than any shared theology or ideology. A point that often escapes those looking to pigeonhole "what Witches (or Pagans) believe".

A Pagan View of Death (On Faith, Washington Post)

At this time of year, as we move toward Samhain or Halloween, the ancient festival of the ancestors, we say 'the veil is thin' that divides the world of the living from the realm of the dead. The ancestors return to visit us - and that is the origin of our Halloween customs of setting candles out in jack-o-lanterns to light their way to our doors, of giving offerings (once harvest offerings, now candy) to children, who are the ancestors returning. In our Samhain rituals, like the large, public Spiral Dance ritual that Reclaiming creates every year right before Halloween, we often take an imaginative journey to the Isle, to meet and talk with our beloved dead, to receive help and guidance, to finish what is unfinished, to offer our love. I have many times had visions and a deep sense of connection with my loved ones who have passed on. The meaning is often very personal, a message of hope or approval or advice.