Looking for prayers to celebrate the Pagan sabbat of Samhain? Try some of these, which honor the ancestors and celebrate the end of the harvest and the cycle of life, death and rebirth. Feel free to adapt them as needed, to fit the specifics of your own tradition and belief system.
A Prayer For the Final Harvest
This prayer honors the end of the harvest, and the dying of the earth, at the Samhain season. Take a few moments to honor the agricultural cycle, and the importance that the earth’s bounty has in our day to day lives.
Harvest Prayer
Corn has been shucked,
grain has been threshed,
herbs have been hung to dry.
Grapes have been pressed,
potatoes have been dug,
beans have been shelled and canned.
It is the harvest season,
and food is ready for winter.
We will eat, and we will live,
and we will be grateful.
Kids’ Samhain Prayer
Looking for a simple and fun prayer your kids can say at Samhain? This quick prayer thanks the ancestors, and affirms that Samhain isn’t really a night to be fearful at all. Try this easy, rhyming children’s prayer for Samhain.
Kids’ Samhain Prayer
Samhain is here, cold is the earth,
as we celebrate the cycle of death and rebirth.
Tonight we speak to those through the veil,
the lines between worlds are thin and frail.
Ghosts and spirits in the night,
magical beings rising in flight,
owls hooting up in a moonlit tree,
I don’t fear you and you don’t fear me.
As the sun goes down, far to the west,
my ancestors watch over me as I rest.
They keep me safe and without fear,
on the night of Samhain, the Witches’ New Year.
Ancestor Prayer for Samhain
Many people choose to use Samhain as a time of honoring their bloodline. Use this prayer to celebrate your ancestry at Samhain. You can incorporate it into a meditation or ritual, or simply offer it up as thanks to those who came before you.
Samhain Ancestor Prayer
This is the night when the gateway between
our world and the spirit world is thinnest.
Tonight is a night to call out those who came before.
Tonight I honor my ancestors.
Spirits of my fathers and mothers, I call to you,
and welcome you to join me for this night.
You watch over me always,
protecting and guiding me,
and tonight I thank you.
Your blood runs in my veins,
your spirit is in my heart,
your memories are in my soul.
[If you wish, you may want to recite your genealogy here. This can include both your blood family, and your spiritual one.]
With the gift of remembrance.
I remember all of you.
You are dead but never forgotten,
and you live on within me,
and within those who are yet to come.
Samhain Prayer to the Gods of the Underworld
At Samhain, the earth is growing cold and dark. It is a time of death, of endings and beginnings. This prayer honors some of the deities associated with death and the underworld.
Prayer to the Gods of the Underworld
The harvest has ended, and the fields are bare.
The earth has grown cold, and the land is empty.
The gods of the death are lingering over us,
keeping a watchful eye upon the living.
They wait, patiently, for eternity is theirs.
Hail to you, Anubis! O jackal headed one,
guardian of the realm of the dead.
When my time comes, I hope
you may deem me worthy.
Hail to you, Demeter! O mother of darkness,
May your grief be abated
when your daughter returns once more.
Hail to you, Hecate! O keeper of the gate,
between this world and the underworld.
I ask that when I cross over,
you may guide me with wisdom.
Hail to you, Freya! O mistress of Folkvangr,
guardian of those who fall in battle.
Keep the souls of my ancestors with you.
Hail to you, O gods and goddesses,
those of you who guard the underworld
and guide the dead on their final journey.
At this time of cold and dark,
I honor you, and ask that you watch over me,
and protect me when the day arrives
that I take my final journey.
