Is there anything in specific that you do to get ready for this holiday?

I have been very poor at celebrating Holy Days my entire life. I still don't have a great appreciation for them even today. But I am slowly learning.

I've stumbled upon a meaningful religion only less than a year ago. I've spent this entire year merely learning about it. I'm still learning.

I do have rituals that I perform during the various times of the year. Although for me, so far, they have been more closely associated with the cycles of nature and malkuth, than with spiritual concepts of Yesod. (I've only recently learned of the true nature of these domains)

For me, Samhain is the time when the forest in which I live prepares for its winter slumber. I help to orchestrate the slumber of the gardens that I oversee near by abode. I prepare them for the long dark coldness that is to come by covering them with deep blankets of grass.

My cottage is surrounded by giant ferns. I put these ferns to bed individually using the following incantation. There are only about two dozen of them. I treat each one as an individual.

The beginning of this incantation may sound a bit gory, but this is the nature of death and rebirth. I don't perform this ritual until the ferns have turned entirely brown and appear to be lifeless above the plane of the Earth.

With these shears I cut thee down
Your summer smile is but a frown
I love your ferns of greenery
Your gift of living scenery

Now you sleep, I tuck you in
I await once more, your springtime grin
Sleep well my friend and know I care
I love the beauty that you share

I then cut the spent ferns from the living root and cover the root with a blanket of grass and leaves.

I started this ritual last Samhain for the first time and placed it in my Book of Shadows. I also have a greeting ritual for these ferns that I perform in Ostara or Beltane depending on how the spring unfolds.

I actually have quite a few rituals like this that I perform during Samhain. So for me it's an entire season. For example, these ferns aren't ready to be tucked in just yet. They are still vibrant green and smiling.

But at some point during Samhain before the Yule they will be tucked in. So, for me, I'm still viewing these 'Holy Days' as 'Holy Seasons'.

I'll be celebrating with my local group. We have a small Henge we created on some farmland run by one of our members and we gather there for a 3-ply Pagan ritual - Heathen, Wiccan and Druid aspects are involved to represent the nature of our group. (It's amazing we all get along but we manage!)

Last year I participated in a group ritual with a coven. I'm not sure what I'll be doing this year. I have a friend who celebrates the Day of the Dead and she is going to show me how to make some bread and candy that her family makes every year. I'll also put up an altar with some of my deceased loved ones.

I'm thinking the local group I go and play at will be having a potluck Samhain celebration. Should be much fun, expecially since we'll be out of a burn ban and can light 'em up!

I celebrate solitary most of the time. I have an alter set up in my quiet space all year that changes to reflect the wheeel of the year. Right now it has seasonal things on it;a small pumpkin,acorns,red leaves.Also pictures of my relatives who are dear to me and have passed on. I have candles in orange and black to represent the season and one each in gold and silver to represent the God and Goddess. 1 white candle in the center of my alter pentagram to honor the dead. It is annointed with rosemary essential oils for rememberance and I have a sprig of rosemary at the base.On Samhain night I will light my candles and sit facing my alter with a mug of honey mead and reflect on where I have been and where I am going. I write my desires and goals for the year on a slip of paper and burn the paper in my cauldron asking my dearly departed for guidance,protection,and a little help.
After that I dress up and go celebrate the living with my closest friends;dancing,music,food,and good drink!

Darn it! I knew I forgot something at the store today. I was so focused on getting what I needed for my full moon ritual tomorrow night that I forgot to get orange candles for Samhain.

That's a very nice description Rosehaven. I've been using temporary altars. I really need to build a dedicated altar. I've been studying this for a year now. It's time to start putting it into daily practice. I think up to this point I was truly just getting my feet wet trying to discover just precisely what these traditions were all about.

I designed my own insignia of the Wheel of the Year. I'd like to make this into an actual tile to sit at the center of my altar. I'm currently thinking that I might make it out of wood and just paint the markings onto it by hand.

I use the top of a low bookcase for my standing altar. It's in my living room right next to the fireplace. I burn a large glass encased candle on it all the time I am home in honor of the Goddess. I use a red candle for the full moon period. I use a black candle for the dark moon period and a white candle for the new moon. I decorate the altar based on the season and I always have a pentacle on it. Mine is a silver, metal pentacle. I burn incense on it as well.

However, to do ritual, I use my coffee table. I need more room than my bookcase allows and it is in the middle of the room so I can cast a circle around it. Much easier.

Very nice Abra! I think this is a wonderful idea and very useful as well. I use the top of my bureau in my room. It works well because I can use the first 2 drawers for supplies and storing magickal items and herbs that the cats cant get into.

I have been thinking more about this........

This year I will have my girls with me for Samhain night. I had been planning on waiting until they were in bed to do any ritual I plan. However, Rosehaven gave me a good idea. I am going to include them in the ritual. But, instead of writing down their goals and desires (because that will undoubtedly include getting a pony) I am going to have them write down anything they are afraid of and burning that in the cauldron. And then, we will ask our ancestors to watch over us in the coming year. It will their first ritual.

i was just intending to meditate on those that i know that have have passed before me. this will be my first samhain on this path.

Welcome.