How a Witch Celebrates Samhain

[@autimarie]

Autumn shows us how to let things go 🍂

[@carliemichelle3110]

Omg my love, I’ve missed you so much. Been a crazy year as you know. Scheduling our next chat soon, I’ve missed you so much my gorgeous witchy loving friend. Love you forever and Dani badger

[@kelly-annmaddox]

Always love hearing from you, angel ❤❤❤

[@rachelospina7212]

I'm shedding a career that doesn't align with my values and I don't have anything lined up. I'm planning a funeral for Samhain for the old bits of me that have served their purpose and need to go. I'm dedicating this new space to what the universe has in store for me. I'm ready to change. I feel like I've been in this chrysalis for years and I can't wait to see the wings I'm growing. This video was perfect timing for me! Love your work. ❤

[@kelly-annmaddox]

Oooh yesss it's the perfect time for that funeral of self stuff. ❤

[@rachelospina7212]

​@@kelly-annmaddox I also separate my mundane resolutions and spiritual ones for Gregorian new year and Samhain! I feel seen. I keep Samhain and Halloween separate too, I grew up on Halloween and loving costumes and then came into my witchiness later on so they have a completely different feel to me. I also treat Yule and Christmas separately too for much the same reasons.

[@kathleenroberts7972]

I can't wait for samhain! I am hosting the solstice with 8 witches spending the night at my house. We are doing a special ancestor altar with stories. Several craft ideas and fabulous food and decor.

[@kelirichey-me3pf]

I will be releasing a 21 year healthcare career to embrace a new one. Releasing friendships that no longer serve my higher purpose..

[@kelly-annmaddox]

Well DAMN, this is PREMIUM Samhain energy. 😍

[@Lindsay.Hassan]

I feel this, I'm going thru something similar

[@cookiesontoast9981]

Literally the exact video I was hoping you would make within the month before my first Samhain! ☺Looking forward to the emotional day.

[@kelly-annmaddox]

Ahhh your FIRST SAMHAIN EVER!! ❤🎃👻💘 I hope it's magickal. (I mean, it will be.)

[@DarkContrabandMusic]

Thank you so so much for your section on Samhain rituals and specifically a recent period of bereavement and grief. I lost my beloved heart cat, my earthly familiar, only a couple short months ago and it still feels so raw that I can feel myself scared to approach Samhain. I think I needed permission to release the pressure I was putting on myself to honor or ritualize her passing at Samhain.

[@kelly-annmaddox]

Definitely release that pressure. There is NO pressure at all. Your grief shouldn't be made to keep to any kind of schedule. ❤ Your grief has its own internal wisdom. I'm sorry for your loss. X

[@kellyreadsstuff]

I think your urge to spring clean is a soul memory of the time of the last harvest. Cleaning up the cellars and pantries to make nice and roomy for the harvest, tidying up the fields, harvesting what’s left, drying, canning, burning off the rubbish, etm. You just know that it’s that time of year and feel compelled to take care of stuff.

[@Infinitesimal-ho7it]

For me, it is about swimming in the otherworldly vibe of this time of year. I think it has a lot to do with knowledge of the very dangerous season of winter coming on, a low-grade anxiety, that kind of charges the atmosphere and the soul, the beauty of the transition, the bringing in of provisions, and the celebration. This time of year seems to have criss-crossing of numerous subtle elements of some things of the brighter times of the year ebbing away, and the in-flowing of the food and stockpiles (traditionally) bringing a secure feeling, the appreciation and romance of the warm elements of candles and fires, and the aforementioned low-grade anxiety and forlorn shiver with the rustling of leaves in the chill breezes. I'm not sure where that falls. For me, the whole season is a ritual. I'm sure, in the past, when we didn't have supermarkets, there were rituals that you'd better observe if you wanted to survive the season of death. Anyway, it's just a thought from my perspective. I try to enjoy without thinking about the bleakness of winter.

[@hanhanmac5017]

I love the Samhain/halloween cross-over. Growing up catholic, but with scottish and irish family, halloween -dressing up, carving pumpkins and trick or treating - has always been a big thing. As I found my witchcraft practice as an adult and celebrating samhain, this time of year has just become much more special. It enables me to be more connected to the divine as well as gives me more reason to feel like myself. There is so much I get out of celebrting both

[@crazybunnylady]

I lost someone immensely important and dear to me in June, and this approaching Samhain now feels challenging in a way it hasn't ever before. Thank you, Kelly-Ann, for sharing how your bereavement journey has changed your relationship with Samhain, it was something I could really relate to.

[@selenitemoon8589]

I’m a December 15th baby, and I’ve always felt like fall and winter is my spring. I am always so much more energized at this time of year, and this really is when I do most of my spring cleaning and major planning for goals and the like. I live in the desert of Arizona, and summer has never been my jam. Summer is when I feel my magickal practice takes a dive. I absolutely CRAVE the dark times of the year and I feel I become alive about September-October

[@kelly-annmaddox]

I feel you on this! I was born Dec 14th so I think I get a similar feeling. Winter has always made me come alive. ❤

[@sammisearle]

Thank you for sharing this! I need to get a copy of this book! Up here in Edinburgh the Fire Festival Society are preparing for our Samhuinn festival/ritual. It's primarily centred around the seasonal shift from summer to winter and it marks the time when the Cailleach (a celtic crone/creator goddess) comes into power over the landscape once more. We have shared public spaces for people to reflect and spend time letting go of what they need to release, often leaving burnable tokens which will get burnt as part of the ritual. It's amazing to be part of a community that collective work together to channel these themes and feelings and mark these seasonal shifts here, it feels super tied into the land and the weather of winter up in Scotland. I think for many it's been a difficult time, so it there's going to be extra emphasis on supporting and holding space for each other and taking time to grieve and let go together.

[@antwanzhane_mawayd]

and you are rocking the Hecate outta this look ☠️

[@pamelamusoke2959]

It has really been a slump, generally, for the last few years, honestly! So this has helped in my quest to revitalize and reclaim! Thank you!❤

[@simplyasmr3089]

Been waiting for your Samhain video!! And I must say, she certainly is turning looks in this video - obsessed! X

[@Violet-hi4qy]

I just love checking in with your journey! I have to say that I loved your first book so much that, after listening to it, I bought it as a physical book so it is easier to reference from time to time! Today’s video is no different. You have inspired a serious journal session. I love how you inspire me! Thank you so much! ❤❤❤❤ As far as Halloween/Samhain: I find they are, as you say, two sides of the same holiday. It’s a bit like Christmas when I was Christian: there is the secular side with the trees and Father Christmas and presents and then there is the religious side with the midnight church festival. I am sorry for your loss. I’m a Buddhist Witch. The Buddhist in me knows that pain is unavoidable but suffering is optional - but suffering isn’t easy to overcome. Wishing you many blessings for the season Violet

[@kelly-annmaddox]

I love that you wanted to own a physical copy. ❤ Thank you for your lovely words. And yes, Halloween and Samhain are like the two sides of Christmas, for sure!

[@Empress_Somber_Kitty]

Your earrings are absolutely fantastic! (Also love your videos as always) 👻

[@AtomicTopher]

i'm 100% here for this olde skool Kelly-Ann l00k

[@selenitemoon8589]

I absolutely love Halloween because I live in a small reserved town and I feel like Halloween is the one time that I can actually show my true colors without being judged for it haha

[@kelly-annmaddox]

Oh yeah that is so understandable. It's the only time we fit in. 😉

[@The_Wild_Witch]

OMG YES! I so needed this SO MUCH right now! You made my day Kelly-Ann! 🧡🧹🍁🍂🧙‍♀🎃💜

[@elizabethdenton963]

So much inspiration in this video 📝 Love the makeup and outfit too! 🖤

[@antwanzhane_mawayd]

for (mostly) every Samhain I do something I call an embodiment triangle ((inspired by the 'expression triangle' from TVD)) I map out three locations of significance, the points creating a geographical triangle, and I go to these spots, armed with music, drink, dr°gs and intentions linked to what I call the 3 pillars (kinda what I've designed my path around): empowerment > evolution > manifestation and I charge the living sherbet outta the locations (so I can return to them in the upcoming year)

[@LouWho138]

Found your YT through your first book via Audible (audio book pref for reasons). Glad you chose to voice the audio for the 2nd book as well! So excited to read/hear your new book!

[@whitemountainwitchery7240]

I'm celebrating by purchasing WITCH IN DARKNESS by my favorite KZbin witch and magical author ❤❤❤

[@kelly-annmaddox]

🥰😍😋 Thank you darling, that means so much x

[@whitemountainwitchery7240]

@@kelly-annmaddox no thank you! Rebel Witch was an incredible read and the writing prompts inspired me so much. I cannot wait to read Witch in Darkness. I am so excited you are already scratching out book 3 ideas! I love the major arcana card series you've been putting out so if a 3rd book from you involves tarot 😱👏 count me in twice!

[@destinyfive]

I am all about Yule and find Samhain as the kick off.

[@AlexGreeneHypnotist]

This Samhain is definitely a time for releasing for me. I feel like I drew a fortune cookie this year, which read, "Your life is like a football. Your destiny is to receive such a kicking," and I am really going to ask the Fates or whoever "I get it. Now please pack it in! Pick on somebody else for 2025, thank you!"

[@grreeeeee]

yessss, samhain spring clean! who tf wants to be indoors cleaning when the buds are blooming in the trees?

[@honeyfaewoman]

I pulled the Death card in a reading I did for myself and I totally feel the shift happening within me. There's a rebirth trying to happen for me. My mental health had taken such a huge toll on my physical and external life. I stopped brushing my teeth everyday, I started eating really badly, I've become addicted to eating fast food, and I have lost all my friends from my past. Now that I am medicated and treated for my mental health issues, I have so much more clarity that I lost somewhere along the way. Tomorrow I plan to start implementing little baby steps to take back my life. I have to let this unhealthy version die in a sense and be reborn in a more self loving version of myself. I want to take back the reigns of my life and build a life that I truly want to be a part of. There's so many obstacles for me to face like my severe maladaptive daydreaming, my body dysphoria, and my addiction issue. But I know I will feel so much better for putting in the effort to change than to stay where I am. I am also determined to change. My goddess Hestia has also been neglected and I feel so motivated to continue to priestess work for her. I've become complacent about political issues and that's something I feel NEEDS to change. There's so much I want to change within myself, but I will take it one day at a time. I will be taking baby steps to change ME. The name for this sabbat, for me, is called Hallowtide. I don't celebrate Samhain exactly, but I feel the transformative time. Hallowtide for me takes place on Halloween and goes until November 2nd. The closer we get to that time the more I realize my body and soul is ready for this shift. The death that is taking place is happening within me and I can't thank you enough Kelly Ann. Your content on Patreon (and on KZbin) really opened my eyes. So thank you. You're my favorite witchy youtuber. I look forward to all your future endeavors that you feel like sharing with us. I also just received your book! It will be a part of my morning reading. That's all for now. Thank you again. Blessed be.

[@frankieremacle-grimm7116]

This is my first Samhain since I started studying death work/working with Hecate. I’m so excited for all of the things I’m learning and planning.

[@kelly-annmaddox]

Omg I am sooo excited for you. This one's gonna be a banger ❤

[@Beth....]

OMG I can relate to this time of year being for cleansing in both the spiritual and the physical. I'm getting the urges to sort out my spaces as well and really reclaim them. Also, YES TO THE HARDBROOM VIBES! Still my favorite movie of all time, that clip made me so happy! My inner child thanks you.

[@kelly-annmaddox]

Your inner child is so welcome ❤

[@helsbellshaze]

Love this❤ thanks Kelly-Ann ✨👻💫

[@kelly-annmaddox]

😍😍😍

[@NikkiPisces]

This year will be my first year observing Samhain & am figuring out what that is going to look like. I have both of your books & am looking forward to reading them. Thanks for a great video. 💜💚

[@skohtihamilton9443]

Oh! Sink me! Your Constance Hardbroom look is delectable. ❤❤❤

[@kelly-annmaddox]

🤭😋😍 Thanks darling x

[@lilacdratini]

I lost my soul dog last year, on Samhain I lit candles and left food and had his pictures there and it was so hard I just spent the whole time crying im sure. Since it’s just turned October I feel like I have been crying again. Even though I love this month and have been waiting to feel more connected.

[@kelly-annmaddox]

That's unbelievably tough, darling. I'm sorry. ❤ Samhain can of course be a time to hold you safely as you explore/revisit the ache of the loss and commune with his spirit. But don't forget - no pressure! Maybe you want this Samhain to be connected to other things primarily, and that is MORE than fine. ❤ You don't need to push yourself in a particular direction. Instead, let yourself flow intuitively towards what Samhain seems to hold for you, you know? Sorry for your loss, darling. Dogs are divine and I'm sure he was insanely so! X

[@lilacdratini]

@@kelly-annmaddox thanks so much doll, and yes he was most definitely divine 💜🖤 much love to you and I hope this Samhain will be easier for you also 🧡🖤

[@LuneFlaneuse]

I’m right in the middle of a massive organising spree at my new place… so much stuff that needs to go! Perfect timing 🎉 lots of love 🩷

[@kelly-annmaddox]

Niiiice. You're in the Samhain Spring Clean Club, as one of my patrons put it. 😂

[@foxfurrwitch5357]

To the Samhain cleaning, absolutely yes! I’m so glad to hear im not the only one who feels super motivated to do that at that time. lol I also enjoy the Samhain/halloween cross over. All of it.

[@echozines]

Thank you for what you said about Palestine and the ongoing pandemic and how it affects Samhain and our lives and perception of the world we live in. ❤ (Also, I agree, that red in your book, I love it, one of my favourite colours 🙂)

[@alienpilled]

Your 2022 is my 2024. I lost my mom unexpectedly in June. I've been a total wreck since then. I'm not sure what to do for Samhain, but I strongly feel I need something from it. I'm so raw and torn apart.

[@kelly-annmaddox]

Fuck, I am so sorry darling. 😞 💔 I know it's agony. Be gentle with yourself and take all the time you need. Time feels so weird and irrelevant in times of grief, I know. ❤ 🫂 You will figure out how to do this Samhain so that it feels safest for you. X

[@Lindsay.Hassan]

Kelly, I absolutely adore you. Every video you put out feels like you're talking to me. I wish you lived here in London, Ontario Canada ❤

[@kelly-annmaddox]

❤❤❤

[@MichaelaBennison]

This is my only my second samhain as a witch so it's still pretty new. Plans for the season are reading "witch in darkness" (already on part two), and probably some release and shadow work on the mountain of stuff I've been through this year. Re: Halloween Vs samhain, we didn't celebrate Halloween when I was little because my mum thought it was too American and commercialised. So I don't really have a relationship with the season yet. I like the idea of spiritual resolutions. This year I tried making my personal new year at imbolc which was really potent for me. My birthday and two important personal deaths all along with that sabbat so it feels like a good time for reflecting and future planning. Thank you for this video, Kelly-ann ❤

[@toxacokami7216]

What a great look!

[@lrhamorgaia]

Just got my "Witch In Darkness."" I am reading while simultaneously listening to the audio book. Seems to help my autistic brain to hear and see it at the same time. Thank you for all you do, Kelly-Ann!

[@LouValcourt]

My relationship with Samhain is also forever altered. I lost one of my younger brothers last year so am still fresh in that bereavement. Further to that one of my ex boyfriends was murdered and died on Oct 31. Now it will be forever connected with his death. I’m not sure what I will do this year either as both deaths feel too raw. So I will take it as it comes. Be kind to yourself and do what’s right for you.

[@kelly-annmaddox]

I'm so sorry for these terrible losses, love. ❤ Yes, we must do what's best for us at such difficult, death-oriented times. X

[@pennysmith3803]

I’ve only just realised this is my thing too. I’ve done this every single year for years driven by I don’t know what. So 10 bags of great stuff that isn’t serving me any more to charro last week and a big sigh of relief 😮‍💨. It feels like a total compulsion at this time of year

[@Ink-StainedDiaries]

Yeah me too!

[@Geminidreamweaver]

I just ordered your book 😊

[@grreeeeee]

there is such a dearth of book content from witches about their relationships with deity. there are some, but I feel they are always wicked general and more like guides, rather than personal memoir type things. but we have so many of those from christians!

[@corinaklies8131]

Got the new book ❤

[@kelly-annmaddox]

🥹🥰💗 Thank you angel x

[@CherryBerry48]

love your look

[@kelly-annmaddox]

Someone left me a comment about Frida Kahlo and then deleted it. If you're reading this - I wrote you a reply but you'd deleted before I could send, but you have inspired me to make a video about my adoration of her, so thank you. ❤

[@lordofshells1412]

style icon

[@missy6104]

I hope Samhain also brings you to connecting with your Brother. You have been shown how important your activism is. Maybe Samhain will show you something that you aren't currently working on.

[@kelly-annmaddox]

Oh I am working on my grief all the time. I just don't necessarily want to do ritual around it. ❤

[@Hex_tarot]

Two seconds YES 🙌

[@pluto.in.aquarius]

Samhain cleaning is a THING! Every year, like clockwork. Samhain vs Halloween: I've never had a relationship to Halloween because it isn't (wasn't 🙄) a thing in Germany. Ironically, Allhallows and Allsaints ARE a thing and were big in my family, so we'd always be at the cemetry those evenings; convening with the dead. So, in some ways, it feels very separate - I hate everything commercialised, too - and in others it is somehow the very same thing for me. I always hold a witch circle for Samhain, but it's now always on the first of November because apparently Halloween takes priority for a lot of people^^. Suits me well, though, because I can then spend Samhain doing all my witchy rituals and be with me and my altar in my space. ALSO: I need to know (if you want to share) how you got the lipstick to look so pristine throughout the whole video. I love my black lipstick but it is a NIGHTMARE to keep as fresh as it looks when I first put it on.

[@toxacokami7216]

I finished the video and it’s very thought provoking. I’d like to finish this comment on the FB channel; it’ll be too spammy to include here.

[@ScottishWitchSorcha]

🍁Samhain🍁 For me is alot of graveyard Witchery, eg, graveyard dirt protection spell for the 🏠 Ancestral graveyard dirt🫙 Alot of Ancestral Divination🪄🔮🃏✨️ I love my candle🕯 magick every turn of the wheel of the year 🎡 Give the 🏠 a good scrub! 🪣🧽🧼🫧 Love casting for the seasons 🎃 Love to get foody 🍄in the kitchen with some seasonal Witchery🧙🏼‍♀️🧹 31st I always try fit in a ritual of some sort. Or I hold wee seancé for friends 🧡

[@kelly-annmaddox]

What a gorgeous list 📝

[@redwarrior2424]

🎃I love Halloween, but the plastic waste REALLY bothers me. Sorry to be such a party pooper. ☘️Last year I tried to connect with my great great grandmother but I didn't quite know how to go about it and I've since read that sometimes imposters with bad intent show up so I'm hesitant to try again. I need a mentor.

[@kelly-annmaddox]

Yeah the plastic waste is gross for sure. 😑 It is definitely a downside. I bought my Halloween stuff for the altar and for costume props years ago so I don't need to shop at this time of year, except to stock up on black candles at a time when cheaper places are carrying them. I hate how people go all out with brand new plastic items every year. Like, just keep the ones you had before.. 🤦🏻‍♀️ Maybe this is an unpopular opinion but it's usually the people talking about, 'impostors with bad intentions' who are trying to convince others to book THEM as a mentor. In other words, 'you don't know what you're doing so book me to help you, otherwise you're gonna be in danger.' Pfft. If someone told me, 'you might end up talking to a bad spirit instead of your brother' I would just laugh in their face. I know the difference. I can feel my brother's energy and spirit. I don't need someone trying to make me feel fearful of continuing a relationship that was so close and loving. Try not to let people scare you out of having a bond with the spirit of your great grandmother. Honestly, a lot of them are fear-mongering for views and status and it really annoys me. ❤

[@redwarrior2424]

@@kelly-annmaddox Thanks for your input. It was very helpful.

[@kelly-annmaddox]

​@@redwarrior2424❤ You're so welcome.

[@cookiesontoast9981]

Personally I'm someone who watches horror movies all year round, and for me they comfort me more than anything else, I watch them to relax while cuddled up with a cup of tea and my Chihuahua's on my lap. Which I really don't mean that as "oh look at me, aren't I so cool how I'm not scared by horror 🤪" Don't mean it that way at all. It's just really interesting and slightly puzzling to my brain when I hear how some people are way more genuinely disturbed by horror films than I am, and especially that a lot of people only watch them in October too which sounds crazy to me. I guess it's another symptom of my Autism/ADHD, I've just always been comforted by horror movies just as I am when watching a comedy, It's just my default movie genre, If I'm going to watch a film I have to decide if this time maybe it's NOT going to be a horror movie instead of the other way around.. 😅Horror films have just always been a special interest of mine since I was very young. Though that also includes Thrillers and some Dramas as the 3 genres overlap so often. It's just so fascinating how different people experience things so differently!! And it's always eye opening and makes me stumped when I hear most people don't see Horror as a casual genre like I do.

[@CommonVisionUS]

Autumn Druid

[@curseofcontext]

american horror story on slow! intermeshed with new girl: which is making me sound out in ways my eyeroll screams needed. the color palette! it's a laptop slapshut love? they still give recognitions on my life that stun me in my humor. stuck on a curiosity with hostel 2, don't remember it well enough but in my sensememory of it i don't ick it away: hardheart! love how the scares in roanoke suck my breath out and then make me laugh, love the horrorstyle they picked for the beginning of that. i was swerving between asylum, roanoke and the new york one or is it san francisco? but the alien one looks sick and i'm never against the wolfish ones so. think roanoke is kind of beautiful on my own, very suitable for that but it has a sadness in its linger! never finished dahmer, fingerppoint, but i'm not doing that on my own: the lack of metal jarrs me. hmm maybe it's mid-asylum today. or just new girl! choices for october! gotta look up the gay parties. dOES anyone remember the shakespeare show? wonder how that went- love ambers! hope our dog is/was with your brother in some sense, for me she always was a breathe-with-me comfort which is unforgivably alive but! sweetening presence to be around. the reasoned with itch to pomegranate noir (jo malone) and the fictional itch to white suede (tom ford). basing scentmemories to step back in on, on outofsleep airport tiredness probing-recall. i like a ferry at night, they had some good seepthrough human energy on that ferry!

[@ginga_ninja-wn9db]

A tarot book from you would be amazing 👏

[@kelly-annmaddox]

😏😏😏

[@kelly-annmaddox]

I honestly want to write a very overblown romantic ode to Tarot, as a life-saving, hope-giving device that's given me so much for so many years. I want to write the book that describes the emotion of being a cardslinger.. of carrying a deck around in your bag.. of turning to Tarot at the most crucial points in life. ❤

[@aliciatolby7085]

Hi ! ❤ What is the title if the vidéo about your interest in True Crime and human shadow. I didn't find it by the thumbnail. Thankbyou

[@kelly-annmaddox]

'A Journey to the Dark Side: How I Became Obessed with the Human Shadow.' Sorry, I only just realised I never put the links in and I'm busy and on my phone so I can't do it right now. Hope you enjoy.

[@gammalagaga]

Forgive my ignorance, but what is clip-on (spelling) you mentioned the dark side of the tree of life?

[@kelly-annmaddox]

The spelling is qliphoth/qlippoth 😍