Altar decorations for a ritual are very important. It gives your ritual color and draws the people's eyes to the altar so that they can pay attention to the ones who is are perform the ritual.

You can begin thinking about your altar decorations and how you want the area around the altar to look. You can decorate with leaves of different colors, candles of black, red, orange and brown. You can place mums in front of your altar. You can use gourds and when you are done

Ritual Introduction:

You may want to deiced what your ritual is for… Maybe to get rid of your smoking habit or maybe you want to give up that extra piece of cake at midnight. You decide what you would like to banish out of your life.

If you want to use another deity or deities that I have use then you should do research to see which ones are more active at Samhain and which ones it would benefit you to use. If you find your answers through meditation then you might want to do that to see who speaks to you.
Whatever the habit you want to get rid of or whatever weakness you have then if you choose to use this as a banishing ritual then write down what you are wanting to banish on a piece of parchment or paper and take it with you into your ritual. You will need something to burn the paper in so set a charcoal in your caldron and get it going so that it will be ready for the ritual. If there are more than 2 people in your circle that are wanting to banish something then it might be a good thing to have a small hibachi or grill that you can start a small fire in and burn the papers.

Starting the ritual…

1.Close your circle in the manner that you normally do.

2.Call your quarters

3. Invoking the God and the Goddess (or the deities that you have chosen. There is a invocation here that you can use.)


Invoking the Goddess:

I ask the Lady to join us
In this Samhain ritual as we
Give her thanks and as we honor the dead.
May the Great Goddess
Guide us and protect us in our rite.
SO MOTE IT BE!!!



Invoking the God:

I ask the Lord to join us here on this Samhain night.
May He protect us as he does the Lady.
SO MOTE IT BE!!!

4.You state your purpose of having the ritual..

(You can divide this ritual up if you have more than 2 people in your ritual or you can just do it as a solitary. I have it divided up as if there is a high priestess [hps] and a high priest [hp].

[HPS] Our dear Lady, the time has come
For the days to become shorter and
The days become colder. May you
Know that we have not forgotten you
As the seasons change, even as the nights
We know were not alone. For your love is there
With us with every beat of our heart, we know that you are there.

[HP] Our Lord, the time has when the nights grow longer
The cold days have begun. The snow must fall
Winter begins your call to power once more.

[HPS] Oh Lord on this Samhain night as you once again
Take your power of the winter months and longer nights
Know that I will return to you in the spring.

[HP] I thank you my Lady and I will owe loyalty to you.
So be it!!!

[HPS] This night is the year’s end and the beginning of our new year.
This is the time that we rid ourselves of things that no longer
Serve us in the way it did the past year. On Samhain all the
The little people, sprits, spirits and fairies are free to wonder the earth.
For the dead that wonder the earth may they
Once again, remember the warmth, comfort and joy of the friends.
May they remember you on this Samhain.


[HP] We do love and give joy and cheer to the ones
That have passed before us. Giving them honor
And love as we did when they were here with us.
We Toast them and offer them cake and cider.

(HP and HPS hold the chalices up toward the sky asking the Lord and Lady to bless the drink and offer the Lord and Lady the first drink and pour a bit of cider to the ground. The next drink is for you as the HP and HPS. Then the rest is poured on the ground in front of the altar as an offering to the dead. At this time you can burn, the papers with your habit or weakness on it… place in the cauldron and offer it to the Lord and the Lady to help you banish it from your life. You should do some meditating here and envision your life without the habit or weakness. )

(Take the plate of people cookies and lift it toward the sky. Ask that the Lord and Lady bless them. The first cookie to the Lord and Lady and the next ones to you and yours and then place one in front of the altar as an offering to the dead).

[HP] May the burning of the papers and
With the help of the Lord and Lady
We will over come our habits or
Weaknesses. SO MOTE IT BE!!

[HPS] SO Mote it be!!!


5. Give thanks for the Lord and the Lady joining you.

6. Release the quarters

7. Open the circle


In more Samhain articles there are recipes that you can use for offerings and your feast that will be cost effective.