When ghosts pay a visit on All Souls Day, there’s far more than magic in the room. Many pagan practices believe that once the calendar year turns into early November, the boundary between the living and the dead grows thin as the skin of an onion — and the spirits of those who’ve passed reach out and even wander among us.
A Threshold in Time
For the ancient Celtic peoples, Samhain — observed from dusk, the 31st October into the 1st November — marked the end of the harvest and the start of the “dark half” of the year. On this liminal night, the veil between worlds was believed to wane, and “every sort of ghost was to be seen here and the dead mingled freely with the living.”
Later, many of those customs were absorbed or echoed in the observances around All Souls’ Day — 2nd November. Some folklorists trace the timing of All Souls Day back to this older pagan rhythm.
Offerings to the Spirits
One widespread notion is that on this night, the deceased return to the home world for a well-deserved welcome:
- In Celtic contexts, people would leave food or drink out for the visiting dead or for the spirits of the land so that they wouldn’t spoil the milk or harm the harvest.
- In Slavic traditions such as Dziady — which occurs around the end of October/early November — the souls of ancestors were invited, with food and drink placed inside homes or at graves, to maintain the connection between living and dead.
- In medieval Wales and England, the custom of “souling” meant children went door-to-door on All Souls’ Day offering prayers for the dead in exchange for small cakes known as soul cakes.
Ghosts On the Doorstep
When spirits roam, costumes, masks, and loud noises were used to ward off more malevolent forces. For Samhain, there are bonfires, mummery (masked or costumed revelry), and divination.
In Wales, for the Dziady feast, fires were lit and offerings dropped so that souls could find their way or be guided away.
These communal rituals — feasting, firelight, remembrance — allowed people to acknowledge and celebrate their dead in a gentle, loving manner.
What the Visits Mean
What does it signify when ghosts drop in during this season? From the pagan vantage point:
- Connection: The dead are still around us and seeking ways to help us deal with our current lives. This season invites the living to host and to memorialize our loved ones.
- Cleansing and transition: The threshold moment — between harvest’s end and winter’s onset — mirrors the transition of life into death and invites reflection on mortality.
- Reciprocity: The living offer hospitality — food, fire, sustenance — and hope for protection of the household, successful winter, good luck for the family in return.
The dead must be appeased so that they might bless, not burden, the living.
Why We Still Feel This
Even today, the imagery of ghosts returning, doorways opening, or the spirit-world brushing against our world still resonates. Stephanie Bai’s luminous article from The Atlantic (“What Ghosts Reveal When They Visit”) explores how ghosts in archives mirror this threshold idea — of the living and the dead touching in moments of transition.
When we decorate, light candles, leave seats vacant, or carve lanterns, we’re echoing those ancient practices of hospitality and liminality. Rituals change, but the impulse remains: to make space for what we cannot fully see, yet sense.
Check out these lightly pagan-inspired rituals:
- Set a plate or treat outdoors for any visiting spirit, or leave the back door lit.
- Light a candle around dusk on 2nd November and reflect on someone who has passed, quietly honoring their presence.
- Sit in a dim room for a few minutes and listen — folklore says this is a moment when the living + the dead are closest.
- Share a simple feast with friends, invite stories of ancestors or departed loved ones, and keep a place at the table for memory.
These rituals do more than merely entertain spooky Halloween pop culture: we step into a space where time shifts, where the unseen might draw close, and where hospitality is a bridge. For the ancients, All Souls’ time was a way to return and step through to a place where no time is measured here. There’s no before, no after, just the melding of worlds.
