Pagan Events for Samhain and the Day of the Dead

Here are some of the events that pagans might enjoy that are taking place over Halloween - or Samhain - on Friday, the Day of the Dead this weekend and for the week to come. Most are in London, but some are a little further afield.

Now - 2 November; IMAGE 2014, Travelling with Unfamiliar Spirits - two-week celebration of esoteric art with series of events at The Cob Gallery, 205 Royal College St, London NW1 0SG. To see the full list of events taking place over the two weeks, visit:http://fulgur.co.uk/events/

Thursday 30 October; Black Mirror Volume 0: Launch Party - part of the I:Mage Esoteric Art Exhibition. Venue: Cob Gallery, 205 Royal College Street, London, NW1 0SG United Kingdom. Time: 7pm - 10pm. This is a free event but you must register for a place by emailing livia@fulgur.co.uk. Places are limited.   

Thursday 30 October; PFL Samhain Open Ritual facilitated by Sorita d’Este and the Covenant of Hekate. Venue: Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, Holborn London. Time: 7.30pm for 8pm start. Ritual ends around 9pm followed by feasting until 10pm. Entrance: £6/£5 PF members. Please bring seasonal food and drinks to share at feast after ritual. For more details, visit http://london.paganfed.org/

Thursday 30 October; Fortean London Halloween: Ghost, Witches and Demons. Evening of talks: Roger Clarke, Queen Victoria and the Child Medium; Jessie Childs, Beware the Foul Fiend: An Elizabethan Exorcism in Hackney; Deborah Hyde, The Witch of Eye; Scott Wood, Ghosts and Demons of the City. Venue: The London Fortean Society. Venue: The Vaults Bar, Dirty Dicks, 202 Bishopsgate, City of London EC2M 4NR. Time: 7.30pm - 10.30pm. Entry: £3/£2 concessions. For more details, visit http://forteanlondon.blogspot.co.uk/

Thursday 30 October; The Dead Can Dance - Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki talks about the Day of the Dead. Venue The Atlantis Bookshop, Museum Street WC1. Time: 7pm for 7.30pm start. Cost £10. To attend this event you must reserve a place in advance. Contact the Atlantis Bookshop on 020 7405 2120.

Friday 31 October; Wheel of the Year Festival - Resting Meditation at Chalice Well World Peace Garden, in Glastonbury. Gather at the Well Head at noon for celebration and meditation until 12.30pm, followed by a chance to chat around the fire on the lower lawn. Free admission to the gardens from 10am to noon. In the evening there will be an All Hallow’s Eve / Samhain event suitable for families, starting after 4.30pm and ending at around. The cost of that is £7.50 adults, £4.50 children. For more details and to book, visit the website http://www.chalicewell.org.uk/

Friday 31 October, Gallery talk: Witches and Wicked bodies. Room 90, British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG. Time: 1.15pm-2pm. Free, drop in. For more details visit: https://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/events_calendar.aspx

Friday 31 October; Halloween at the Grant. Venue: Grant Museum of Zoology, Rockefeller Building, University College London, London WC1E 6DE. Time: 6.30pm-9pm. No need to book, tickets on the door cost £5, which includes a free glass of wine.

Friday 31 October; Paranormal Photography. Talk by Harry Oldfield at The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London SW7 2EB. Time: 7pm-9pm. Cost: £14/£16 Advance booking advised. For details call: 020 7589 3292 or visit https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Friday 31 October; Dowsing: Using The Past To Find Out The Future. Lecture by Michael Haxeltine at Rilko (Research Into Lost Knowledge). Venue: 50 Gloucester Place, London W1U 8EA. Doors open 6.45pm, lectures starts 7.15pm. Entrance: £8/£6. http://www.rilko.net/EZ/rilko/rilko/home.php

Friday 31 October; The Mastery: Master Your Craft and Live and Flow at One With Life. Talk organised by the London College of Spirituality. Venue: Westminster Quakers Meeting House, 8 Hop Gardens, off St Martins Lane, London WC2N 4EA, London. Time: 7pm. Cost: £10, booking essential. Details: http://www.meetup.com/londonspirituality/

Friday 31 October, Tamesa River of Souls: Halloween / Samhain Ritual. Thames-side outdoor ritual in London. Annual event organised by Mani Navasothy and friends as part of Pagan Frontiers of London and Tamesa London Circle since 2006. Meet (usually) by the Millennium Bridge in Central London and get down to the river if the tide is low for the ceremony. For more details, visit http://www.paganfrontiers.com/

Friday 31 October, Samhain Rite with The London Wicca Meetup Group. Meeting at 7pm at a pub in Tooting Bec, London, then moving to a private house at 7.45pm. For more details and to join the group, visit: http://www.meetup.com/The-London-Wicca-Meetup-Group/

Saturday 1 November; Shamanic Pathways Workshop with Cobwebs at Cauldrons at Romford Shopping Hall. Cost is £50. http://www.cobwebsandcauldrons.co.uk/

Saturday 1 November; London Dreamtime at Garden Museum - Six Story Saturdays. Venue: Garden Museum Lambeth, Lambeth Palace Rd, London SE1 7LB. Price: Free. Time: 11am-noon. For more details visit http://londondreamtime.com/calendar/ or http://www.gardenmuseum.org.uk/

Saturday 1 November; The Day of the Dead in Mexico: past and present. Gallery Talk. Venue: Room 27, British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG. Time: 1.15pm-2pm. Free event, just drop in. For more details visit: https://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/events_calendar.aspx

Saturday 1 November; Free and Open Gorsedd of Caer Abiri Samhain Ritual at Avebury Sun Circle, in Avebury, Wiltshire. Open druidic style ceremony to mark Samhain, the end and beginning of times. Meet at the Red Lion Pub, Avebury, at noon for rite at 1.30pm, ending at around 3pm. Contributions of song, poetry, mead and cakes are welcome. There will be music and entertainment in the Red Lion pub in the evening. The overflow car park will be available for tent camping on Friday 31 October and Saturday 1 November.

Saturday 1 November; Woodland Samhain ritual by Hern's Tribe. Meet-up at Coombe Lane tram stop in Croydon by 4pm. Ritual will end at around 8pm. Bring food and drink to share and wear suitable clothing for an outdoor ritual. More details here: http://www.paganfrontiers.com/

Saturday 1 November; Embodied Spirits and Fetishes- An evening talk from David Graeber as part of the I:Mage Esoteric Art Exhibition. Venue: Cob Gallery, 205 Royal College Street, London, NW1 0SG United Kingdom. Time: 7pm - 8.15pm. Tickets: £7. http://fulgur.co.uk/event/embodied-spirits-fetishes-david-graber/

Saturday 1 November; Hendon Heathens Moot, Venue: Greyhound Pub, Church End, Hendon, London, NW4 4JT. Time: 6pm. Hendon Heathens meets at this pub the first Saturday of every month.

Saturday 1 November; Samhain Open Ritual at Avebury stone circle, in Wiltshire. Time: 7pm. Free event. Come dressed up warm and bring an apple. Details: https://www.facebook.com/events/1499416280335995/

Sunday November 2; Kali Puuja. A one day workshop to explore the wisdom of the Vedas at Caer Corhain Shamamic Development Centre of the Isle of Sheppey, 1 Southleas farm cottages, Lower Road, Minster, Sheppey ME12 3SW. For more details and information on how to book, contact Bruce at auberzone@yahoo.com or phone on 07928 149659 or visit;http://www.touchtheearthuk.com/

Sunday November 2; Samhain on Primrose Hill with the Loose Association of Druids. Open ritual hosted by Jeremy Morgan, the Druid of Wormwood Scrubbs. Venue: The Hawthorne Grove, Primrose Hill, Regents Park, London NW1. Meet by 12.45pm for a 1pm start, ends at around 2.30pm. Nearest tube: Chalk Farm.

Sunday November 2; Anderida Gorsedd Samhain open ritual at the Long Man of Wilmington, Sussex. Meet near the car park between 1.30pm and 2pm for a walk up to the chalk hill figure at 2pm. Afterwards back to the Giants Rest pub in Wilmington for a social drink together.

Sunday November 2; Dulwich Picture Gallery Family Sunday with London Dreamtime. Venue: Dulwich Picture Gallery, Gallery Rd, Southwark, London SE21 7AD. Price: Free with admittance to gallery. Time: 2pm. For more details visit http://londondreamtime.com/calendar/

Sunday November 2; Mythic and Legendary London - a guided walk with Caroline Wise. Starting near The Strand, Central London, at 1pm, the walk takes 3.5 hours. Cost: £12. For more details and to reserve places contact Caroline via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/caroline.wise.96

Sunday November 2; Echoes Ever After. A salon in the cemetery with Mark Pilkington and Dr. Christopher Belshaw. Venue: The Dissenters' Chapel, Kensal Green Cemetery, London. Part of The London Month of the Dead curated by a Curious Invitation and Antique Beat. Time: 4pm - 6pm. Tickets are £12. For more details and to book tickets, visit: http://www.londonmonthofthedead.com/

Sunday November 2; Samhain Rite with The Cotswold Order of Druids at the Rollright Stones, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. Time: 4pm. Free event but donations welcome to cover site hire. http://www.rollrightstones.co.uk/

Sunday November 2; Music, Mathematics, Healing Sound, Spirituality. Concert/talk with Lawrence Ball Venue: 50 Gloucester Place, London W1U 8EA. Starts at 6pm. Tickets: £7 (£5 concessions, £4 TS members). For full details: http://www.theosophicalsociety.org.uk

Monday 3 November; Tarot Meditation: The Magician, with Marysia Kolodziej. Venue: Treadwells, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 7BS. Time: 7.15pm for 7.30pm start. Tickets £10. Advance booking required. Call 0207 419 8507. For further details: info@treadwells-london.com http://www.treadwells-london.com/

Tuesday 4 November; Cobwebs and Cauldrons Moot. Venue: White Horse Pub, Chadwell Heath, Essex. Moot normally takes place on the first Tuesday of every month. 7.30pm start. https://www.facebook.com/cobwebs.cauldrons

Tuesday 4 November; The Amazing Incredible Wand Lecture with Edwin Courtenay at The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London SW7 2EB. Time: 7pm-8.30pm. Cost: £10/£12 Advance booking advised. For details call: 020 7589 3292 or visit https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Tuesday 4 November (Note: Not the normal day of the month); Nova Stellar Wicca Meet-Up Group for genuine seekers to the Craft. . Venue The Castle, 34-35 Cowcross Street, London EC1M 6DB London. 6.30pm - 10pm. You must reserve a place in advance by emailing mickijl@yahoo.co.uk. The group normally meets on the second Tuesday of each month.

Wednesday, 5 November; Altar Setup. Workshop with Cobwebs at Cauldrons at Romford Shopping Hall. Time: 10am start. Cost is £25. http://www.cobwebsandcauldrons.co.uk/

Wednesday, 5 November; The False Memory Archive: A brief tour around the tour. Talk with powerpoint pictures by artist Alasdair Hopwood at Greenwich Skeptics in the Pub. Venue: The Star and Garter, 60 Old Woolwich Road, Greenwich, London SE10 9NY. Time: 7.30pm. http://greenwich.skepticsinthepub.org/

Wednesday, 5 November; The Witches' Inn. Pagan moot at The Feathers Hotel, 42 High St, Merstham, Redhill, Surrey RH1 3EA. Starts at 8pm. Moots are on the first Wednesday of each month. https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Witches-Inn/1568424150049437

Wednesday, 5 November; Naked Witches. Talk by Dr Leo Ruickbie. Venue: Treadwells, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 7BS. Time: 7.15pm for 7.30pm start. Tickets £7. Advance booking required. Call 0207 419 8507. For further details: info@treadwells-london.com http://www.treadwells-london.com/

Thursday 6 November; Mindful London.Talk and book signing by Tessa Watt at Watkins Books, 19-21 Cecil Court, London WC2N 4EZ. Time: 6.30pm. Free event. For more details Tel 020 7836 2182 or visit the website http://www.watkinsbooks.com/

Thursday 6 November; Festival of Lights Late - a night of music, dance, film, art and performances celebrating light and the festival of lights traditions from around the world. Venue: Horniman Museum and Gardens, 100 London Rd, London SE23 3PQ. 6.30pm - 9.30pm. Tickets £5. Details: http://www.horniman.ac.uk/visit/events/festival-of-lights-late

8-9 November; Gateways of the Mind London '14 - Explorations Deep Into Consciousness. Venue: The Tabernacle, Notting Hill, W11 2AY. Two-day ticket £165, one-day ticket £95. For details and booking: http://www.gatewaysofthemind.com/london

Sunday 9 November; Water Ritual at The Motherstone Fountain in Greenwich Park for members of the London Pagan Holy Wells, Sacred Springs and Ley Lines Meetup Group. Meet at St Mary's Gate by National Maritime Museum, Greenwich Park, Greenwich, at 11.30am. To join the group and reserve a place, visit: http://www.meetup.com/London-Pagan-Holy-Wells