A chair pulled up to the fire

7th October 2026

'Hallowe'en was preeminently a commemoration of the dead, a time when ghosts and fairies were unusually active, the whole of the world of the supernatural astir and the dead returned to their earthly homes.' - E. Estyn Evans, 'Irish Folk Ways'

This particular folklorist puts Hallowe'en along side the return of the livestock from their summer grazing, when the herders came home with them and the night became a family reunion. He adds that the reunion took in the ancestral spirits of the family as well, with the dead coming back to their earthly homes for the night.

He records that it used to be thought unlucky not to prepare for them, so the door of the house was left open, tobacco and traditional dishes such as sowans were put out, and seats were set around the fire. (Sowans is a kind of porridge by the by, and the seats were for the ones coming home.)

This simple Irish spell makes the same preparation in the room where you spend your evenings.

You'll need a chair or a seat you already have, and a small amount of whatever you're eating or drinking yourself this evening.

Put the seat at the warm end of the room and set the food or the drink down beside it. Sit down yourself, take a few slow breaths, and let the names of your own (friendly) dead come to mind without trying or reaching too hard for 'em.

When you're ready, say:

There's a place in this house for my own dead.

The seat is yours for as long as you want it.

Come in when you're ready, and go in peace.

Beir Bua. (Pron. bare BOO-ah)

Leave the seat empty for the rest of the evening, then iin the morning put the food and the drink outside on bare ground, or into a plant pot if you've no ground you can use safely, and put the chair back where it usually lives.

That finishes the working.

Slán go fóill

Lora

PS

Somebody in the house may well go to sit in that chair out of habit, so decide beforehand whether you'll explain it or move them along without a word. That includes the cats or dogs, who might just want to sit there a while regardless of who else has come home for a bit. Won't do any of them any harm, so it's up to you.