Halloween, Samhain, Genesia: Rites and Rituals (2026)

Hello Zevist Family :)

Tomorrow night is Halloween, also known as Samhain, Genesia. Recently, our High Priest Zevios Metathronos has gifted us with something very necessary:

Rites for each of our sacred Zevist Holidays.

No longer do we wonder what to do, or how to properly honor our Gods. No longer do we try to do something important for our souls, but uncertain exactly what it is that we should do. No longer do members have to ask which God is honored on what holiday.

Now, all 8 Holidays have full rites written out. They are explained in depth, with Rituals and Festival Psalms, full instructions, the Gods that are honored, and other celebrations we can do.

On a main page we have The Zevist Calendar: The 8 Festivals of the Year. This gives an overview with information about the Festivals, and near the bottom are the links for each of our 8 yearly festivals.

This Samhain is the first Zevist Holiday where we have these Rites explained in full in the page for Samhain/Genesia. The Gods honored are Persephone (Ereshkigal), Pluton (Osiris, Hades), and Anubis. There is also a Festival Psalm of Genesia consisting of 72 passages, to be performed in sections throughout the night, all instructed on the page for Genesia.

The full page is an estimated 93 minutes to read, fortunately our new Temple of Zeus redesigned website keeps track of your page exactly where you left off in case you are unable to finish reading it all in one session, if you are logged into your account. Simply log into your account using the same password as for these forums, go to the page again (this is kept in the reading history in your account) and click the link at the top of the page to resume where you left off.

And of course those in countries where this Holiday is happily celebrated with trick-or-treater’s knocking on your door, you might want to delay the rituals until an hour you know you have more privacy. But do not think you are to shun the usual celebrations! Written in the page, there is a time during the night where we are meant to go out and celebrate with others. We do not hide away in our homes with the lights out pretending we are not home. Zevism is about celebrating life and being integrated into our community and society. Hand out the candy for the cute children in costumes, enjoy their happiness, and manage the Rites as well. That’s life, there are many things to juggle and manage.

For this Holiday in particular, the Rituals are to be done at specific times, the first beginning at sundown. As sundown is based on your location in the world, we might not be able to organize the rituals as usual in Vultus Templorum Temple Room. We will do the best we can, and let’s keep the entire day and night for all locations to be about this Holiday in VT chat. You can write in the chat when you are beginning, and perhaps sync up with others for at least one of the rituals or a segment of the Psalm.

If any of you cannot participate on the night of Samhain, it is written in the main Zevist Calendar page that you can honor the festival on any other night close to it. If the hours of the rituals do not work for you, you can also adjust those accordingly, perhaps a few hours earlier or later than what is indicated.

If you cannot perform all 3 Rituals plus the Festival Psalm, then select 1 or 2 to perform. This is the first year we have this holiday in full, next year you will have more experience; 10 years from now you will be an expert at this and it can be easily managed. Don’t get stressed out, even just performing one ritual will honor this holiday.

Read the page about Samhain/Genesia now so you can be prepared for tomorrow night, and ask any questions to this thread or in VT chat!

The veil is thin, the dead are near, and the Zevist doesn't fear this: he approaches it with reverence, with knowledge, and with the understanding that death is a passage and not an end.

Happy Halloween!