Every single year my family celebrates Samhain.  It's the only holiday that we've carried over from when we used to be Wiccan.  Other than the fact that Halloween being my all-time favorite holiday anyways, Samhain gives us space to honor those who have left us, even our pets.  And we always have at least one pet to honor practically every year.  This year, we recently lost Alex, my mother's elderly cat.  Here is a picture of his handsome self in his prime: 

Alex was a bread stealer.  A carb kitty.  A little guy with a big personality.  He was sweet and cute and loving.  He loved his mother so very, very much.  And he loved all the other cats, as well.  He came to us in the most unusual way.  And he was laid to rest in our cat graveyard out back, complete with his own little headstone.  We will forever love and miss our Alex, but he is with those who have gone before him: Dobby, Harry, Bandit, Sabrina, Mitten, Mozart, and Wilma.  Not all are in our kitty graveyard, but many are.  And now they are playing together in another realm again, no pain, no sickness, and no aging.  Just happy kitties forever.  

But beyond just honoring our deceased loved ones, we also see this as the new year and do activities and rituals that reflect the coming year. 

Every year we:

1. Create both a mini-oracle jar and a mini spell jar.  Print out the sheets, cut them up and fold them and put them in two separate jars to pull from.  You can find the printouts for those here! 
2. Pull a tarot card from a specific deck we only use for Samhain for the coming year.  The deck we use is Tarot of the Secret Forest by Lucia Mattioli.  Though this year we may use several decks, plus an oracle card.  
3.  A fire-release ritual.  This year we'll be doing a new one that I outlined here called The Seeds of Samhain Ritual and this one that we do most years called the Samhain Letting Go Ritual. 
4. A guided meditation.  A great place to find Samhain (and other meditations) is Insight Timer.  Click here for all the Samhain meditations (and click here for a really good one!).  Click here to find the one my family is using this year:    Guided Samhain Meditation | Connect with the Spiritual World | Halloween Ritual 🎃🍂
5. Create an ancestor altar with pics of people who have passed over on it.  Click here for instructions on how to build an Autumnal Altar and just add the pictures of those you want to remember on it.  
6. Go to the park and find all the pinecones, leaves, and other little forest-y tidbits and arrange them in a pretty nature mandala right there at the park.  Don't forget to set your intention with the mandala and after you're done, leave it to the elements to take back to the earth.  
7. Choose a spirit name for the year (or beyond) (details below). 
8. Create a charm for your new spirit name. Use beads, thread, feathers, clay, or little found objects to make something that represents the name you drew.  You can do this anytime after choosing a spirit name.
9. Create a Protection Orb/Jar for your home.  Head out to Michaels and pick up a shatterproof ornament.  Clear out the old energy from it with either sage smoke or a bell or wash it really well with soap and water.  Let it fully dry and fill with salt, rosemary, crystals, sparkly thread (to "catch" and tangle any negativity), stones that represent protection for you, flowers, moss, pinecone pieces, feathers, keys, symbols, or whatever feels like protection for you.  Place in the orb and seal it by gluing the top back on.  You can also make this into a jar if you like and seal the top on, too.  When you're done, hold the orb or jar in your hands and imagine a pure white light filling it with the intention of protection.  Imagine any negativity being absorbed by the jar and then dissipating it back into it's smallest building blocks of neutral energy.  Hang the ornament or jar near an east-facing window OR anywhere that feels right for you.  Make a new one each year, or if yours breaks or feels like it's not working anymore.

Group Ritual to Pick a Spirit Name

Every Samhain, we draw a new spirit name. The names can be beautiful, mysterious, wonderfully strange, or a little ridiculous. My son’s first name was Spiraling Fire Salamander Seed, and it has stuck with him ever since. Sometimes a name simply refuses to be left behind.

This ritual invites us to meet ourselves with curiosity. What qualities might we like to explore? What parts of ourselves could use a little more room? And what happens when we let chance introduce us to something we wouldn’t have chosen deliberately?

You don’t need to figure out the answers before you begin. Sometimes you just need to draw a few words from a bowl and see what stirs.

Your names will consist of four words: 

1. A movement word (ending in ING) or an adjective (these give the name its energy).
2. Element, weather, or atmosphere word (these bring color, texture, or a sense of place).
3. Creatures and beings (mix ordinary woodland creatures with the strange and mythical).
4. Objects, plants, mysterious things (these give the name an intriguing ending).
   
   

For example: Whispering Mist Raven Thorn or Dancing Ember Fox Moon.

1. Prepare the Names

Print out the name lists here and cut into individual slips of paper and divide them among four numbered containers (you can also add as many of your own that you like, just follow the rules for what type of word goes into each container):

1. Movement: Spiraling, Whispering, Dancing, Dreaming, Becoming, Unfurling, etc.

2. Element or atmosphere: Fire, Mist, Moonlight, Thunder, Shadow, Frost, etc.

3. Creature or being: Salamander, Raven, Fox, Moth, Dragon, Serpent, etc.

4. Object or symbol: Seed, Lantern, Thorn, Feather, Key, Star, etc.
   
   

Make the lists as abundant and strange as you like. Fold the slips so their words remain hidden.

Place a candle or lantern in the center of your gathering space. You might surround it with autumn leaves, stones, or objects gathered outdoors. Play quiet music if you’d like and give everyone a moment to settle.

2. Open the Ritual

Invite everyone to feel the ground beneath their feet and take a comfortable breath. Then read:

“At the turning of the year, we make room for discovery. We bring all that we have been, all that we are, and all that is still becoming.

Tonight, we welcome a name shaped by chance and made meaningful by the one who carries it. May it offer wonder, laughter, and something unexpected to explore.”

3. Draw Your Name

One at a time, draw a slip from each bowl. Keep the words folded until you have all four, then open them slowly.

Read your name silently first. Speak it quietly to yourself. Notice its sound, its rhythm, and whatever response it brings.

Perhaps you feel an immediate connection. Perhaps it makes you laugh. Perhaps one word catches your attention while the others remain a mystery.

Allow all of those responses. Nobody has to uncover a profound message, and everyone may rearrange or exchange words until the name feels welcome.

Spend a few moments considering:

• Which word draws me in?
• What qualities do I associate with this name?
• How might I play with those qualities in the coming year?
  
  

4. Speak Your Name into the Circle

When ready, each person introduces themselves:

“At this turning of the year, I welcome the name __________.”

They may share a thought about it, or simply let the name stand on its own.

The circle responds:

“Welcome, __________.”

Give each name a moment to be heard. 

5. Give Your Name a Form

Set out beads, cord, charms, and other supplies so everyone can create a spirit-name necklace.  If you can't do this the same night, then do it at a later date, but not too much later.  Preferably soon after.  

Choose colors, shapes, and textures that connect with the name. A Spiraling Fire Salamander Seed name might inspire a spiral bead, fiery colors, a tiny creature charm, or a wooden bead that feels like a seed.

The connection can be personal and abstract. Follow what catches your eye.

When the necklace is finished, hold it between your hands and say:

“I give this name a place in my days. May it remind me to be curious about who I am becoming.”

Wear it whenever you want to reconnect with the ritual, your intentions, or the delight of having a wonderfully strange name.

6. Close the Ritual

To finish, invite everyone to speak their new names together. Let the room fill with whispering ravens, dancing dragons, dreaming moths, and whatever other unlikely beings have arrived.

Then say:

“The names are spoken. The year is open. May we carry wonder across the threshold.”

Write your name in your journal. A year from now, you may discover that it gathered meanings you couldn’t possibly have anticipated.

And if it stays with you longer than a year? Well, Spiraling Fire Salamander Seed would understand.

Remember, your spirit name is a reflection of many things: who you are becoming, or possibly who you need to let go of.  Sometimes even both. It could also be a lesson you needed to learn or a revelation of something you need to know.  Only you will walk this journey with your name and only you will know it's meaning.  You could walk the entire year (or years) with your name, and it will mean one thing, only to change later on.  Sometimes that meaning will not be revealed right away.  But at the right time, it will.  

Extra Step: Feel free to give spirit names to your pets and your loved ones who have passed this year.  Alex will be getting name (and I will update this after it's been given).  

Don't forget, if you don't have a tarot deck, you can print your own FULL deck here: 

An Autumnal Gift For You! (a free printable tarot deck!!) | Olivia Hartwell

Links

Here are some great links to other ways to celebrate Samhain: 

6 Samhain Rituals & Spells for Modern Witches 🕯️ - YouTube

10 Simple Samhain Rituals You Can Try at Home (No Cauldron Required) - Our Little House in the Country

21 Ideas How to Celebrate Samhain - Ceremonies and Rituals for a Spiritual Halloween - Morella&Ulalume 

5 Easy Samhain Rituals for Non-Witches – Goddess Provisions

What are some of your Samhain activities?  Did you choose a spirit name?  Did you create an altar of remembrance?  Or did you just decorate and trick or treat?  Whatever it is, let me know below so we can add to this post with more Samhain ideas. 

You can do this fire-burning ritual on Samhain, the new year, your birthday, or any other significant time in your life when you feel you need to move on.  Samhain is the Witch's New Year, though I don't fully consider myself a witch, so instead, I see it as my Spiritual New Year.  So, I traditionally do this ritual on Samhain (pronounced sow-en), which is the Celtic holiday that resembles the Day of the Dead where you honor your ancestors as the veil is thought to be the thinnest on Samhain night.  

And while I do that as well, I also see this is the perfect time to let the things go from the previous year as it's the end of my spiritual year.  And here is how I do it:

The Samhain Letting Go Ritual

You’ll need paper, pens, and a fireproof bowl or an outdoor fire. Have water nearby if you’re burning the papers.

Gather everyone around and begin:

“Samhain marks a threshold between what has been and what comes next. Before we cross it, we pause to name what we are ready to leave behind. We can keep what we have learned without carrying everything that taught us.”

Give everyone a few quiet minutes to write. They can use words, sentences, names, or drawings. Offer these prompts:

• What has been weighing on me?
• What habit, expectation, or old story am I ready to loosen?
• What responsibility have I carried that was never mine?
• What am I ready to stop punishing myself for?
• What do I want to leave in this past year?

Nobody has to read their paper aloud. When everyone is finished, invite them to fold it and hold it between their hands.

“What happened matters. What I felt matters. Letting go does not require forgetting, forgiving, or pretending it did not hurt. I am choosing what I want to carry forward.”

One at a time, each person places their paper in the fire. They can say:

“I keep the wisdom. I release what binds.

What is finished, I leave behind.

What is still healing, I meet in kind.

I greet what comes forward with an open mind.”

If fire isn’t practical, tear the papers into small pieces and collect them in a bowl filled with water for it to disintegrate and then to dispose of later. 

Afterward, take a quiet breath together, feel your feet against the ground, and close with:

“We do not have to leave here empty of sorrow or free of every old pattern that has manifested in the past year. We leave this sacred space having named our intention. And that is where we begin.”

You could finish by having everyone name one thing they’re making room for: peace, play, courage, rest, etc. for the coming year.  

You can make this ritual really special with nice music, rattles, bells, and other things that are for cleansing.  You can cleanse each person as well as the space you're in with these items.  You can do a short meditation based on what you need to let go of.  You can use visualizations as you burn your papers, seeing these things dissolve into the smoke that's being carried into the air.  You can do a grounding and centering technique (I like "dropping in", which is where I put one hand on my heart and one below my belly button and on every in-breath I drop my consciousness into my belly) before and afterwards.  Whatever feels good will work.  

Remember: Just doing a ritual like this will not instantly heal you of all the bad things you wish to let go of.  You actually have to do the work.  This ritual is a starting point where you name your intention and now you spend this year working on those things, whether through journaling, meditation, introspection, or therapy, but preferably all of the above.  

Do you have a special letting go ritual?  If so, please share a link below!  

Somewhere between folding the laundry and deciding what to make for dinner, it can feel as though the day has disappeared without our having actually lived in it. We did things. So many things. We answered messages, fed the animals, washed our hair, and moved the same mysterious pile of stuff from one surface to another. But how much of it did we notice?

When we think about ritual, we might picture candles, incense, an altar, or something performed beneath a particularly cooperative moon. And I love those things. But there is also room for ritual beside the kitchen sink, in the shower, and in that first cup of coffee before anyone starts asking us questions.

Our ordinary lives give us plenty to work with.

A daily act can become a ritual when we bring a little intention and attention to it. The action might stay exactly the same, but we give ourselves a reason to pause inside it.

Take opening the curtains. It is an easy thing to do while mentally reviewing everything that needs to happen before noon. But you could also take a moment to look outside. Notice the weather, the trees, the quality of the light. As you let the daylight in, you might ask yourself, "What would I like to make room for today?"

There. A small morning ritual. No supplies required, except curtains. And those are negotiable.

The lovely thing about this kind of practice is that it fits into the life you already have. You can begin with something you do every day and decide what meaning you would like to bring to it.  While making coffee or tea, notice the warmth of the cup and the smell rising from it. Choose a word to carry into your morning: curiosity, patience, courage, play. Let that first sip be a moment when you remember that you get to have needs and intentions before the day fills up with everyone else’s.

While washing your hands, you might imagine releasing an interaction you keep replaying. Feel the water, loosen your grip on the argument, and give yourself permission to move into the next part of your day. The problem may still need your attention later. For now, you are allowed a pause.  Sweeping can become a way to mark a fresh beginning. As you clear a small space, consider what you want that space to welcome: rest, creativity, conversation, a place to sit without moving three bags first.

Even folding laundry offers possibilities. Feel the fabric in your hands. Enjoy the warmth if it has just come out of the dryer. Put aside something comfortable for yourself. You might use the moment to ask, "What would help me feel cared for today?"  And yes, sometimes the answer might be “someone else folding this laundry.”

Enchantment can accommodate honesty.

If witchcraft is part of your life, these moments can hold whatever symbolism feels meaningful to you. Stir an intention into your soup. Treat your doorway as a threshold where you pause before bringing the day’s frustrations inside. Let your evening shower represent the end of your working day.

You can approach these acts spiritually, psychologically, or with an open-minded curiosity about the space between. A gesture can be meaningful without your having a complete explanation for why it speaks to you. Personally, I like leaving room for wonder.

There is one thing I would be careful with, though: making ritual into another obligation.

You do not have to be mindful through every dish, turn every meal into a ceremony, or feel grateful while scrubbing something deeply unpleasant. Some chores are boring. Some days you are exhausted. Sometimes coffee is simply the substance that makes conversation possible.

Let the practice be flexible enough to meet you there.

Choose one ordinary act. Give it a small meaning. Try it, and notice whether you enjoy it. Change the words, skip the words, or let the sensory experience be enough. A ritual should feel like something you can return to, with room for your actual moods and circumstances.

Most of our lives happen in familiar rooms, doing things we have done a thousand times before. There is something tender about giving a few of those moments our attention.

Tomorrow morning, when you open the curtains, linger for a breath.

See what the light is doing.

And breathe.  

There’s something about autumn that naturally makes us turn inward.

The days get shorter. The air changes. The trees begin to change. Gardens die back, animals prepare for winter, and everything around us seems to whisper the same message:

Slow down. Gather what matters. Release what doesn’t. Prepare for what comes next.

An autumn altar is one way to bring that energy into your home.

And despite the word altar, it doesn’t have to be religious, elaborate, or even particularly witchy unless you want it to be. An altar can simply be a small intentional space where you collect objects that remind you of the season and what it means to you.

It can sit on a shelf, table, dresser, windowsill, tree stump, or little corner of your desk.  There are no altar police.  There is no wrong way to make one.

Why Make an Autumn Altar?

Most of us move through the seasons without really noticing them anymore. We go from air-conditioning to heating, from one workweek to another, while the natural world outside is doing something completely different.

Creating a seasonal altar asks you to notice.

You begin seeing the first red leaves. You pick up the acorn on the sidewalk. You notice when the sunlight changes. You bring home a pinecone because it feels like the beginning of a new season.  

That simple act of paying attention can become its own kind of spiritual practice.

An autumn altar can also give you a physical place to return to when you want to slow down, meditate, journal, pull tarot cards, set intentions, practice gratitude, remember loved ones, or simply drink something warm and stare at a delicious scented candle for a while.

It becomes a small reminder:

This is where I am in the year.

Autumn Is a Season of Gathering

Autumn has always been associated with harvest.  Historically, this was literal. Food was gathered, preserved, dried, stored, and prepared so people could survive the winter.

We may not all be bringing in fields of grain anymore, but the metaphor still works beautifully.

• Autumn can be a time to ask:
• What have I grown this year?
• What am I grateful for?
• What do I want to carry forward?
• What am I ready to release?
• What do I need before winter arrives?

Your altar can become the place where you explore those questions.

What Can You Put on an Autumn Altar?

Anything that makes you think of autumn.  Really.  Your altar does not need to contain specific magical tools. Start with what you already have and what you can find outside.

You might include fallen leaves, acorns, pinecones, seed pods, feathers, sticks, dried flowers, small pumpkins, gourds, apples, corn, wheat, nuts, cinnamon sticks, or other seasonal items.

A small basket of harvest foods can symbolize abundance, nourishment, and gratitude.

Rocks or crystals or minerals of your choice.  I just bought these today at the ren faire: 

Candles are lovely for autumn altars because this is the part of the year when darkness begins arriving earlier. Lighting a candle can symbolize warmth, comfort, hope, or simply the return of cozy season.  My ALL-TIME favorite candle is this one right here (not an affiliate link): Reading at the Cafe - 8 oz Candle | Frostbeard Studio  (I have a "smelly altar" where I put all the things I love smelling and this candle is on there! LOL)

Use whatever scent feels like autumn to you: cinnamon, apple, cedar, vanilla, clove, maple (my favorite), leaves, smoke, coffee. Your altar is allowed to smell delicious (and it should!!).  

Remembering Those Who Came Before Us

Autumn, and especially the weeks around Samhain, is also traditionally associated with ancestors and remembrance.

You might place photographs of loved ones who have died on your altar, along with objects that remind you of them.  It doesn’t have to be solemn.  Maybe Grandma loved coffee.  Put out a little coffee cup that reminds you of her.  Maybe your dad always carried a particular pocketknife.  Place that on there.  Maybe someone you loved adored a particular flower, candy, song, or ridiculous little knickknack.  Whatever it is, include it where you can see it.  

An ancestor altar can be less about death and more about continuing a relationship through memory.

Add Something Magical

If you use tarot, oracle cards, runes, pendulums, crystals, or other divination tools, your autumn altar can also become a place to keep or use them.

Choose a tarot card that represents the season for you and prop it up (you can find my set of FREE autumn-themed tarot cards here you can download!!).  Add crystals whose colors remind you of autumn.  Keep your pendulum there.  Place a ritual jar or intention bowl nearby.  

My Seeds of Samhain jar, for example, is exactly the kind of thing that could live on an autumn altar throughout October while intentions are gathered for the year ahead (click the link to learn more about this October ritual).  

Use Your Altar

The best altar is one you actually interact with.  Sit beside it while you journal.  Light the candle in the evening.  Add something you find on a walk.  Pull a tarot card.  Drink your coffee there.  Write something you’re grateful for and place it in a bowl.  Leave an offering.  Meditate.

Or simply look at it every once in a while and remember that you are living inside a season.

You don’t have to do anything elaborate for the altar to matter.  Sometimes the practice is simply noticing.

Let It Change

Your altar doesn’t have to stay exactly the same all season.  September might be about harvest and abundance.  October might become more mysterious: ancestors, divination, Samhain, candles, and things you’re ready to release.  November might become quieter, centered around gratitude, warmth, rest, and preparation for winter.

Let it evolve along with the world outside.

There Is No Right Way to Make One

Your autumn altar might be covered in pumpkins, crystals, candles, tarot cards, and dried herbs.  Or it might be one beautiful leaf sitting beside a candle.  Both count.

An altar isn’t made sacred because you bought the correct objects.  It becomes meaningful because you chose to pay attention.

And perhaps that is one of autumn’s greatest invitations:  

• to notice what has grown,
• to appreciate what remains,
• to release what is finished,
• and to prepare a little space for whatever comes next. 

So, if you make your own Autumn Altar, please tag me @written_by_Olivia on IG or upload a picture below!  I'd love to see what you create!  And pics of my own altar will be coming soon!  

At the edge of Ashford Hollow, Pennsylvania, sits The Briarwood House:  a charming, buttercream-yellow Victorian bed-and-breakfast where every detail feels like something out of a cozy novel. Lace curtains flutter in the windows, ivy curls up the walls, and Mrs. Arkwright, the innkeeper with her lilting English accent, makes every guest feel at home.

Every guest, that is, except the ones who wander too close to Room Six.

When the Morgan family arrives for a long weekend, their children can’t resist exploring the hallway — and they discover the one room no one talks about. Its brass number is tarnished, its wallpaper peels, and a strange sour smell seeps from beneath the door. Mrs. Arkwright waves away their questions with a smile, insisting the room is “condemned.”

But one night, young Emma hears music coming from behind the locked door.  Laughter.  Dancing.  And someone is looking back at her through the keyhole.

And someone else is watching, too...

Room 6 is a cozy horror tale with creaky floorboards, flickering lamplight, and just enough unease to make you check the doors before bed. Pour yourself a cup of tea, settle into your favorite chair, and step inside The Briarwood House...if you dare.

🎧 Now Available as an Audio Drama

Experience Room 6 the way it was meant to be told: as a cozy horror audio drama. With narration that feels like a storyteller by the fire, gentle background music, and just a touch of eerie atmosphere, this version brings The Briarwood House to life. Close your eyes, listen to the creak of the staircase and the distant music behind Room Six’s door, and let yourself get lost in the mystery.  Just click below to make your way to the Briarwood House.  

It's that time year again!  The leaves are starting to change.  The air is cooler.  The harvest season has begun and now it's time to break out your chunky sweaters and flannels and snuggle up on the couch with a blanket and turn on Gilmore Girls!! Whoo hoo!!  Because Autumn is here, biotches!  Hell yeah!  (can you tell I am excited?)

And with that, I have new tarot deck for you all!!   And it's based on my favorite season.  So, grab your hot apple cider and clean off your table, because it's time to pull some stinkin' cute cards!!  OMG you're just going to die when you see them!  For real, guys, I have cute rage right now....

This is The Bramble & Acorn Tarot deck.  It's cute!  It's adorable!  It's all things autumnal!  It's perfect!  Here are some samples of its friggin' cuteness!

So, once you grab your copy and print it out and create a gorgeous little deck, then I have a really fun question to for you to ask it: 

What do you want right now?  

Not just today, but in this season of your life.  Do you want to build wealth?  Read your TBR?  Start a new hobby?  Get a new job?  Or maybe you want to find love?  Whatever it is, I'd love to see what card you pull!  This is a one-card reading, but if you feel you need one or two more, you can make it whatever size reading you want.  I just hope that this deck brings you as much glee as it does me!  And I hope this reading brings you into where you want to be in the coming months.  

If you download the deck (and if you do the reading) then tag me on IG @written_by_olivia with your card and put #brambleandacorntarot in your post.  I hope you love these cards as much as I do!  But if love all things cozy, cute, and autumnal??  Then I am sure you will! 

You can get your deck here: 

So, I got this idea from this particular creator that I adore.  Here is her video: The 13 Magical Nights.  If you don't follow her content, I highly suggest you do (if you're into that sort of thing) as her voice and content are both very soothing and highly magical.  But I took her idea and tweaked it to fit my own brain a little better.

Because, I, ladies and gentlemen, have ADHD.  And I will NOT remember to do this if I wait.  The winter solstice will come and go, and I will be thinking "Was I supposed to be doing something??"  and not find the little jar until next year sometime.  So, instead of trying to force my brain to fit into someone else's box, I am working on taking the boxes I find in life and make them fit my brain instead.  And also, I am really trying to make Samhain the most magical night of the year again for me and my family, and this I think will be an enormously fun way to do so.  

What am I talking about, you ask?  Well, the Seeds of Samhain Ritual, of course!  

Disclaimer: you do not have to be witchy to do this!  You can be anything you like and use whatever you like as your carrier (spirit guides, angels, the universe, the fae, etc).  

This ritual takes the entire month of October, which is my favorite month of the year.  And since Samhain (which is the ancient Gaelic festival marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter) is also known as the witch's new year, I tend to use it as my own new year, rather than January first.  As I used to be a Wiccan, I fell in love with Samhain's whole "the night between the veil is thinnest" theme and used this night for divination for the upcoming year.  Every Samhain I keep adding to it, making it the biggest holiday in our house all year long.  And the most important one.  

This ritual will make this holiday even more important, as it coincides with my yearly tarot reading (13 cards: one for each month plus a theme) which I just did and will be posting soon.  Here's how we're going to do it: 

All month long, we gather ideas we'd like to see come into our lives during the next year.  We write them down on little slips of paper, fold them up, and place them into a special jar that we've either collected or decorated (or even a little box).  Then, on Samhain, we get a candle (I use a ritual candle that I only use for rituals on this day) and take out all the little pieces of paper and one by one, burn them and know that our spirit guides are receiving these through their dissipation.  We can visualize them being sent to the ether, or just hold in your heart the knowledge that they are being received by the universe.  And then when there's only one left, we open it up and that one is ours to take care of.  The rest will be taken care of in their own time by the universe.  

Now, you don't have to write 31 things, just when you think of something.  You can write them all in one day if you like, but you have 31 days to remember in case something escapes your memory.  Each member of your family writes their own intentions and/or things and everyone has their own candle.  

But remember: do not write these things as "I wish" or "I want", write them as "I am" or "I have".  

I do highly suggest making an October altar for all your autumnal and Samhain fun.  Which you can read about here.