When people say the veil is thin, they mean that the border between the everyday world and the world of spirits, ancestors and the dead feels easier to cross than usual. You hear it most often around Samhain at the end of October, but people also use it for dawn and dusk, for places like old wells or crossroads, and for moments in life such as a birth or a death. It is not something you can measure. It describes an experience: dreams get louder, the dead come to mind, and journeys open more easily.
In this article I explain where the phrase comes from, what shamanic practice makes of it, how to tell whether you are noticing something real or just the season, and what to do when a thin time arrives.
What does “the veil is thin” actually mean?
The phrase means that the separation between ordinary life and the spirit world feels lighter, so contact with ancestors, guides and the dead comes more easily. The veil is an image for that separation, not a literal curtain.
In shamanic language we talk about ordinary and non-ordinary reality. Michael Harner, who founded the Foundation for Shamanic Studies, used these terms in The Way of the Shaman (1980) for the two states of consciousness a practitioner moves between. A thin time is a time when the step from one to the other is shorter. You still have to take the step, but the door is closer.
Where does the idea of a thin veil come from?
The idea comes mostly from Irish and Scottish folklore around Samhain, and from the later Celtic Christian talk of “thin places”, meaning landscapes where heaven and earth seem close. The exact wording “the veil is thin” is fairly modern and became common through the pagan revival of the twentieth century.
Samhain marked the start of winter in the old Irish calendar. Encyclopaedia Britannica describes it as a time when the boundary to the otherworld was believed to open, so the souls of the dead could move among the living. The historian Ronald Hutton has shown in The Stations of the Sun (1996) that much of what we read about ancient Samhain is later reconstruction, so I hold the old stories loosely. What is clear is that people in many cultures have felt the dead come closer as the light goes. I wrote more about the festival itself in What Is Samhain? The Old New Year Explained.
Mircea Eliade, in Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy (1951), describes the shaman as someone who crosses between worlds on purpose. The idea of a thin time fits that picture: there are moments when the crossing is open to more people than just the specialist.
When is the veil said to be thin?
The veil is said to be thin at Samhain above all, but also at other turning points of the day, the year and a life. Here is an overview.
| Thin time | When | What people often notice |
|---|---|---|
| Samhain | 31 October to 1 November (Northern Hemisphere) | Ancestors come to mind, vivid dreams of the dead, a pull to remember |
| Beltane | 30 April to 1 May | A strong sense of the land and nature spirits, restlessness |
| Dusk and dawn | Every day, between light and dark | Quiet, a feeling of being accompanied |
| Solstices | Around 21 June and 21 December | Stillness at the longest night, clarity at the longest day |
| Thresholds of life | Birth, death, serious illness, deep grief | Unusual dreams, signs, a sense of presence |
| Thin places | Crossroads, wells, old trees, the shore, burial sites | A shift in mood the moment you arrive |
In the Southern Hemisphere, many practitioners celebrate Samhain around 30 April instead, when autumn really comes there. Follow the land you live on.
Is the veil really thinner, or is it just us?
Nobody can measure a veil, so the honest answer is that we do not know what changes outside us. What we do know is that a lot changes inside us at these times, and that is reason enough to take them seriously.
Late autumn brings less light, longer nights and more time indoors. Many people sleep longer and remember more dreams. Culture adds to it: when everyone around you is talking about the dead, your own dead come to mind. In my experience, none of this makes the contact less real. Spirits tend to use the openings we already have, and a quieter, darker season is an opening.
What I would watch for is the opposite: when “the veil is thin” becomes a reason to hand every bad mood or odd noise to the spirit world. If you feel afraid or flooded with grief for weeks, that deserves care in this world first.
How can you tell when the veil feels thin for you?
You can tell the veil feels thin for you when ordinary things start carrying more meaning than usual: dreams, animals, memories, small coincidences. These are the signs I hear about most often.
- Dreams get clearer, and the dead appear in them more often, sometimes simply sitting with you.
- A person who died comes to mind again and again, often with a smell, a song or a phrase of theirs.
- Animals come unusually close to you, especially birds such as crows, owls and robins.
- You feel accompanied when you are alone, and it does not frighten you.
- Journeys open faster than usual, and the images are sharper.
- You get tired sooner, and crowded places drain you more than they normally would.
What should you do when the veil is thin?
When the veil is thin, use it for remembering and listening, and look after your energy a little more than usual. You do not need a big ceremony.
- Remember out loud. Light a candle for your dead and say their names. An ancestor altar gives this a fixed place, and I show you how to set one up in How to Build an Ancestor Altar That Actually Works.
- Keep a dream notebook by the bed. Write down what you remember before you look at your phone.
- Journey with a clear question. Thin times are good for asking your guides or ancestors something specific, not for wandering around.
- Ground yourself afterwards. Eat something, put your feet on the floor, go outside for a few minutes.
- Close what you open. At the end of any ritual, thank whoever came and say clearly that the work is finished.
If you want a simple plan for the evening of 31 October, my How to Celebrate Samhain: A Beginner’s Guide walks you through one.
A thin time can bring grief to the surface. Shamanic practice can hold some of that, but it complements grief counselling, therapy and medical care and does not replace them. If grief or fear stays with you, please talk to someone qualified.
From my practice: the last week of October
For years I thought the talk of a thin veil was mostly decoration, something that came with the pumpkins. Then I noticed a pattern in my own journal. Every year in the last week of October, my grandmother turned up in my dreams. Nothing dramatic. She was usually in her kitchen peeling potatoes, and she would say one ordinary sentence before I woke up.
Now I plan for that week. I keep my calendar lighter, I journey more and I see fewer people in the evenings. Here in Portugal the first proper rain usually comes around then, the nights get noticeably longer, and I sit by the candle on my ancestor shelf with a cup of tea. Some years nothing special happens. Most years something does, and I am glad I left room for it.
If you would like to spend this season in company, we journey together in the Lightkeepers’ Hearth journey circle. Drumming with others makes it easier to go out and to come back well.
Frequently asked questions
No. Samhain is the best known thin time, but people also speak of a thin veil at Beltane, at dusk and dawn, at the solstices and around births and deaths. Some places, like crossroads or old wells, are said to be thin all year.
It means the border between the everyday world and the spirit world feels lighter, so contact with ancestors, guides and the dead comes more easily. The veil is an image, not a physical barrier.
Usually not. Most people simply notice more dreams and memories. Basic care helps: ground yourself after ritual work, close what you open, and do not invite anything you would not invite into your home.
Many people feel it from mid October onwards, with a peak around 31 October and the first days of November. Your own journal and dreams will tell you more than any fixed date.
Less light, longer nights and more going on inside you all cost energy. Sleep more, eat warm food and keep your evenings quiet. If the tiredness lasts for weeks, have it checked by a doctor.
The veil may or may not change. What changes is how much you are willing to notice. Tell me in the comments: when does the veil feel thin for you?
