Yes, witches celebrate Halloween, but not how you think. Learn more about how covens observe the day.

Halloween may conjure up images of witches in black robes dancing around a bonfire. But, while some witches do observe Halloween deep in the woods with their coven, that's not what all witches do to observe the holiday.

"Witches celebrate Halloween in a myriad of ways," says Shiva Honey, an ordained minister of The Satanic Temple. "The witchcraft community is diverse: Every tradition has its own customs and each individual has their own interpretations within them."

Curious how witches do celebrate Halloween? Yahoo Life chatted with practicing witches to hear all about their Oct. 31 plans.

Witches call Halloween by another name

Most witches call the Halloween "Samhain," according to psychic Inbaal Honigman. Many witches do not call the holiday Halloween because that's its Christian name, according to Charlotte Amy Rose, founder of Sacred Footprints. "The idea that witches were evil women with warts and cauldrons came from the Catholic church trying to scare anyone away from celebrations that weren't led by the church," Rose tells Yahoo Life.

Some witches celebrate the new year on Halloween

Samhain is an ancient Gaelic fire festival that celebrates the new year, so many witches celebrate a brand new year on Halloween night. Writer Betsy Cornwell explains that the new year for witches is marked by the end of the fall harvest and the beginning of winter. For many, it's a time of hope.

But not every witch considers Samhain the new year. Ashley Seekraft and Azaizall Robles are the high priestess and priest of the Circle of the Amalthai Coven, located in Washington, D.C. This coven celebrates the new year in February, during the "Feast of Torches," because it's the beginning of a period when light and life start to return. Robles explains that Samhain is just one of many sabbats (Pagan holidays) that witches celebrate. As such, different traditions choose to celebrate the new year at different times.

They honor the dead and summon ancestors

For magic educator Lex Ritchie, Samhain is part of a season of holidays that honor the "dead and the dark" side of life. "It is the time of year when the veil between the worlds is at its thinnest," says Jennie Koeper, "meaning that it is much easier to speak with those who have moved on from this life during this time."

On Halloween, tarot and magic expert Dee Norman places candles on her ancestral altar to provide light and warmth to guide her ancestors back for a visit. Coven leader Lisa McSherry summons her ancestors. "I try to tell them everything, good and bad and, honestly, it always sounds a lot like a one-sided gossip gab," she says. Seekraft and Robles emphasize there's no one right way to summon an ancestor and some witches use darker means, including necromancy. "The point is to make a connection," says Robles, "Taking the time to honor them in any way that you like."

They brew potions

Attorney Tina Willis brews potions made from branches and leaves, raw alligator and poisonous snake flesh. She brews her concoctions in a huge stockpot using a "witchy recipe book" handed down from her grandmother. "I always brew some concoction usually aimed at complicating the lives of those people who annoyed me the absolute most of the past year," Willis shares.

"I'm not a totally evil witch though," she says. "If someone was truly good to me, then I brew a concoction that makes them forget all of their problems and have the best Halloween of their lives."

They purify and cleanse

For psychic Alane Hathaway, Samhain is the beginning of a three-day ritual involving physical and spiritual cleansing. During this time, Hathaway cleans her living space and altar to release the energies that no longer serve her.

"I sage my entire living space, then follow with incense to increase divine energy, I follow that with Florida Water (a type of fragrant water, similar to cologne) to purge any magical energies from the magic work that I have done outside of my celestial and angelic practice," she explains.

Hathaway then performs a sound cleansing with six chakra bowls to allow room for "rest and creation." During this time, she simmers a pot of fruits and spices representing abundance for the new year that release a pure, natural scent throughout her home. Hathaway also cleans herself as part of her ritual by "taking a spiritual bath or shower" after nightfall.

Alesia Hall also cleanses her home. "I do a big final protection cleaning of the house," she says, "including all the windows and doors, and re-secure my defenses with salt and moon water (water that has spent time under the light of a full moon)."

They light fires

"Fire is an incredible natural tool," says Rose. Many witches light candles to symbolize the burning of the old and making space for the new. Some light bonfires. Rose writes wishes on pieces of paper and burns them. She views fire as an element of transformation that can help her wishes be realized in the new year.

Psychic Amanda Lee writes down anything she wants to free herself from in the new year and burns the paper.

They have a "dumb supper"

"Dumb suppers" are meals held in complete silence to honor the dead. During a dumb supper, friends or family make the departed's favorite meal and eat it together. They make a plate for the deceased, which is placed in front of an empty chair.

Robles likes to place an empty wooden chair at the table and have guests tie a note to someone they lost to the chair. At the end of the night, attendees burn the chair with the notes attached, "to send energy to the spirit world."

Seekraft adds that any food left for the deceased is burned or buried, "to give it back to the earth." Many witches will also bring an object that belonged to the departed to create a physical connection to the person they're honoring.

They peform rituals to separate themselves from the religions they grew up with

On Samhain, Honey may hold "un-baptisms" and "black masses" at The Satanic Temple's headquarters, located in Salem, Mass. An un-baptism is a ritual some witches and others use to "separate themselves from religious oppression." According to Honey, "a black mass can also serve as a ceremony of blasphemy and liberation, as well as a tool for manifestation."

They get together with others

Many witches gather with others to have large parties or perform rituals with a small witches' circle. When Honigman was a member of a coven she says she held, "big rituals" with "lots of participants."

"We may sing and dance and eat and drink together, like any other holiday celebration," says Rose.

Jason Myers, priest at the Cabot Kent Hermetic Temple in Salem, Mass., makes a pilgrimage to his hometown of Salem to attend a witches' costume ball that's been held annually since 1970. There, Myers says he, "dresses in ceremonial garb intended to attract the powers and correspondences we want more of in the coming year."

Such gatherings, "prepare the body, mind and spirit for the winter months ahead, says Ember Livingston Emmons, adding that, "energy is amplified when it's shared." Beth Wade says on Halloween, "we wear our finest witch hats and cast our circle, which creates a safe and sacred space."

"Then we'll call in any elements and energies that will be the most right and most good for our ritual workings," she adds.

"In taking the time to honor the dead, you realize how precious life is around you," says Seekraft. "Halloween is also a time to honor those you are with, and a big party is perfect for celebrating those who mean the most to you."

They carve pumpkins

Some witches carve pumpkins with magically-charged symbols and sigils. "The sweet and nourishing magic of the pumpkin with a flame inside really holds and projects these symbols in a powerful way," spell book author Ariel Kusby says. "Whatever symbol you carve into a pumpkin can actually be a magic spell if you do it with intention."

If there is something she'd like to manifest in her own life, Kusby says she thinks of a symbol to represent that intention and carves it into her pumpkin.

They trick-or-treat

Some witches like to trick-or-treat. "I hand out candy. I'm known for giving out the big candy bars," says Ritchie. McSherry hands out specific types of treats, "I always choose candy that has a well-meaning name, mini 100 Grand bars are perfect for offering a bit of positive money luck, or Snickers to set the intention for more laughter," she says.

"My daughter and I stop by [our] altar on our way out the door to trick-or-treat," Norman tells Yahoo Life. The pair make this stop to show off their costumes to the ancestors they summoned earlier in the night, perfectly blending old and new traditions.

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