The Veil Is Thin (And Mercury Is Retrograde)

I felt it this morning. That particular stillness in the October air, the way the cottonwoods along the Santa Fe River have gone gold and papery, the light arriving later and leaving sooner. Samhain is close.

October 31 marks the Witch's New Year, the night when the veil between the living and the dead is considered thinnest. This year, the timing carries extra weight: Mercury Retrograde in Scorpio begins on October 24, just days before the veil drops. Protection and intuition aren't optional; they're the dress code.

What you put on your body before a ritual is not decoration. It is intention. Your outfit is a spell, and these four stones are the words: obsidian for truth, labradorite for aura shielding, garnet for bloodline, and black tourmaline for protection. Each carries a distinct energetic role. Let me walk you through them.

Obsidian: The Truth-Teller

Obsidian is not technically a crystal. It is volcanic glass, born from fire and pressure, cooled so rapidly that no crystalline structure has time to form. What you get instead is something closer to a mirror, and that is exactly how it has been used for centuries. Obsidian scrying mirrors appear throughout Mesoamerican and European divination traditions, prized for their ability to reveal what is hidden.

As a stone for Samhain, obsidian is considered one of the most powerful tools for shadow work. It is said to absorb negative energy and reflect truth back to the wearer, which is precisely what this season asks of us. When the veil thins, we are invited to look honestly at what lies beneath the surface. Obsidian holds steady while we do.

It works with the root chakra, grounding the body even while awareness reaches toward the unseen. That grounding matters. Without it, divination work can leave you feeling unmoored.

Obsidian is most powerful worn close to the body. A pendant resting at the sternum keeps it near the heart center, while a ring on the dominant hand is said to strengthen scrying sessions. For styling, raw, unpolished obsidian has a dark, volcanic texture that pairs beautifully with linen, velvet, and layered black. Grounded and quietly dramatic.

Labradorite: The Aura Shield

You know the moment. You turn a grey stone in your hand and suddenly a flash of blue-green fire rolls across its surface, gone almost before you register it. That phenomenon is called labradorescence, and Inuit legend holds that the Northern Lights were once trapped inside the stone, released when an ancient warrior struck the rock with his spear. Some of the light, the story goes, remained.

Labradorite is known as the Stone of Magic. It is strongly connected to the Third Eye and Crown Chakras, and it has long been used by shamans and healers to access deeper states of awareness while guarding against negative energies. For Samhain specifically, its role is aura shielding. When the veil thins, energetically sensitive people are more permeable. Labradorite is said to form a protective field around the aura while keeping intuition open, filtering what gets through rather than shutting you down.

Carrying a stone in your pocket is passive. Wearing it as jewelry keeps it in constant energetic contact with your skin, which is why wearable labradorite matters for ritual work. With Mercury Retrograde in Scorpio overlapping Samhain this year, the need for both psychic clarity and energetic protection is doubled.

A labradorite crescent moon necklace worn at the throat or chest, or a ring on the receptive (non-dominant) hand for tarot and spirit work, are strong choices. The Sacred Dark collection includes a Labradorite Crescent Moon Necklace and Labradorite Crescent Moon Ring, both electroformed in copper by hand here in my studio so the metal cradles the stone completely, keeping it in continuous contact with the skin.

Garnet: The Ancestral Anchor

The word garnet comes from the Latin granatum, meaning pomegranate seed. That etymology is not incidental. It threads directly to Persephone, the pomegranate, the underworld, and the myth of descent and return. Samhain's core themes, honoring death and trusting in return, are encoded in the stone's very name.

Garnet is considered a stone of blood, fire, and dedication. It is deeply connected to the root chakra, grounding the wearer into their roots, their bloodline, their body. This grounding is essential during ancestor work, which can pull awareness upward and outward, leaving you untethered if you are not anchored.

Placing garnet near ancestor photographs on a Samhain altar is said to protect the space and deepen its presence. Wearing garnet keeps that ancestral connection on your body throughout the night, not just at the altar but through every moment of the evening.

A deep red garnet ring on the left hand (the receiving hand) or a layered necklace close to the heart are both strong for ancestor rituals. And here is a styling detail I love: deep red garnet set in antique copper has an heirloom quality. It looks like something passed down through generations, which is exactly right for this night.

Black Tourmaline: The Bodyguard

Black tourmaline's energetic role is the most straightforward of the four. It is said to create a strong protective barrier around the energy field, absorb negativity, and deflect what does not belong to you. No subtlety, no mirror work. Just a wall.

For Samhain specifically, when spiritual boundaries are thin, energetically sensitive people need a physical anchor of protection. Black tourmaline worn on the body acts as a constant, wearable ward. It is the stone I reach for when I want to feel held and boundaried, especially on nights when the air feels porous.

It is worth distinguishing from obsidian: obsidian reveals, black tourmaline deflects. One is a mirror, the other is a shield. You may want both.

Raw black tourmaline has a striated, almost architectural texture that is striking in a copper cuff worn on the wrist, or a ring on the index or middle finger. It pairs naturally with labradorite (aura shield plus physical barrier) for a complete protection layer, and with garnet for grounding during deep ancestral work.

A brief note on the broader moment: major fashion publications and houses declared fall 2026 a witchy fashion moment, with dark, symbolic aesthetics appearing in collections from Rick Owens, Erdem, and Lanvin. Raw black tourmaline in electroformed copper is the opposite of fast-fashion witchcore. It is grown by hand around each stone, slowly, in a small studio. That distinction matters.

How to Layer These Stones for Samhain

Each of these four stones carries a distinct energetic role. Worn together, they do not create redundancy; they create completeness.

A simple layering framework: obsidian or labradorite at the chest or throat, where they can work with the upper energy centers for intuition and aura protection. Garnet at the hand or wrist, grounding you into ancestral connection. Black tourmaline as a cuff or ring, forming the outermost physical protection barrier.

Less is more. Two or three intentional pieces worn with awareness will always outweigh a dozen worn without thought.

Antique copper settings unify stones that might otherwise feel mismatched. The warm, aged metal reads as heirloom and earthy across obsidian, labradorite, garnet, and tourmaline alike, pulling them into a single visual language.

Dressing for Samhain with intention is its own ritual act. The choosing, the layering, the wearing. Glamour magic, some call it. I just call it paying attention.

Carry the Night With You

Before every Samhain, I stand at my bench and choose what to wear. It is a quiet moment, private, unhurried. I feel the weight of a stone ring on my finger. I clasp a pendant and let it settle against my chest. The ritual begins before the candles are lit.

Samhain asks us to face what is hidden, honor what has passed, and step forward with intention. The stones you wear are part of that practice. There is no single right way to dress for the veil. What matters is that the choice is made with awareness.

Every piece I make in my Santa Fe studio, by hand, in electroformed copper and silver since 2016, is designed for exactly this kind of wearing. Slowly made, ethically sourced, nickel-free, and meant to carry meaning. Not just worn, but chosen.