What is Samhain? Well for one, it is one of my all time favorite holidays. Samhain, a Gaelic word meaning ‘Summer’s End,’ is pronounced Sow-en in Ireland, Sow-een in Wales, and Sav-en in Scotland. It is also known as the Third Harvest, the Final Harvest, All Hallows Eve, Halloween, Feast of the Dead, Witch’s New Year, Samana, Old Hallowmas, Shadowfest, Strega, Vigil of Saman, the Dark Mysteries, Rebirth Through Death, and All Saints Day. Celebrated from sunset on October 31st to sunset on November 1st it is halfway between the Autumn Equinox and the Winter Solstice. It is fun holiday which holds a lot of religious and spiritual history.
Samhain is one of the two “spirit nights” each year, the other being Beltain. On this day the sun and moon share equal time of day and night. Samhain is a fire festival that signals personal closure and occurs in Scorpio, a mutable water sign that has the ability to rebuild what is needed and toss what is not. The dark winter half of the year commences on this Sabbat and so many practitioners consider Samhain the beginning of the spiritual New Year.
Some modern Pagans consider it the Witch’s New Year though other traditions simply recognize Samhain as the end of the year. Samhain marked the beginning of the old Celtic New Year and is the renewal of the Wheel of the Year. It is a time of release. It is a time to rest, regenerate, and dream. This is the time for inner cleansing; letting go, justice, balance, and inner harmony. It is a time for reflection, a time for us to open up to our inner self and to honor the teachings and traditions of our ancestors. This is the time to focus your intentions on what you would like to accomplish in the upcoming witch year. Review past goals and set new ones. In ancient Celtic belief there are two distinct seasons, one of Light and one of Dark. As we enter into the dark season, we are reminded by the turning leaves and the dying sun of our own intrinsic mortality.
Originally the Feast of the Dead was celebrated in Celtic countries by leaving food offerings on altars and doorsteps for the wandering dead. It is also the harvest of death when farmers would slaughter cattle and preserve the meat to last through the winter months. Communicating with ancestors and departed loved ones is easy at this time, for they journey through this world on their way to the Summerlands. It is a time to study the Dark Mysteries and honor the Dark Mother and the Dark Father, symbolized by the Crone and her aged Consort. It is a time for ending but also a time for new beginnings.
The Ancient Celts used to call the time of the longest night of the year. They believed that there was misty veil that separated the world of the dead and the living, a veil between life and death, but on two nights of the year – Samhain and Beltain (the shortest night) that the veil would thin and on this night the Spirit World takes flight; family, friends, and foes, pets, wildlife, fishes, and crows. The veil grows thin as the nights grow cold. The fineness of the veil meant the ancestors were closer than ever and even the gods would be close. Those who have died can pass through and this would mean that communications from the dead is more likely to occur and that divination would be more effective. Any crops that were still in the field on Samhain were considered taboo, and left as offerings to the nature spirits.
Differences between Samhain and Dios de los Muertos
Differences between Samhain and the Day of the Dead are many. Samhain is an old Western tradition for the time of the year to store food and supplies for the cold months ahead. Dios de los Muertos was the Aztec festival dedicated to the goddess Mictecacihuatl, the Lady of the Dead. Samhain celebrates the end of summer and the coming of winter while Dios celebrates the life and death of ancestors, friends, and family. While Samhain wards off harmful spirits by wearing frightening costumes and masks, Dios encourages visits from spirits of those who have died and celebrates their memory. Common symbols are jack-o-lanterns for Samhain and a skull for Dios. When one thinks of Samhain, many think of images of evil, the occult, magic, and monsters while Dios has images of cheerfully decorated grave sites and home altars with flowers and traditional food. Samhain coincides with the Christian All Saint’s Day on November 1st while Dios coincides with the Catholic All Soul’s Day on November 2nd.
As Christianity moved through Europe it collided with indigenous pagan cultures and confronted established customs. Pagan holidays and festivals were so entrenched that new converts found them to be a stumbling block to their faith. To deal with the problem, the organized church would commonly move a distinctively Christian holiday to a spot on the calendar that would directly challenge a pagan holiday. Pope Gregory IV reacted to the pagan challenge by moving the celebration of All Saints Day in the ninth century—he set the date at November 1, right in the middle of Samhain. Unable to repress the people’s strong allegiance to the dark energies of Samhain, the Christian Church renamed the festival of Samhain to become All Saints Day (1 November) to honor all saints, known and unknown. In later times, the day following Samhain also became known as All Souls or All Hallows when people would pray for the dead. The intent was to counter pagan influences and provide a Christian alternative. But most often the church only succeeded in “Christianizing” a pagan ritual—the ritual was still pagan, but mixed with Christian symbolism.
Despite horror movies depicting witches flying across a full moon, there will not be one observed on Samhain until 2020. The last one was on 2001 and before that in 1955.
For me, I am a huge fan of this holiday. I adore it. It is a lot of fun despite the stigma and reputation that follows it. I have so many decorations and random items around my home that I leave up year around. And not just on my altar! There is nothing evil about this holiday although many scary movies as well as the very early Christian church (9th century onwards) portray the night as devilish. Sadly, there are some religions that ban celebrating Halloween altogether, and some people who have sincerely held beliefs against it.
Halloween is now a pretty secular holiday.
A few religions that don’t celebrate Halloween:
- Jehovah’s Witnesses: They don’t celebrate any holidays or even birthdays.
- Some Christians: Some believe the holiday is associated with Satanism or Paganism and thus, are against celebrating it.
- Orthodox Jews: They don’t celebrate Halloween due to its origins as a Christian holiday. Other Jews may or may not celebrate.
- Muslims: Many Muslims don’t celebrate Halloween, again due to its origins in other religions.
I’m sure there are others. So enjoy it! Have fun! There are tons of activities you can do during this time, both leading up to it as well as on the day of. Celebrate it as an excuse to dress up and get candy, as a time to laugh with and honor ancestors, an inspiration to go apple picking, or even as the harvest bonfire festival at a time to communicate with the dead that it was intended to be! I plan to!
What are your thoughts on the holiday? Are you going to do anything fun?
From our altar to yours, with love from the sea,
Have you ever heard of “Devil’s Night”, also known as “Mischief Night” and it’s history? I know some people know it by the fact that people go out and cause mayhem and destruction, to include burning down building in places like Detroit, but do you know how that ties into the history of Samhain/Halloween?