Samhain in a Week: A History of Samhain

Welcome to TCC’s [Insert Pagan Holiday] in a Week series! It’s been a while since I’ve done this, so I kind of feel like I’m throwing y’all into it, but hey, that’s one way to get a party going, isn’t it! Samhain is in less than a week, and I’ve got much to share with you before the Witches’ New Year: Lots of folklore, history, correspondences, and ritual. Since it’s also Matt’s and my first wedding anniversary this year, I’m sure there will be a super-sappy post the day of, too.

Anyway, so there’s your intro, and here’s your history!

Long before our traditional Halloween, rife with costumes and candy and fears about apples with razor blades in them (seriously, what is this world coming to), there was a time-honored holiday called Samhain. Pronounced “sow-en” or “sow-ween”, Samhain is a Celtic or Old Irish festival that honors the dead and marks the end of the harvest.

Bonfires play a large part in Samhain celebrations, where one central fire was used to light the homes of other villagers in the area, and people and livestock would walk between the bonfires as a ritual for purification. They were also used to cast the bones of cattle, which were slaughtered to feed people through the winter, upon the flames.

In an attempt to placate or even copy the evil spirits that may have roamed around on this night and those surrounding Samhain, many cultures wore costumes, masks, veils, and other disguises. Guisers, or people in disguise, would go door to door in these costumes and carrying turnips carved out with faces and lit inside with a candle, offering entertainment in return for food or coins. Sound familiar? During the mass immigration of the Irish and Scottish, they brought over such customs that would turn into the Halloween we celebrate today.

Pope Gregory III’s papacy is credited with the implementation of the feast of All Saints on 1 November, though there is testimony that says 1 November was already associated with Great Britain as early as the 8th century. Further, the Roman Catholic festival of All Saints is believed to have been introduced in the 7th century, though it was celebrated on 13 May between the 7th and 8th centuries.

Why am I mentioning the feast of All Saints in a history of Samhain, though? When Louis the Pious formally installed this feast on 1 November, and when it started to become a point of celebration for all other early Christian groups, the belief is that it was moved from its original date on 13 May (or on 20 April by the early medieval church in Ireland) to 1 November to directly correlate with Samhain, therefore transforming the practice of honoring the dead as a Pagan practice to a Christian one that honors saints that have died and have no specific date of celebration. They would even dress in angel and other costumes to help guide the spirits to heaven.

As one would imagine, the act of appropriating certain days of worship and certain customs was a very powerful conversion tool throughout the centuries! Easter/Ostara is another great example of how Pagan holidays and observances were extricated to create a Christian one, in an attempt to convert.

Neopagans today celebrate Samhain in many forms, from elaborate rituals to honor the dead to celebrating in a manner as close to the old Celtic ways described above and elsewhere as possible.

Celtic Reconstructionist Pagans typically celebrate Samhain either on the date on the first frost or when the last of the harvest is in and the ground is dry enough for a bonfire. Historical accuracy is of utmost importance for Samhain, much like other holidays, and the celebrations are as close to accurate as possible. As they believe the veil between the world is at its thinnest and spirits pass freely between the worlds, ancestors and those who have passed are especially honored and are celebrated with food, song, poetry, and dance. Many leave a candle in the window to guide spirits along their ways as they traipse through this world, and divination is incredibly common.

As one of the highest of the four greater Sabbats and commonly referred to as the Witches’ New Year, Samhain is celebrated in highest regard by Wiccans at sundown on 31 October. Rituals and celebrations involve paying respects to ancestors, family members, spiritual elders, friends, pets, and other loved ones who have died. Spirits of the departed are sometimes invited to attend the festivities.

And of course, there are current, non-religious and non-spiritual traditions! From costumes to candy to children running around making general mischief, it’s interesting to see how a holiday that many regard as “evil” and “from the devil” actually comes from a place of honor, worship, and yes… even a bit of revelry.

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