Spirit of Samhain

The Halloween holiday is based on the Celtic festival of Samhain which means “summer’s end” and is pronounced “sah-veen” (based on Scots Gaelic). The most important Celtic festivals were Beltane (1 May) and Samhain (1 Nov), representing the two seasons forming the Celtic calendar. When Christianity was introduced into Britain, many of the pagan festivals were blended into Christian holidays, examples of others being Ostara (Easter) and Yule (Christmas), as it was believed it would make conversion easier. Thus, Samhain was renamed Hallowmas, or All Saints Day, to commemorate the souls of the dead who set out on their journey to the otherworld.

The Celtic Samhain marked the first day of winter and the time when farmers would bring in the harvest and stockpile for the coming winter months. According to tradition, Samhain was the time when the Gods were closest to the Earth and gifts would be offered in thanksgiving for the harvest. Great fires would be lit and personal possessions would be cast into it to mark new beginnings and hopes for the coming year. The bonfires provided an oasis of light from the winter darkness, keeping away cold, discomfort, and evil spirits.

In Ireland, tribal hearth-fires would be extinguished and then re-kindled from the new fire lit by the Druids. Celtic heroes would cross the sea in search of Avalon, the mystical isle said to be the home of the great apple tree and blessed with magical powers. The tradition of bobbing for apples reflects this journey.

It is important to remember Samhain has nothing to do with black magic or Satanic rituals and should simply be regarded as the Celtic New Year. There are many Christians out there who still believe Samhain is steeped in evil and I’m tired of their ignorance. A disease called Political Correctness is reaching ridiculous levels in the UK and our traditional holidays, even Christmas, are beginning to suffer. We can’t celebrate Halloween in case we offend Christians; we can’t celebrate Christmas in case we offend non-Christians. The whole thing is driving me insane!

Having said that, the Halloween we celebrate today has become very Americanised which is quite ironic when you consider the holiday was introduced into the US by the Scots and Irish. When I was a little girl, we didn’t go “trick or treating”, we went “guising”, a reference to Guy Fawkes Night which tends to merge with Halloween. We also didn’t carve faces into pumpkins because we didn’t have them, instead we used turnips.

A lot of the “evil symbolism” associated with Samhain, such as black cats, the undead and hags on broomsticks, was born from ignorance and supersition of the old pagan ways and this has been exploited throughout the centuries. There is nothing evil about Samhain and it’s time people realised that.

Happy Samhain, everyone!

Posted as part of the Cyber Cruise Halloween Event!