The History of Samhain
Samhain, the pagan holiday that predates Halloween, comes from the Gaelic word for summer’s end. Which is exactly what the holiday honors. Samhain occurs on October 31st into November 1st. It’s many things, including a harvest festival that honors the changing of the seasons.
Listen to episode 49 of the Lunatics Radio Hour podcast for more on the history of Samhain and All Hallows Eve.
The Celtic day began and ended at sunset. Similar to the Celtic year, which started and began with Samhain. The idea of starting in darkness, progressing to light and ending in darkness again. A cycle.
There are four major Celtic Pagan holidays, but in ancient times Samhain was seen as the most important. Early historical documentation shows that Samhain used to be a mandatory celebration that lasted for three days and three nights. Those who did not participate were believed to face punishment from the gods. In some cases, even by death.
During this time, hearth fires were left to burn out in homes while the harvest was gathered. After the work was done, the community would join together to celebrate. Led by Druid priests, they would light bonfires using a special wheel that would ignite sparks from friction. Livestock, and sometimes humans, were also sacrificed.
At the end of the night families would take torches lit from the communal bonfires back home to relight their hearths. Historically, the celebration also included excessive drinking of beer and mead, and wonderful feasts.
Samhain celebrations from the Middle Ages introduced carved turnips called Jack-O-Lanterns. These early versions would be attached to sticks and inserted with coal. Later versions of this in Ireland swapped out the turnip for a pumpkin. Different rituals popped up across different regions. For example men in Wales used to throw burning pieces of wood at each other. In Ireland “mumming” was when folks would get dressed up in costumes and go around singing songs to the dead. This has evolved into what we now call trick or treating.
This festival honors the close of Harvest Season and the start of Winter. Samhain has roots in many similar harvest festivals across other cultures as well. In the earliest traditions, Samhain was centered around the importance of preserving meat for the winter months to come. On the eve of Samhain, the first of the herd was slaughtered, cooked, and served to the community. The rest of the herd would follow, but their meat would be cured and stored for the coming months. It was believed that this large-scale slaughter contributed to the thinning of the veil between this world and the after world.
It was believed that the barriers between the physical or living world and the spirit world break down during Samhain. This allowed for more interaction between humans and beings from the otherworld. A Dump Supper was when an ancestor was invited to join a meal. During Samhain kids also play games with the spirits. The Celts would leave offerings outside villages for fairies.
Some believed that ancestors would also cross over to visit living family members. The Celts would also dress up as animals, they believed this would stop fairies or monsters from kidnapping them against their will.
Samhain Spirits
Let’s talk about some of the mythological beings that were thought to come out around Samhain, the pagan holiday that predates Halloween. Samhain occurs on October 31st into November 1st. It’s many things, including a harvest festival that honors the changing of the seasons.
According to legend, Púca was a shapeshifter who can adopt both delightful or terrifying forms. As an animal, a Púca commonly appeared as a raven, fox, goat, wolf or horse. No matter what, the Púca’s fur is always dark. Regardless of the animal it’s impersonating.
A Kelpie is a horse that attracts a rider in order to drown it under the water while the person is stuck to its back. In a similar way, a Púca will also try and entice you onto its back and give you a wild ride, but unlike a Kelpie, the Púca won’t hurt you too much. Púca is one of the lucky Fae who receives harvest offerings on Samhain.
The Lady Gwyn was believed to be a headless woman who dresses in white. She was thought to chases night wanderers around with her sidekick, a black pig.
The Dullahan was thought of as a headless horseman and a herald of death. It was a very bad omen to see The Dullahan. When The Dullahan stops riding, a mortal’s death is coming soon. It was believed that they would declare the next victim by stopping their horse outside the house of the one about to die and calling their name.
Stingy Jack has roots in the origin of the Jack-O-lantern. Jack was a devious man who made a deal with the devil to avoid ever being taken to hell. He lived as he pleased, and when he died he went to heaven's gate where he was swiftly turned away. He wandered down to hell and, keeping true to his word, the devil refused him. The devil threw him an ember from the flames of hell to “mark his status as a denizen of the netherworld.” He put the ember in a hollowed out turnip to illuminate his path, and he is doomed to wander between worlds forever. People started putting candles in their own carved out turnips (eventually pumpkins) to scare away Jack and wayward spirits like him.
Comentários