Halloween History: Samhain

Samhain (pron: sa-ween) is the winter season of the ancient Celts. The Celts divided the year into four quarters: Samhain (winter), Imbolc (spring), Beltane (summer), and Lughnasadh (autumn). The Celtic year began in November, with Samhain. The Celts were influenced principally by the lunar and stellar cycles which governed the agricultural year - beginning and ending at the end of autumn when the crops have been harvested and the soil prepared for the winter.

Banshee
Buy this from Allposters.com
In the Other World lived the immortal "Sidhe" (pronounced "shee"),
the female members of whom were called beán sidhe or banshees.

Samhain Eve, in Irish, Oidhche Shamhna, was the Druidic holiday of the new year, one of the principal festivals of the Celtic calendar, and is thought to fall on or around the 31st of October. It represents the final harvest. In modern Ireland, the name by which Halloween is known in the Irish language is still "Oíche Shamhna".

This was the most magical time of the year, when the invisible "gates" between this world and the Other World were open and movement between the two worlds was possible, with malevolent spirits from the Other World freely walking the Earth.

Bonfires played a large part in the festivities. Druids in Ireland and Britain would light bonfires and offer sacrifices of crops and animals. As they danced around the fires, the season of the sun passed and the season of darkness began.

When the morning of November 1 arrived, the Druids would give an ember from their bonfires to each family who would then take them home to start new cooking fires. These fires were believed to keep the homes warm and free from evil spirits, as it was considered a time of year when the veils were thin between worlds.

Like most Celtic festivals, Samhain was celebrated on a number of levels. Materially speaking it was the time for gathering in food for the long winter months ahead, bringing people and their livestock in to their winter quarters. To be alone and missing at this dangerous time was to expose yourself and your spirit to the perils of imminent winter. In present times the importance of this part of the festival has diminished for most people. From the point of view of a tribal people for whom a bad season meant facing a long winter of famine in which many would not survive to the spring, it was paramount.

Samhain was also a time for contemplation. Death was never very far away, yet to die was not the tragedy it is in modern times. Of signal importance to the Celtic people was to die with honour and to live in the memory of the tribe and be honoured at the great feast. In Ireland this would have been the Fleadh nan Mairbh (Feast of the Dead) which took place on Samhain Eve.

This was the most magical time of the year; Samhain was the day which did not exist. During the night the great shield of Skathach was lowered, allowing the barriers between the worlds to fade and the forces of chaos to invade the realms of order, the material world conjoining with the world of the dead. At this time the spirits of the dead and those never born walked amongst the living. The dead could return to the places where they had lived and food and entertainment were provided in their honour. In this way the tribes were at one with its past, present and future. This aspect of the festival was never totally subdued by Christianity.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Halloween" and from ShiningRise.com

halloween
Don't just search for halloween, find results.