Samhain

Samhain (Properly pronounced "Sow-een," or "Sah-veen) is one of the eight holy days of power, or Sabbats, within the Pagan faith.

Samhain; sometimes called November Eve, is a time used to reflect back on the year that has just passed.

One phenomenon of life that we have no control over; death, is focused upon, accepted and time is taken to come to terms with our losses.

While to the outsider this religious holiday or Sabbat may sound dark and a bit scary, it is truly the exact opposite! Instead, Samhain is a heartfelt and loving day set aside to honor, remember and reflect upon those who have gone before us.

For many Pagan and Wiccan practitioners Samhain marks the beginning of a new seasonal cycle. When the harvest ends, death grips the land in preparation for the long winter months ahead. Samhain is a time for self-reflection and life changes.BBC: Religion & Ethics: Samhain It is also common practice to honor the dead on this night with a feast.Witchvox: A Brief History of Hallowe'en

Samhain (Properly pronounced "Sow-een," or "Sah-veen) is one of the eight holy days of power, or Sabbats, within the Pagan faith.

Samhain; sometimes called November Eve, is a time used to reflect back on the year that has just passed.

One phenomenon of life that we have no control over; death, is focused upon, accepted and time is taken to come to terms with our losses.

While to the outsider this religious holiday or Sabbat may sound dark and a bit scary, it is truly the exact opposite! Instead, Samhain is a heartfelt and loving day set aside to honor, remember and reflect upon those who have gone before us.

Over 2,000 years ago Ireland and Northern France were inhabited by the Celts. On November 1st, the Celts celebrated their new year. Marking an end to the summer and its bountiful harvest and beginning the season of winter. Winter; cold and dark, was associated with death in all forms; especially human deaths. And rightly so, in a time when modern convenience was not yet enjoyed hard winters brought with it death to many in various ways – freezing, starvation and illness.

The night before the Celtic New Year, October 31st, it was believed that the usually clear boundaries that separated the dead and the living were then blurred; bringing the two worlds together for one night. On this night, the ghosts or spirits of the dead were able to return to earth. These wandering spirits sought revenge by destroying crops and causing havoc among the living. Because of this, the Celts protected themselves by wearing costumes that typically consisted of animal heads, animal skins and other various materials. The idea was to blend in with the dangerous ghosts and go undetected until the dawn of November 1st. One benefit of the trouble-causing spirits was that their unearthly presence made it much easier for the Celtic priests; also known as Druids, to predict the future. These predictions brought a great deal of comfort to the Celtic people and gave them hope to look to during their dark, cold, harsh winter.

Druids honored this special day by creating massive bonfires of commemoration. Adorned in full costume, the Celtics extinguished their household fireplaces and went off to join together with the Druid priests to offer animals and crops as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. Attempts at fortune-telling finished off the night’s celebration. As the celebration ended, each family lit a torch and headed back to their individual hearths at home. Using the torch that was lit from the sacred bonfire, they re-ignited their hearths in their homes as a blessing. The sacrifices given would hopefully have pleased their Gods enough that their fires would burn warm enough to allow the Celts to survive the oncoming winter.

In most societies, this holiday became known as Halloween. To Pagans today and those in the past, it was called Samhain.

All major Celtic areas were conquered by the Roman by the year 43 A.D. As four hundred more years went by, the Celtic territories were under complete Roman rule. This brought a combining of traditions between the Romans and Celtics.

Two Roman festivals; Feralia and the festival that honored the Roman Goddess of fruit and trees, Pomona became intertwined with the traditional Celtic Samhain. The Roman festival of Feralia was a day celebrated towards the end of October as a memorial to commemorate the passing of the dead. Pomona, the Roman Goddess of fruit and trees, is symbolized by the apple. The addition of Pomona to the Samhain celebration brought on the tradition still celebrated during Halloween festivities of bobbing for apples.

Christian influence spread into the Celtic lands by the 800s and in the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV declared November 1st as All Saints’ Day. This day was meant to honor all Christian saints and martyrs. While it is not a proven fact, the majority of expert historians believe the creation of All Saints’ Day was an attempt to rid the area of Celtic or Pagan based celebrations, traditions and holidays by replacing them with similar, but church-sanctioned holidays.

The celebration named All Saints’ Day was also called All Hallowmas. This term came from the Middle English Alholowmesse; meaning All Saints’ Day. The night before; Samhain, began being called All Hallows’ Eve; which later became called Halloween.

In 1000 A.D, the Christian church created yet another similar holiday that they called All Souls’ Day. Celebrated on November 2nd, All Souls’ Day, was a day to honor the dead. The celebration quite literally mirrored the original Samhain festivities and included large bonfires, parades and patrons dressing in costumes that resembled devils, angels and saints. The trilogy of new celebrations that very closely resembled the original Samhain went on to be called Hallowmas.