The Ancient Celt Celebration of Samhain

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The Irish word, ‘samhain’ or Gaelic ‘samhuinn’, comes from the Old Irish ‘samain’, which means ‘summer’s end’ – ‘sam’ meaning ‘summer’ and ‘fuin’ meaning ‘end’.

Samhain dates back to the ancient Celts who believed that summer ended on October 31st, which heralded the close of harvest. The 1st of November, which marked the start of winter, was their New Year.

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On October 31st during the day, the fires in each home would be extinguished before the celebrations began at sunset.

The lighting of a giant bonfire heralded the start of the formal ceremonies, and the people would gather around the fire. Crops and animals were burnt as sacrifices to their deities, and the villagers would dance around the sacred bonfire.

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The Celts believed that at this time the veil between the world of the living and the dead was at its thinnest. They wore costumes to honour the dead who were allowed to rise and be free from the land of the dead on this night.

However, not all souls were honoured. There were ones who were feared would return to make grim mischief. The costumes were also a way of hiding from these spiteful spirits.

It was also believed it was easier to communicate with the dead at this time, to invite them to attend the sabbat. But they were never commanded to be present. Instead, it was hoped they would voluntarily choose to communicate with their kin.

At the end of the celebration, each family would take a still-burning ember from the bonfire before returning home. There, the extinguished fires would be lit with the flame of the sacred bonfire. It was believed this would help protect the home and those who dwelt within during the coming winter.

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The fire would be kept burning continuously throughout each day and night for the next few months. For if a home lost its fire at this time, tragedy would surely follow.

After lighting the hearth fire, each family in the village would place food and drink outside their home to appease any roaming spirits and stop them possibly playing tricks on the family.

The gradual evolving of Samhain into Halloween began with the early Church’s attempts to replace ancient Celtic festivals with church-sanctioned ones.

In 837 AD, Pope Gregory IV ordered the general observance of ‘All Saints Day’ on November 1st to honour saints and martyrs, following on from one of his predecessors, Pope Gregory III (731-741), who had dedicated a chapel in St. Peter’s, Rome on that day in honour of all saints.

October 31st was designated as ‘All Hallows Eve’ with November 2nd decreed as ‘All Souls’ Day’, a day to honour the dead. The period from October 31st to November 2nd is also known as ‘Allhallowtide’ or ‘Hallowmas’.

‘All Saints Day’ - William Adolphe Bouguereau (1859)

The colours associated with Halloween are the colours of Samhain.

Black represents the darkness that follows the death of the Sun God, part of the early August celebrations of the sabbat, Lughnasadh, and the gradual diminishing of daylight.

Orange symbolises the dawn that will come with Yule. During this time, the goddess, at her highest power as the Crone is also pregnant with the god who will be reborn during Yule.

And with his birth, the cycle of life begins anew as we move towards spring.