Samhain

Basics

Samhain is the Celtic festival that is considered the precursor to Halloween. It takes place from the evening of October 31 to the evening of November 1, although some scholars say it is a 3-day festival.

It is considered to be the one of the most important festivals of the year and it signifies the start of the Celtic New Year. The word "Samhain" translates to "summer's end" and is a return to the darkness of winter. Each Celtic nation has its own name for the festival and practices surrounding the festival, but they all refer to, and celebrate, the same festival.

• Brittany (Kalan Goan͂v)
• Cornwall (Kalan Gwav)
• Wales (Calan Gaeaf)
• Ireland/Scotland (Samhain)
• Isle of Mann (Sauin)

The last of the harvest is gathered around this time and it is considered a social holiday, much like Thanksgiving is in the United States. Several heroic deeds were accomplished by great warriors on the eve of Samhain. Unfortunately, not much is known for sure about ancient practices surrounding Samhain are known since 

History

Derry hosts Europe’s biggest Halloween celebration. It consists of a week-long festival that features fireworks, ghost tours, night markets, and the Carnival of Lost Souls parade. Samhain was absorbed into a three-day Catholic holiday celebrating ancestors and saints The Hill of Tara is 4,500 to 5000 years old, signifying the Samhain was celebrated long before the first Celts arrived in Ireland about 2,500 years ago. Traditions brought to the United  States, primarily from the Scottish and the Irish who were fleeing the Great Famine.

Rathcroghan

Rathcroghan is considered to be the birthplace of Samhain. It boasts 240 archaeological sites, dating back 5,500 years. There is a hive of activity focused on its elevated temple. Scholars believe that it ay be Europe's largest unexcavated royal complex. It predates Ireland's written history. Rathcrghan is one of Ireland's less frequented attractions, drawing some 22,000 visitors a year compared with more than a million at the Cliffs of Moher. It is said that Rathcroghan has burial mounds for the Connachta elite.

Tlachtga

Tlachtga is also known as the Hill of Ward and is the home of Samhain celebrations. This site is named after a goddess of the same name, who had triplets at this site at Samhain and died. It is located 10 miles southwest of Teltown and 12 miles west of Tara. Tlachtga is surrounded by 16 ringforts and was the main center of the Druids. Scholars say that the site is at least 3000 years old. Due to activity locals at Samhain, locals would avoid the hill on Halloween.  

Hill of Tara

The Hill of Tara is Ireland’s most famous ancient site. Records date the Hill of Tara back to 2500 BCE. Ths site was once the seat of the High King of Ireland and was the most important cultural center of Ireland. 1168 CE is the last recorded celebration of Samhain

Beliefs

The Celts had several beliefs surrounding Samhain. They believe that the spirits of those who had died during the previous twelve months were granted access into the Otherworld. People would put a thimble-full of salt on each plate. If the salt fell, the person would die within the next year.Samhain is one of two days where the veil between the living and the Otherworld was at its thinnest. Faeries are believed to be unconverted souls that were forced to roam the earthly plain.

Bog bodies may be the remains of failed kings. The darkness of winter is associated with death. Spirits destroyed crops before they were harvested. It was considered bad luck to allow a fire to go out on All Hallows' Eve.

Ireland

In Ireland, Samhain/Halloween is also known as Nut Crack Night. This refers to the divination practice where two nuts are placed near a fire and their reaction to each other is said to determine the future of a relationship that is "named." If the nuts break and jump apart, the relationship is doomed to fail. However, if the nuts remain close and in-tact, the relationship will be successful.

In Ireland, Samhain is a harvest festival, even more so than in United States. Many of the practices are similar to Thanksgiving in the US, particularly those relating to family meals and gatherings. Pranking is done throughout the season. Halloween rhyming is also a common practice, which is where young people go door to door before Halloween, performing a song or a poem to receive nuts, apples, or money to be used for fireworks.

Scotland

In Scotland, "Guising" is a common practice around Samahain. It was started in the 1500s and is also known as Galoshin. False Faces is a practice where young men wore masks and walked through the streets of the village. They carried turnip lanterns to light their way and sang and gave performances as they went. They asked people to "Please help the guisers" and in return, they were given apples, nuts, coins, and money.  People lit peat torches to burn any witches, and it was said that witches and ghosts feared fire. Halloween is associated with fun and revelry at the fireside. 

As with other Celtic nations, ceremonies were held for divination practices where people would seek answers about what the future held. Three Luggies was a divination practiced where one bowl was filled with clean water, one was filled with dirty water, and one was empty. The player is blindfolded and is told to dip their fingers in a bowl. If they dipped their hand in the bowl of clean water, the player is destined to be married. If they dipped their hands in the dirty water, the player would be a widow or a widower. The player would never marry if they dipped their hands in the empty bowl. 

“Forkin' fur aiples" is another common divination practice. Children each stand on a chair while holding a fork, which is between their teeth and is pointed down toward a barrel of apples. The forks are released and if the fork skewers an apple, the child gets to keep the apple.

Wales

In Wales, it is believed that ghosts of the dead appear at midnight on All Hallows' Eve. Young people would go to the churchyard, where ghosts are said to be. They put a finger over the church keyhole to keep spirits out. It is said that if they look through the keyhole, they will see the ghosts of those who will die soon. Young people wore clothes of the opposite gender and went from house to house singing verses and riddles. Men dressed as gwrachod (hags) by wearing masks, sheepskins, and ragged clothes. They frightened children and were rude to adults, so this practice was stopped by the police. 

Bonfires were lit on hills to see whose bonfire would burn the longest. People roasted potatoes and apples over the fire. They also danced and jumped over the fire and ran from the "black sow," which would capture the slowest runner.

Apples were popular for Samhain in Wales and Scotland. In the Swansea area of Wales, people celebrated Apple and Candle Night on Samhain. A stick was hung from the ceiling. There was an apple on one end of the stick and a candle on the other. The goal is to capture the apple in your teeth.

Isle of Mann

Since the early1900s, Thump-the-Door Night was celebrated. On this night, boys would throw cabbages or turnips at doors until the homeowner gave them money or a treat. The Mummers Play was also a common celebration, where there is a re-enactment of pagan beliefs. Mummers go door-to-door, singing.

Brittany

In Brittany, people avoid going out to stay away from the spirits and paranormal activity. Specifically, people needed to stay away from Lavandiere De La Nuit (washerwoman washing your shroud) and  L’Ankou (the black dog), as these figures were seen as dangerous. 

Horses were seen as carriers of death. If a horse was left out on the evening of October 31, death would travel through them. If they were tired and sweaty the next morning, they were given the day to rest as they were used by death the night before.

Mummers would go door to door, singing songs. It was custom to give these mummers money and those who didn't would have bad luck throughout the year. White linen, buttermilk, and pancakes were left on table for the dead. Those who lived on the coast were advised to not go out on the evening of Samhain as they would hear the voices of those who died at sea.

People would remove the tripod from the fire so the dead aren't burned. They would walk in the middle of the road to avoid crushing the souls of the dead. People often went to the cemetery to talk to dead loved ones. People would avoid talking about Ankou, which is the spirit of death. It was custom to avoid having things done late so these things wouldn't be an issue in the new year.

Food

For the main meal, a roast fowl or other meat is featured. Ireland is known for Barmbrack bread for Samhain, where trinkets are baked inside to tell the future. Colcannon is a dish made of potatoes and cabbage or kale. Champ is mashed potatoes with leeks or onions and melted butter. Boxty is potato pancakes. Mashed turnips are also popular.

For dessert or a sweet treat, many people have fadge, which is sliced apples with a potato cake and sprinkled with butter and sugar. Pumpkin pies are popular. Soul cakes are similar to scones and are often given as a treat to those going from house to house.

Customs

Dumb Dinner is a custom where families leave food or a place at the table for returning loved ones who died. Leaving nothing might anger them, and whoever eats the food left for them is barred from Samhain celebrations, both in this life and the afterlife. Food was also left out for faeries.

Disguises and costumes have their roots in Samhain customs. Originally, Jack-O-Lanterns were carved turnips with scary faces and a light inside. People would sing songs for the dead.  Bonfires were common. Hearth fires were extinguished at Samhain and relit with fire from the community bonfire.

 As mentioned before, divination games were played to seek information about marriage and death. One practice was to peel an apple in one long "strip" and drop it on the floor. The letter it forms when it lands is the initial of a future love. “Pulling the kail" was a divination practice done with kale or cabbage. Players were blindfolded and taken into the kailyard or garden. They pulled up the first stalk of kale or cabbage they came across, and various properties told the player about their future spouse. The amount of earth that was on the kale or cabbage was an indicator of the future mate's fortune or dowry. The taste of the core alluded to the future love's temper. If the head of cabbage was closed and white, the girl would marry an old man, and if the head was green, the girl would marry a young man.

Samhain celebrations were gendered. Girls were more likely to participate in divination practices, especially those pertaining to their future love life. Boys were more into the fires, firecrackers, and pranking practices.

 

Crop and animal sacrifices were burned for Celtic deities.  In the 1400s, ''souling'' had become a common practice on the holiday. People would go door to door, praying for dead relatives of that household in exchange for soul cakes. People said effigies of what they wanted to banish in the coming year.

Families would leave notes for ancestors to find.They would have a silent dinner so that they may hear their lost loved one speaking to them, or they would tell stories of the lost loved one or talk about their own lives so that the dead may hear and know they are doing okay.

Windows were lit with candles to guide ancestors to the family home. At one point, there was human sacrifice at Samhain, but those practices are no longer in use. The festival was filled with games, racing, and dancing. Like today, people like visiting, and even spending the night at, haunted places.

Jack-O-Lanterns

Jack-O-Lanterns were originally made out of turnips. In Ireland,  locals used to light up their carved turnips and roam the streets to chase off evil spirits

Costumes

Costumes were originally made from animal skin. Many people dressed up as ghosts because food was left for spirits/ghosts and people wanted food, too! It is also said that people dressed up as ghosts because spirits would mistake those in costume for other ghosts and leave them alone. Today, children and adults dress as ghosts (called ghoulies or kelpies in Scotland), witches, vampires, and skeletons

Trick or Treat

Poor children practiced an early form of trick-or-treating. They would go door to door and sing or dance in order to receive food. They would also perform plays or ask for soul cakes.

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