
Samhain [pronounced SOW-wen] is an ancient Celtic celebration marking the death of the warmer half of the year and beginning the next cycle in the Wheel of the Year. The year turns between sunset October 31 and sunset November 1. The specific dates are somewhat arbitrary. Suffice to say, Samhain marks the year’s turning from old to new. It is a time when the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead is thin. A time to take precautions against evil spirits who may damage crops, frighten people, harm or hide livestock, and/or haunt homes.

Bonfires, or Fire Festivals, were and still are an important element of the celebrations. In days past, people set huge fires on top of hills where they burned crops and animals as sacrifices to Celtic gods. Participants wore costumes, usually animal heads and skins, as a precaution against evil spirits.
When the bonfires died down, people took embers to relight their hearth fires at home as protection from the coming winter.

The oldest stories of Samhain come from Irish tradition. During Samhain, burial mounds opened as portals to the “Otherworld,” which made human contact with fairies more likely. The souls of deceased family members went to their former homes where living family members set a place at the table for them. Celebrations also featured mumming and guising during which children and the poor went door-to-door reciting verses in exchange for soul cakes.

Soul Cakes were small, round cakes made with sweet spices, such as allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and raisins or currents. A cross marked the top the cake. The cakes, called “souls,” honored the dead and might be left as offerings with a glass of wine, or exchanged for prayers in a custom called “soiling.”
Rituals also included rounding up cattle for the winter and culling them to determine which livestock would be kept for the winter and which would be slaughtered so their meat might be preserved. Feasts were a way to consume perishable items before winter set in.

Traditional celebratory foods included:
Colcannon, a hearty dish of mashed potatoes with kale or cabbage. Charms were hidden in the food, and could predict the future of persons who discovered them.
Barmbrack, a fruity Irish soda bread. Any given slice might contain a charm to predict the diner’s future.

Apples symbolized immortality and Cider celebrated the final harvest.
Beef Stew with late harvest vegetables and meat from the recently slaughtered cattle was another traditional choice
About A.D 1000, the Church proclaimed November 2 to be All Souls’ Day as a replacement for Samhain celebrations. All Souls’ Day celebrations also included bonfires and costumes which no longer resembled animals but morphed into images of saints, angels, and devils.
November 1 became All Saints’ Day, also called All-hallows. The night before All Saints’ Day became All Hallows Eve, now called Halloween.
Halloween colors continue in the Celtic tradition: black for the death of summer, and orange for the autumn harvest season.
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Illustrations & A Few Sources
Neopagan Celebrates Samhain, Unknown Author; Wheel of the Year; Soul Cakes by Malikhpur; My Harvest Home by John Glover, 1835; Barmbrack; Snap Apple Night by Daniel Maclise, 1833. Luna Crowwing. “Everything You Need To Know About Samhain.” Busy Pagan. April 28, 2024. Ronald L. Dart. “Halloween, Ghosts & Spirits.” Born to Win. October 19,1996.