Southern Hemisphere – April 30th
Northern Hemisphere – October
31st
This is the big
one!
The first day of the Celtic New Year.
Samhain (pronounced; Sow-win) is also known as All
Hallows Eve, Halloween, and Festival of the Death just to name a few.
Samhain is regarded as a major Sabbath. Samhain is the time when the God
returns to the Underworld until he is reborn at Yule. It is not quite winter but the days are
getting shorter and cooler, since Mabon (Autumn Equinox). Most of the leaves have
changed colour and have fallen from the trees. This was the time that our Ancestors would finish any
harvests left and store their food for the winter months. Samhain
is also the time of the Crone, the
keeper of the secrets and wisdom of life and death. During now and Yule the Goddess returns
to the Underworld with the God returning the earth to Winter.
Samhain is also the time we remember and honour our
loved ones that have passed over. This is the time when the veils between
the worlds are at their thinnest. It is said that the veil is made thin as the God crosses over
to the Underworld. This is the when our ancestors would invite loved ones to
cross over and join in the celebrations.
It was also believed that this was the time to reaffirm karmic
ties with loved ones you wish to join in the next life. The Celts have a beautiful belief of an
Anam-cara, which basically means soul friend. It is believed that we each have one true love that in each
life we seek out the spirit of our Anam-cara.
It is not certain exactly where the name Samhain
originated from; it has been traced back to a couple of possibilities. One of these comes from the Celtic
Tradition. There is an Irish
Gaelic word Samhridreadh that means Summers end. Samhain was celebrated by the Celts as
the end of summer and the following day was the beginning of winter. This was because in the UK the sun was
at its lowest point on the horizon.
Many sacred stones still mark the journey of
the sun scattered across the UK.
This is when the Celts celebrated their New Year, unlike many other
cultures that celebrate it at Yule.
Many of the myths associated with
Samhain have the similar theme, that is the time when the Sun/God dies and
returns to the Underworld. The
Goddess who is in her Crone phase mourns his passing by traveling to the
Underworld with him.
The Goddess in her Crone form is the
image taken and distorted into the evil witch in the fairy tales told to our children for many
generations to help further help in the effort to abolish the Old
Religion. It is sad that the once
revered Crone Goddess has been turned into such an ugly and feared image for
many. This image has been carried
over to the modern celebration of Halloween.
Our ancestors
used to cherish the Crones of their community for they were women of great
knowledge and wisdom accumulated through her many great years from the Crones
before her. The Crone was well
practiced at many of the skills needed for the community's survival. Her knowledge of herbs used for healing
and the precious gift of delivering the children to continue the next
generation were just some of the wonderful roles the Crone played in the Old
World.
Unfortunately, because of these gifts the Crone
possessed led to the persecution of many of our ancestors by the patriarchal
crusades of the Church. Samhain
was such an important time for our ancestors the church found it hard to wipe
out the celebrations of the Sabbath.
One of the ways the church tried to convert the "pagans"
(originally pagan meant town folk rather than the corrupted definition of devil
worshiper) was to re-name the Old Religions Sabbaths in the hope that
the people would begin worshiping their God and Saints of these days rather
than the old deities. The Church
first called Samhain, Michaelmas, the feast of Saint Michael. Although the ancient traditions of
Samhain were so sacred to the people one Saint was not enough to convert the
masses. So, the Church re-named it
again calling Eve of All Saints or All Hallows Eve, the day before one of the
churches most popular days, All Saints Day. Despite the churches efforts to abolish
Samhain the people continued to celebrate the traditions of the Old Ways.
The Church then decided that the only way to
convert the people was to create evil stories about Samhain. Samhain
became a night where evil spirits would appear and create havoc through the
villages with the aid of witches.
The Church warned people not leave the safety of their homes on this
night for if they did they would fall prey to the evil spirits. The Church proclaimed that it was not
until the dawn of All Saints Day when the Church bells would chime and drive
the evil spirits back to hell, that it was safe to leave their homes. The fear of these so-called evil
spirits eventually took hold of converted Christian's minds that the Old Ways
were replaced. Also, the fear of
death took over anyone who wished to maintain the Old Ways. In the Churches efforts to take over
anyone who did not take up the ways of the church were tortured and killed.
These evil stories were the
beginnings of the modern day Halloween, which is so far removed from the
original celebrations of Samhain.
One thing that we must remember though is that there can be evil present
on this evening, with the veil at its thinnest there is the possibility of
something undesirable crossing over.
Our ancestors were well aware of this and
would protect themselves and their loved ones from these entities. One of the ways this was done was to
carve faces into vegetables to place in windows, pace around their circle or
carry with them. This is where the
concept of Jack-o-lanterns from modern Halloween celebrations originated.
Many of our Ancestors left candles in windows and
offerings of food for the spirits for their journey back to the
Underworld. Simple gestures like
these are quite appropriate ways for us today to honour this wonderful time of
year. Also, as with New Years
Celebrations, this is a time take time to look at what you have achieved over
the last year and decide what you can do to improve the year to come.
It is the time for our New Years
Manifestations!
I also feel it is worth mentioning
that in Australia and New Zealand we have ANZAC Day on April 25th which is the day we honour
and remember those who died defending the freedoms we enjoy today.
You can honour and celebrate Samhain in many
ways. If you have like-minded
friends, this is a great time to get together and
celebrate.
If not you can write your own special ritual to honour this Sacred Day. I have
experienced many different Samhain celebrations and rituals now and each one
has been unique and wonderful, this is my favorite Sabbath.
I have focused on the Celtic Traditions for this
Sabbath, as this is what I believe this day represents. There are many Myths from all over the
world, which has similarities, have some fun looking into the different ways
cultures around the world honour this time of year.
Learning about and gaining an understanding of
other cultures and ways of life helps in understanding ourselves.
Samhain is a great time to get together with
like-minded others and celebrate, even if you do have a ritual remember to have
fun too. Your
imagination is limitless so use it to create a memorable evening for all.
