There is a lot of information out there about the various seasonal festivals, much of it conflicting, and such things are quite personal anyway, so this is just my view of this festival, yours may differ and that is completely fine.
It’s Samhain, well nearly. This is an ancient Celtic celebration and the celtic days started and ended at sunset, so technically it will be Samhain at sunset.
So let’s look at it a little closer…
What is Samhain
There are many ways to pronounce Samhain, the most common being Sow-wen. In Wales it is called Calan Gaeaf.
Samhain is one of the four big Gaelic and Celtic festivals, the others being Imbolc, Beltane, and Lughnasadh. It is mentioned in 9th century writings and there are passage tombs in Ireland where the entrances align with the sunrise at Samhain and Imbolc so clearly these were important times.
Samhain is a fire festival to mark the end of the harvest season and to welcome winter. It is also a Celtic new year festival, marking the end of one pastoral year and the start of the next.
Historic texts show that this is considered a time for feasting, bonfires, games, and honouring the ancestors with some celebrations going on for a week.
Samhain is not the same thing as halloween, although halloween is clearly inspired by some Samhain traditions such as guising, dressing up in costume and going from door to door singing, or telling stories, or reciting poetry in exchange for food.
It was also a spiritual time when it was believed that the veil between this world and the Otherworld became thin, bringing people closer to deities, ancestors, and other spirits and beings that could cause mischief.
There are stories that our Celtic ancestors would leave out offerings of food and drink to appease the visitors, or wore masks to confuse them and frighten them away. Candles would be places in skulls either to ward off evil spirits, which has developed now into carved pumpkins and turnips.
All hearth fires were lit from a flame carried from the ceremonial fires lit by the druids and offerings would be made to the deities, ancestors, and spirits at Samhain.
Ideas to Celebrate Samhain
- Light a fire or candles, Samhain is a fire festival.
- Set an extra place at dinner for the ancestors or other people you wish to remember and honour.
- Cook some warming, comforting food like stew, or colcannon, or maybe an apple pie or soul cakes.
- Burn sage to ward off evil or negative energies
- Take some time to take stock of your life and let go of anything you no longer need to carry forward.
- Carve a pumpkin or turnip.
- Go for a walk and collect a few nature treasures such as an acorn or a pretty autumn leaf. Be sure to only take a few things that you find on the floor leaving plenty behind for the animals and other humans, and please, don’t go tearing things from trees!
- Have a dumb supper – this is a meal eaten in silence in honour of those who have passed.
- Plant bulbs for spring – now is an excellent time to plan ahead, planting tulips and daffodils now will lead to some beautiful flowers in the spring.
- Maybe cook an old family recipe to remember the people who have passed it down.
- Take a moment to be be grateful and acknowledge the things you have and what you have achieved over the past year.
For me this is a time to slow down and reflect, late autumn and winter are my times for planning, for doing little things that will help later, for looking back over the year at what I was happy about and what I would change.
I’ll be adding more to this post as and when I find any interesting little bits of information or when I think of something I’d like to add.