Why are those into Celtic history saying “Happy Samhain” today?
Samhain is a festival held on October 31–November 1 in Gaelic cultures. A harvest festival with ancient roots in Celtic paganism, it was linked to festivals held around the same time in other Celtic cultures, and continued to be celebrated in late medieval times. Samhain marked the end of the harvest, the end of the “lighter half” of the year and beginning of the “darker half”. Many scholars believe that it was the beginning of the Celtic year. It has some elements of a festival of the dead. The Gaels believed that the border between this world and the otherworld became thin on Samhain. Bonfires played a large part in the festivities. People and their livestock would often walk between two bonfires as a cleansing ritual, and the bones of slaughtered livestock were cast into its flames. The Gaelic festival became associated with the Christian All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, and has influenced the secular customs now connected with Halloween. It continues to be celebrated as a religi
Happy Samhain! That’s happy Halloween for you pagan-challenged types, and it’s pronounced either Sow-wen or Savven depending on who you are speaking with. And a bit of wierd news that concerns our happy jack-o-lantern source, the pumpkin. http://writtenwyrdd.typepad.com/writtenwyrdd/2008/10/happy-samhain.html Those who decry Hallowe’en as a pagan holiday are, of course, correct! In medieval Europe the pagan (country) people celebrated the the midpoint of the fixed signs as periods of power. These times correspond to the fixed signs of Aquarius (Brigid in February), Taurus (Beltane in May), Leo (Lugh in July) and Samhain (pronounced Sow’en) in October for Scorpio. These times exactly between the solstices and equinoxes, and are called the “cross-quarter” days. At Samhain it is said that the veils between the worlds grow thin, and it becomes easier to communicate with the souls of loved o
It’s that time of year again, folks – Hallow’s Eve, or Halloween, is Saturday. When one thinks of Halloween, the images of ghosts and ghouls, candy apples and trick-or-treating comes to mind. But many parts of the tradition were built upon traditions established by the ancient Celts, a culture that ruled parts of Central Europe about two thousand years ago. Dan Capper, a professor of religion here at USM, voiced his knowledge of the history. “Halloween was originally known as Samhain (pronounced sow-in) to the Celtic people. Samhain was their new year. It was thought that on this day the boundaries between the living and the dead were at their weakest, so that all the people that died in the past year could visit on this day.” During this time, some of the mischievous spirits would play tricks on the people, while other angrier spirits may even cause harm to a person or his property. Sources: http://www.studen
