How Did Ancient Pagans Celebrate Hallowe'en?
Most Celts Called the Sabbat Samhain or Fire or Solar Festivals
Oct 8, 2009
Samhain (pronounced "sow-en") festivities were held around bonfires with celebrants performing rituals, acts of magick, dancing, singing and feasting on traditional Hallowe’en fare in its flames’ light and warmth.
Other Celtic Names for Hallowe’en
Hallowe’en was the festival of the last and final harvest. Fire and the sun were symbolic of divinity and the sacred. The bonfire was a significant part of Hallowe’en traditions. The Irish called the festival day Samhein, La Samon, the Feast of the Sun, Samonios, All Hallowtide and the Feast of the Dead. It signaled the close of harvesting and the start of the winter season that lasted until May. This half-year is called Feile Moingfinne, Snow Goddess. Faeries were believed to be most active during this season.
In Scotland, the celebration was called Hallowe'en and Hallowtide, The Feast of All Soula, end of summer. In Wales, it's Nos Galen-gaeof, the Night of the Winter Calends. Hallowe’en celebrations, like the other Sabbats, began in the evening.
Celtic Hallowe’en Rituals
The shroud between the "Worlds of the Living" and the ancestors was penetrable, according to Celtic tradition. Some Celts prepared themselves for journeys into the "Otherworld" on Samhain. This ritual was meant to contact spirits of the departed, sources of guidance and inspiration.
The phase of the new moon ruled the day because it represented a time in which human sight has been obscured so they can see into the Otherworld. The dead are honored as living spirits of loved ones.
- Animals who wouldn’t survive the winter were slaughtered and the meat preserved for the cold seasons.
- Thanks were given for abundance while crops were harvested and stored.
- People begged for alms in the forms of soul cakes or fruit.
- Lit candles were placed on windowsills to guide the dead to the food and drink left outside for them.
- Acts of magick were performed.
- Pagans feasted on a banquet of traditional Samhain foods: pomegranates, meat, apples, turnips, beets, gingerbread, nuts, mulled wine, mead and cider. Pumpkins, maize and squash weren’t featured because these foods are native to the Americas which hadn’t yet been “discovered” during the era of the Ancient Pagans.
Samhain, First Day of Winter
The day was the commencement of the Celtic year and was referred to as the Celtic New Year by some Celts. It was the beginning of the dark half of the year – winter and spring.
The light half of the year began on Beltane, held on April 30, and included the summer and autumn seasons.
Samhain’s Three Day Festival, Samhuinn
Some Celts considered the day before Samhain to be the last day of Summer and the Old Year; the day after, the first day of Winter and the New Year. The Samhuinn celebration lasted from the eve of October 30 to the eve of November 1. It was a period of no-time for these Celts.
Celtic society was structured and organized. There had to be a time when these limitations were ignored so chaos could rule. Celebrants did some bizarre or fun things. Men dressed as women and vice versa and farmers’ gates were unhinged and tossed in ditches. All was done with a sense of fun and freedom to be silly. Unfortunately, Pagan festivals would never be the same after missionaries from the south began trying to convert the Celts to their new monotheistic religion.
Articles Related to Ancient Pagan Hallowe’en Celebration
Readers who found this article interesting might enjoy Halloween FAQs – Halloween Traditions along with Pagan Roots of Modern Halloween Customs and Samhain Traditions and Lore.
Sources:
- The Celtic Druids’ Year, John King, (Blandford, 1995).
- The Druid Source Book, John Matthews (Blandford, 1997).
- The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft, Second Edition, Rosemary Ellen Guiley, (Facts on File, Inc., 1999).
 |
 |
 |
