When I was 15 years old, I travelled to Ireland on a school trip. I was very excited, because it was my first time abroad without my parents. I fell in love with Ireland: the folklore, the fairytales, the hidden signs you can find everywhere in the nature. From a simple clove who is believed to bring you luck, to a tree forth, which is believed to be a fairy’s’ nest. Ireland took a special place in my heart, and I promised myself to go back someday. Four years later, I graduated from high school and three weeks after my finals, I was on a plane to Scotland. I spent my summer there, three months of traveling around the country and learning about the stories of the places I visited. I finally had the chance to go back to Ireland as well, and I realised how much in common the Irish and Scottish cultures have.
One of my favourite things I do while I travel, is to spend as much time as possible with locals, engaging in activities, volunteering, trying to avoid tourist traps and making the most of my experience. This allows me to learn and listen to many interesting stories directly from local people. On my “Celtic Adventure”, as I like to recall it, I learned about the ancient population who inhabited the land thousands of years ago. I bet a lot of people know who the Celtics are, as they lived all around Europe, but people in the actual Scotland and Ireland were known as the Gaels. This society was traditionally pagan, which means they believed in many gods and goddesses and celebrate rituals. Despite the fact the Celts were all over Europe, and the celebration were performed, even though with small differences, all round the continent, I learnt about the “Wheel of the Year” in Ireland.
The Wheel of the Year is an annual round of celebrations, when the ancient population used to take specific moments to thank the Earth for its giving, making offers to the gods and goddess and celebrate the cycle of the seasons. It has 8 Gaelic seasonal festivals, 4 are considered major and 4 minor. The minor ones are well known in our world as they correspond to the equinoxes and solstices: Yule is celebrated on the 21st of December and marks the start of the winter season, Ostara happens the 21st of March and celebrate the start of the spring, Litha is on the 21st of June, the first day of summer, finally we have Mabon, celebrated on the 21st of September, when the autumn season starts. The major ones celebrate the halfway between a seasonal change: Imbolc happens on the 1st of February and mark the halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, Beltane, known also as May Day, happens on the 1st of May, between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. Lughnasa is celebrated on the 1st of august and mark the midway between the summer solstice and the autumn equinox. Finally, we have Samhain.
Samhain (pronounced “sow-en”) was one of the main festivals of the Wheel of the Year and is dated back 2500 years ago. It was the time when the Celts were celebrating the last harvest of the year. For this reason, Samhain is also known as the Celtic New Year, because it marks the end of the harvest season, and the beginning of the winter. In fact, from the 21st of September, the autumn equinox, when the day and the night have the same length, the days are getting shorter and shorter. The dark night starts slowly prevailing over the daylight. The 31st of October marked the midway of the winter, that reach its peak on the 21st of December, the winter solstice, the darkest day of the year.
Festivals were an occasion to bring the community together, to celebrate and honour the moments and everything that happened so far. To spend time with family and making offers to the gods and goddess. Ancient Celts believe that on Samhain the veil between the world of the living being and the dead ones, was at its thinnest, so the dead were able to enter the living world and live among them for a night. In many traditions all around the world people could relate to this belief. For instance, Mexicans celebrate “Dia de los Muertos” and in China they have the “Teng Chieh”.
Celtic people used to wear ghost costumes to honour the good spirits, and avoid being recognised from the bad ones. It was common to leave treats for the fairies outside their houses, so they could protect the family from bad spirits. Lighting a bonfire was a community activity, and participants used to bring flames home to relight their hearts and their path. Lanterns were also used to guide the ancestor’s soul back to their world, and to keep away spirits with bad intentions from the house. Families were preparing dumb supper, which means to leave an empty place on their table for their ancestors, that came to visit them that special night.
…AND HOW CAPITALISM STOLE IT
How Samhain become Halloween?
When Christianity started to spread all around Europe, it started to incorporate the local tradition as well. Maybe hoping that people would join the Church and leave paganism, as being pagan was associated with worship of the Devil. Something similar happened with the famous holiday we celebrate nowadays, Halloween. In fact, Halloween has roots in the Celtic tradition, so it was in the beginning a pagan festival.
In the 4th century, the church created the All-Hallows’ Day (or Holy day) to remember the dead and the saints. Now it is known as All Saint’s Day, celebrated the 1st of November, when people visit graveyards, and bring flowers to their dead relatives. It started with a celebration held the night before: Hallow evening (Hallow E’en). Which is better known as Halloween.
There are many similarities between the ancient ritual Celtics did and the modern celebration. Carving pumpkins and putting a flame inside, recall the bonfire and people bringing back home a flame to relight the path. Wearing scary costumes is similar to the practice of hiding your human nature from the ghosts and spirits. Poor people used to pray and sing in exchange for alms or goodies, a practice known as “souling”, which then become the famous “trick or treating”, when kids go from door to door to ask for candies.
It is interesting to note how nowadays Christians with strong beliefs, condemn such celebration because of paganism. Especially when it was the religion itself that shaped these pagan traditions into a Christian celebration in the first place.
Suggestion for an anti-capitalistic celebration
In the US, where the modern holiday was born and is the most popular, it is estimated by the National Retail Federation, that the total expenses to celebrate Halloween will be $11.6 billion this year. How come that such a meaningful pagan festival that celebrates the nature, community and ancestors and the seasonal cycle, became a business matter?
Don’t get me wrong, I am not going to say to stop buying Halloween themed candies, or stop bringing your kids around the neighbourhood to do “trick or treating”. I am no one to tell people what is right or wrong to do. I would rather give some suggestions to spend Halloween or Samhain (if you want to refer to this holiday with its true name) in a more meaningful way. To respect its true meaning and origin.
The night of Samhain was a moment of suspension between the old and the new. The key points of the holiday are the transformation, the change, the death and the rebirth. This period of the year invites you to honour what has happened so far, be grateful for what you have. Focus on letting go of the old, all the things that don’t serves you anymore. To keep going through the winter with a lighter mind. This is the moment to make peace with what has happened so far, and all the things that you were avoiding the whole year. Remember your beloved ones that are not here anymore, go on a walk and appreciate the nature around you changing its colours. Cook nourishing meals, and consume seasonal fruits and vegetables, what the lands offers you now. Connect with your community, spend time with friends and family.
There are plenty of activities to celebrate. The most important thing is to do what makes you feel comfortable to go through this phase of the year. Entering winter can be a challenging moment, because of the change of weather and the days getting darker and darker. So take care of your physical and mental health.
Blessed Samhain!
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