Samhain: The pagan festival that kickstarted a modern-day holiday
The day pagans and witches across the world – including myself – are most looking forward to is fast approaching- Samhain. It is now more commonly known as Halloween though. It is a day where you get to dress up and eat candy without feeling guilty, but do you know the origin of one of the most beloved holidays?
Samhain is a religious festival that originated from the ancient Celtics; Samhain is the celebration to welcome in the harvest season. It is one of the most important fire festivals of the year, as it falls between the fall equinox and the winter solstice. Ancient traditions of Samhain included: lighting and leaving the hearth while the Celtics went to harvest, the lighting of a spinning wheel which represented the sun, the sacrificial offering of cattle, among many others. It is said that the traditions lasted for three days and three nights. If a person was not to participate, it was said that they would suffer a grave punishment from the gods. They even said it was worse than death. Yikes!
Since the veil between our world and the otherworld is at its thinnest in Samhain, monsters are more likely to cross over to our world, and not the fun ones like in Monster High. One of these monsters is the Pukah – a shapeshifter with a love for mischief. Pukah lures humans and coax them into riding on the Pukah’s back. The ride would be wild and tortuous. Another monster is The Lady Gwyn, a headless woman with a black pig; she would chase those who were out late on Samhain. I guess nothing good really happens after 2am.
Somewhere along the 5th century, a cristian pope by the name of Pope Boniface tried to introduce Samhain as a holiday to celebrate the saints and martyrs. This was an unsuccessful attempt. In the 9th century, another pope by the name of Pope Gregory put a christian twist in Samhain by renaming it to All Saints Day and changing the day to November 1st. This was also unsuccessful, but the damage had already been done. Samhain was no longer viewed as a Celtic only tradition.
In the 19th century, the Irish brought Samhain over to the Americas. By this time, Samhain had been mixed with German, Scottish, and Christian traditions. In America, Samhain became known as Halloween, a day where kids put on costumes and go trick or treating. In Ireland, however, this tradition was called ‘mumming’. It was the tradition of putting on costumes and signing songs to the dead. A lot of Samhain traditions still remain in modern day Halloween. Did you know the ‘trick’ part of Halloween also came from an ancient tradition? It was said faeries would come out of the woods to trick the humans.
Well, with the revival of paganism in the 21st century, Samhain is now being celebrated again in the more traditional ways. But, besties, let me give you some advice before I go. Don’t get involved with the faeries unless you know how to speak in riddles or you might find yourself dancing eternally in a room filled with creatures who will chew on your bones when you pass. That would not be a fun way to spend Samhain… or the rest of your life.
