Samhain

Samhain or Sauin (Manx: [ˈsoːɪnʲ]) is a <a href="/facts/Gaels/Vm9XaXpL">Gaelic</a> festival on 1 November marking the end of the <a href="/facts/Harvest/a4Lywf6p">harvest</a> season and beginning of winter or the "<a href="/facts/Celtic_calendar/H7MfTwyM">darker half</a>" of the year. It is also the Irish and <a href="/facts/Scottish_Gaelic/KMI4MmzJ">Scottish Gaelic</a> name for <a href="/facts/November/BTh2CLu7">November</a>. Celebrations begin on the evening of 31 October, since the <a href="/facts/Celtic_calendar/H7MfTwyM">Celtic day</a> began and ended at sunset. This is about halfway between the <a href="/facts/September_equinox/avAVQp1z">autumnal equinox</a> and <a href="/facts/Winter_solstice/D18JPu6z">winter solstice</a>. It is one of <a href="/facts/Quarter_days/x1Q4RpVC">the four</a> Gaelic seasonal festivals along with <a href="/facts/Imbolc/IVASABBh">Imbolc</a>, <a href="/facts/Bealtaine/dwAX3d1c">Bealtaine</a>, and <a href="/facts/Lughnasa/dPwvlXJR">Lughnasa</a>. Historically it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland, and the <a href="/facts/Isle_of_Man/HG7bYyA8">Isle of Man</a>. Its <a href="/facts/Brittonic_languages/9MPYrKUG">Brittonic</a> <a href="/facts/Celtic_Britons/M3CTJ3o3">Celtic</a> equivalent is called <a href="/facts/Calan_Gaeaf/LvGHCq8w">Calan Gaeaf</a> in Wales.
Samhain is believed to have <a href="/facts/Ancient_Celtic_religion/FKgV8XEV">Celtic pagan</a> origins, and some <a href="/facts/Prehistoric_Ireland/d2MoCAKd">Neolithic</a> <a href="/facts/Passage_tomb/RqpFg5ce">passage tombs</a> in Great Britain and Ireland are aligned with the sunrise at the time of Samhain. As a festival for communing with the ancestors, however, it may predate the Celtic era. A number of stone circles and dolmens, including for example, Avebury, exhibit a west-south-west alignment, the azimuth angle of the setting sun on 31 October.
Samhain is mentioned in the <a href="/facts/Early_Irish_literature/NXTKE3dg">earliest Irish literature</a>, from the 9th century, and is associated with many important events in <a href="/facts/Irish_mythology/uXqwtMP9">Irish mythology</a>. The early literature says Samhain was marked by great gatherings and feasts and was when the ancient burial mounds were open, which were seen as portals to the <a href="/facts/Celtic_Otherworld/FCU2sF96">Otherworld</a>. Some of the literature also associates Samhain with bonfires and sacrifices.
The festival was not recorded in detail until the early modern era. It was when cattle were brought down from the <a href="/facts/Transhumance/G2BbCLGt">summer pastures</a> and livestock were slaughtered. Special <a href="/facts/Bonfire/UMnXQYvX">bonfires</a> were lit, which were deemed to have protective and cleansing powers. Like <a href="/facts/Bealtaine/dwAX3d1c">Bealtaine</a>, Samhain was a <a href="/facts/Liminality/RCRbU2gN">liminal</a> or threshold festival, when the boundary between this world and the Otherworld blurred, making contact with the <a href="/facts/Aos_s%C3%AD/KCIdh4FA">aos sí</a> (the 'spirits' or '<a href="/facts/Fairy/P5ca3mNx">fairies</a>') more likely. Most scholars see them as remnants of pagan gods. At Samhain, they were <a href="/facts/Propitiation/3P6Uqb4T">appeased</a> with offerings of food and drink to ensure the people and livestock survived the winter. The souls of dead kin were also thought to revisit their homes seeking hospitality, and a place was set at the table for them during a meal. <a href="/facts/Mummers%27_play/pgTUXttD">Mumming</a> and <a href="/facts/Guising/GQuLVALV">guising</a> were part of the festival from at least the early modern era, whereby people went door-to-door in costume, reciting verses in exchange for food. The costumes may have been a way of imitating and disguising oneself from the aos sí. <a href="/facts/Divination/b8gLkFfv">Divination</a> was also a big part of the festival and often involved nuts and apples. In the late 19th century, <a href="/facts/John_Rhys/YMNxJbkF">John Rhys</a> and <a href="/facts/James_George_Frazer/cKb6nvS1">James Frazer</a> suggested it had been the "Celtic New Year", but that is disputed.
In the 9th century, the <a href="/facts/Western_Christianity/9YP8vhKs">Western Church</a> endorsed 1 November as the date of <a href="/facts/All_Saints%27_Day/6GYlXR2c">All Saints' Day</a>, possibly due to the influence of <a href="/facts/Alcuin/w7IbYBoX">Alcuin</a> or <a href="/facts/Hiberno-Scottish_mission/qsxMGRoq">Irish missionaries</a>, and 2 November later became <a href="/facts/All_Souls%27_Day/aAFzwzEo">All Souls' Day</a>. It is believed that Samhain and All Saints'/All Souls' <a href="/facts/Religious_syncretism/UQXQXSts">influenced each other</a> and the modern <a href="/facts/Halloween/NRxarMjA">Halloween</a>. Most American Halloween traditions were inherited from <a href="/facts/Irish_diaspora/srMnk6fn">Irish</a> and <a href="/facts/Scottish_diaspora/0BfevEMU">Scottish</a> immigrants. Folklorists have used the name 'Samhain' to refer to Gaelic 'Halloween' customs until the 19th century.
Since the later 20th century <a href="/facts/Celtic_neopaganism/AhAmwQ8F">Celtic neopagans</a> and <a href="/facts/Wicca/q623sLWu">Wiccans</a> have observed Samhain, or something based on it, as a religious holiday.

Samhain open-in-new

Samhain