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Samhain

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Samhain
Observed by Celtic Reconstructionist Pagans, Gaels, Neopagans, Wiccans
Type Pagan
Begins Evening of October 31
Ends November 1
Celebrations Traditional first day of winter in Ireland
Related to Hallowe'en, All Saints Day
This article is about the Celtic holiday. For the band, see Samhain (band).

Samhain (pronounced /ˈsˠaunʲ/) is the word for November in the Irish language. The Scottish Gaelic spelling is Samhainn or Samhuinn (for the feast), or an t-Samhain (for the month).

The same word was used for a month in the Celtic calendar, in particular the first three nights of this month, with the festival marking the end of the summer season and the end of the harvest. A modernized version of this festival continues today in some of the traditions of the Catholic All Souls' Day, the secular Halloween, and in folk practices of Samhain itself in the Celtic Nations and the Irish and Scottish diasporas. The name is also used for one of the sabbat feasts in the Wiccan wheel of the year.

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[edit] Ancient Celts

see also Celtic calendar.

The Gaulish calendar may have divided the year into two halves, the "dark" half, beginning with the month Samonios (the October/November lunation), and the "light half", beginning with the month Giamonios (the April/May lunation). The entire year appears to have been considered as beginning with the "dark" half, so that the beginning of Samonios may be considered the Celtic New Year's day. All months began at full moon, and the celebration of New Year took place during the "three nights of Samonios" (Gaulish trinux[tion] samo[nii]), the full moon of nearest the midpoint between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice. The full moons marking the middle of each half-year may also have been specific festivals. The Coligny calendar marks the mid-summer moon (see Lughnasadh), but omits the mid-winter one (see Imbolc). Note that the seasons are not oriented at the solar year, viz. solstice and equinox, so that the mid-summer festival would be considerably later than summer solstice, around 1 August (Lughnasadh). It appears that the calendar was designed to align the lunations with the agricultural cycle of vegetation, and that the exact astronomical position of the Sun at that time was less important.

In medieval Ireland, samain remained the principal festival, celebrated with a great assembly at the royal court in Tara, lasting for three days, consistent with the Gaulish testimony.

[edit] Samhain in Celtic Irish legend

The Ulster Cycle is peppered with references to Samhain. Many of the adventures and campaigns undertaken by the characters therein begin at the Samhain Night feast.

One such tale is the Echtrae Nera (Nerai, Nerae) or Adventure of Nera, concerning one Nera from Connacht who undergoes a test of bravery put forth by King Ailill. The prize is the king's own gold-hilted sword. The terms hold that a man must leave the warmth and safety of the hall and pass through the night to a gallows where two prisoners had been hung the day before, tie a twig around one man's ankle, and return. Others had been thwarted by the demons and spirits that harassed them as they attempted the task, quickly coming back to Ailill's hall in shame. Nera goes on to complete the task and eventually infiltrates the sídhe where he remains trapped until the end of the world. Taking etymology into consideration, it is interesting to note that the word for summer expressed in the Echtrae Nera is samraid.

The Cath Maige Tuireadh (Battle of Mag Tuired) takes place on Samhain. The deities Morrígan and Dagda meet and have sex before the battle against the Fomorians; in this way the Morrígan acts as a sovereignty figure and gives the victory to The Dagda's people, the Tuatha Dé Danann.

[edit] Celtic folklore

The Samhain celebrations have survived in several guises as a festival dedicated to the harvest and the dead. In Ireland and Scotland, the Féile na Marbh, the "festival of the dead" took place on Samhain.

Samhain Eve, in Irish, Oíche Shamhna and Scots Gaelic, Oidhche Shamhna, is one of the principal festivals of the Celtic calendar, and is thought to fall on or around the 31st of October. It represents the final harvest. In modern Ireland and Scotland, the name by which Halloween is known in the Gaelic language is still "Oíche/Oidhche Shamhna". It is still the custom in some areas to set a place for the dead at the Samhain feast, and to tell tales of the ancestors on that night.

Traditionally, Samhain was time to take stock of the herds and grain supplies, and decide which animals would need to be slaughtered in order for the people and livestock to survive the winter. This custom is still observed by many who farm and raise livestock.

Bonfires played a large part in the festivities celebrated down through the last several centuries, and up through the present day in some rural areas of the Celtic nations and the diaspora. Villagers were said to have cast the bones of the slaughtered cattle upon the flames, cattle having a prominent place in the pre-Christian Gaelic world. The word 'bonfire', or bonefire is a direct translation of the Gaelic 'tine cnámh'. With the bonfire ablaze, the villagers extinguished all other fires. Each family then solemnly lit its hearth from the common flame, thus bonding the families of the village together. Often two bonfires would be built side by side, and the people would walk between the fires as a ritual of purification. Sometimes the cattle and other livestock would be driven between the fires, as well.

Divination, usually involving apples and nuts, is a common folkloric practice that has also survived in rural areas. The most common uses were to determine the name of one's future spouse, and the location of one's future home. Children would also chase crows and divine some of these things from the direction the birds flew.

In parts of western Brittany, Samhain is still heralded by the baking of kornigou, cakes baked in the shape of antlers to commemorate the god of winter shedding his "cuckold" horns as he returns to his kingdom in the Otherworld. The Romans identified Samhain with their own feast of the dead, the Lemuria. This, however, was observed in the days leading up to May 13. With Christianization, the festival in November (not the Roman festival in May) became All Hallows' Day on November 1st followed by All Souls' Day, on November 2nd. Over time, the night of October 31 came to be called All Hallow's Eve, and the remnants festival dedicated to the dead eventually morphed into the secular holiday known as Halloween.

[edit] "Celtic New Year" questioned

Popular and scholarly literature over the last century or so has given birth to the near universal assumption that Samhain was the "Celtic New Year". Some historians have begun to question this belief. In his study of the folk calendar of the British Isles, Stations of the Sun (Oxford University Press, 1996), Ronald Hutton writes that there are no references earlier than the 18th century in either church or civic records which attest to this usage. Although it may be generally correct to refer to Samhain as "Summer's End", this point of descent into the year's darkness may need better proof for us to cite this "end" as also being a "beginning". Whether or not the ancient Celts saw Samhain as the beginning of the year, or just one turning point among others in the cycle of the seasons, Samhain is still largely regarded as the Celtic New Year in the living Celtic cultures, both in the Celtic Nations and the diaspora. For instance the contemporary calendars produced by the Celtic League begin and end at Samhain.[1]

[edit] Etymology

Irish samhain is from Old Irish samain, samuin, samfuin, referring to 1 November (latha na samna, "samhain day"), and the festival and royal assembly at that date in medieval Ireland (oenaig na samna, "samhain night"). Its meaning is glossed as "summer's end", and the frequent spelling with f suggests analysis by popular etymology as sam "summer" and fuin "sunset, end". Old Irish sam "summer" is from PIE *semo- , cognates are Welsh haf, Breton hañv, Old Norse language sumar all meaning "summer", and Sanskrit sáma "season".

W. Stokes in KZ 40:245 (1907) suggests an etymology from Proto-Celtic *samani with a meaning "assembly", cognate to Sanskrit sámana, Gothic samana). Compare to this cetemain "1 May, beltane", related to Middle Welsh kyntefin "1 May, calan haf, May" from *kintu-samino- "beginning of summer" (G. Murphy in Early Irish Lyrics 52), mehefin "June, middle of summer". J. Vendryes in Lexique Étymologique de l'Irlandais Ancien (1959) concludes that these words containing *semo- "summer" are unrelated to samain, remarking that furthermore the Celtic "end of summer" was in July, not November, as evidenced by Welsh gorffennaf "July".

We would therefore be dealing with an Insular Celtic word for "assembly", *samani or *samoni, and a word for "summer", saminos derived from *samo- "summer" (alongside samrad < *samo-roto-). Irish samain would be etymologically unrelated to "summer", and derive from "assembly". But note that the name of the month is of Proto-Celtic age, c.f. Gaulish SAMON[IOS] from the Coligny calendar, and the association with "summer" by popular etymology may therefore in principle date to even pre-Insular Celtic times.

Confusingly, Gaulish Samonios (October/November lunation) corresponds to GIAMONIOS, the seventh month (the April/May lunation) and the beginning of the summer season. Giamonios, the beginning of the summer season, is clearly related to the word for winter, PIE *g'hei-men- (Latin hiems, Slavic zima, Greek kheimon, Hittite gimmanza), c. f. Old Irish gem-adaig "winter's night" (the vocalism of gam "winter" is influenced by sam, Thurneysen KZ 61:253). It appears, therefore, that for some reason already in Proto-Celtic the first month of the summer season was named "wintry", and the first month of the winter half-year "summery", possibly by ellipsis, "[month at the end] of summer/winter", so that samfuin would be a restitution of the original meaning after all. This interpretation would either invalidate the "assembly" explanation given above, or push back the time of the re-interpretation by popular etymology to very early times indeed.

Bealtaine, Lúnasa and Samhain are still today the names of the months of May, August and November in the Irish language. Similarly, an Lùnasdal and an t-Samhain are the modern Scots Gaelic names for August and November.

[edit] Neopaganism

Samhain is observed by Neopagans in various forms. As forms of Neopaganism can be quite different and have very different origins, these representations can vary considerably despite the shared name. Some Neopagans have elaborate rituals to honor the dead, and the deities who are associated with the dead in their particular culture or tradition. Some celebrate in a manner as close as possible to how the Ancient Celts and Living Celtic cultures have maintained the traditions, while others observe the holiday with rituals culled from numerous other unrelated sources, Celtic culture being only one of the sources used.

[edit] Celtic Reconstructionist

Celtic Reconstructionist Pagans tend to celebrate Samhain on the date of first frost, or when the last of the harvest is in and the ground is dry enough to have a bonfire. Like other Reconstructionist traditions, Celtic Reconstructionists place emphasis on historical accuracy, and base their celebrations and rituals on traditional lore from the living Celtic cultures, as well as research into the the older beliefs of the polytheistic Celts. At bonfire rituals, some observe the old tradition of building two bonfires, which celebrants and livestock then walk or dance between as a ritual of purification.

According to Celtic lore, Samhain is a time when the boundaries between the world of the living and the world of the dead become thinner, at times even fading away completely, allowing spirits and other supernatural entities to pass between the worlds to socialize with humans. It is the time of the year when ancestors and other departed souls are especially honored. Though Celtic Reconstructionists make offerings to the spirits at all times of the year, Samhain in particular is a time when more elaborate offerings are made to specific ancestors. Often a meal will be prepared of favorite foods of the family's and community's beloved dead, a place set for them at the table, and traditional songs, poetry and dances performed to entertain them. A door or window may be opened to the west and the beloved dead specifically invited to attend. Many leave a candle or other light burning in a western window to guide the dead home. Divination for the coming year is often done, whether in all solemnity or as games for the children. The more mystically inclined may also see this as a time for deeply communing with the deities, especially those whom the lore mentions as being particularly connected with this festival.[2]

[edit] Wicca

Samhain is one of the eight annual holidays, referred to as "Sabbats", observed by modern day Wiccans, and by other Neopagans who base their traditions on Wicca. It is considered by most Wiccans to be the most important of the four "greater Sabbats". Its date is not universally agreed upon, as many Neopagan movements have no binding structure upon which all agree. It is observed on October 31 in the Northern Hemisphere. Samhain is considered by most Wiccans as a celebration of death and of the dead, and it often involves paying respect to ancestors, family members, elders of the faith, friends, pets and other loved ones who have died. In some rituals the spirits of the departed are invited to attend the festivities. It is seen as a festival of darkness and death, which is balanced at the opposite point of the wheel by the spring festival of Beltane, which Wiccans celebrate as a festival of life and fertility.

While the Wiccan version of Samhain is not a form of reconstruction, and is largely mixed with other traditions in a form of universalism, it is influenced by the Celtic holiday from which the name was taken.

[edit] Modern popular culture


[edit] References

  • Carmichael, Alexander (1992). Carmina Gadelica. Lindisfarne Press. ISBN 0-940262-50-9.
  • Danaher, Kevin (1962). The Year in Ireland. Irish Books & Media. ISBN 0-937702-13-7.
  • MacKillop, James (1998). Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-280120-1.
  • McNeill, F. Marian (1959). The Silver Bough, Vol. 1 -4. William MacLellan, Glasgow.

[edit] See also

Calendars

Holidays

[edit] External links


This article is part of the Gaelic Festivals series
Samhain • Imbolc • Beltane • Lughnasadh
af:Samhain

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