by A.C. Fisher Aldag
More Harvest Holidays, Ancestor Rites,
and New Year Celebrations
“Some Pagans celebrate Samhain on different days than October 31st to November first.”
Many Wiccans, Pagans, Witches and other Earth Religious people celebrated Samhain or Halloween on Monday, October 31st. This is the midpoint between the Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice. As most of us know, the word “Hallowe’en” is a contraction of “Hallowed Evening”, and refers to the night before the new year as observed in many cultures. Witches sometimes call it Hallows, Hollantide or Hallowmas. Gerald Gardner simply called the holy day “November Eve”. Nearly all of these sacred days honor the dead, mark the new year, and rejoice in the harvest. Catholics observe All Saints’ Day as a way to pay homage to people who were beatified and All Souls’ Day to pray for the souls of the departed. Welsh and Cornish people hold Nos Galan Gwaef (spelled various ways) which means the night before the first day of the new year, sometimes called “Merry Night” in English. People from the Baltic countries of Europe observed Velu Laiks which means “Time of Spirits”. Voudoun adherents hosted the Fete Gede, Hindus celebrated the festival of lights called Diwali or Deepavali, Finnish people enjoyed Kekri. Others had their harvest holiday earlier: Jewish people celebrated Rosh Hashanah near the end of September and Yom Kippur in late October, while Asatrur observed the beginning of Winter Nights, called the Winter Finding, on October 14th. Yet other harvest and new year’s holidays are still to come.
Some Pagans celebrate Samhain on different days than October 31st to November first. Like the neo-Pagan or Wiccan observance of the sabbat, these holy days are viewed as dividing the year into two halves, and mark the beginning of the “dark” portion of the year or beginning of the winter season. The holiday often begins at sunset. In some traditions, the festivities last for three days. Ancient people in the British Isles usually counted the day as beginning at sunset, and the number three was magickally important. Many modern Druids or Celtic Reconstructionists will hold their rites on Nov. 7th, which is the astrological date of Samhain. Some Pagans observe Samhain or New Year’s Day on the first full moon of November, which this year falls on Nov. 10th. These dates reflect modern interpretations of ancient time-keeping systems as depicted on the Coligny Calendar, which aligns moon phases with the agricultural seasons, or as marked by the positioning of monuments such as Stonehenge (corrected for present times, after shifts in the Earth’s orbit affected patterns of the stars), or as determined by present-day astronomy or astrology.
In some Witchcraft traditions, the Sabbats fall upon a date during which the Sun is in a certain degree of a specific astrological house. These astrological dates are more technical, calculated by an astrologer, and have the planetary layout and subsequent astrological influences to one's advantage.
Here is the astrological date chart for all the Sabbats:
Samhain: Sun is at 15° Scorpio
Yule: Sun is at 1° Capricorn
Imbolc: Sun is at 15° Aquarius
Ostara: Sun is at 1° Aries
Beltaine: Sun is at 15° Taurus
Litha: Sun is at 1° Cancer
Lammas: Sun is at 15° Leo
Mabon: Sun is at 1° Libra
In the Celtic lands, Samhain is also called Samhein, La Fheille Samhuinn, La Samhne, Sauin, Oíche Shamhna, or Gam, most of which connote summer ending and the beginning of winter. These alternate spellings reflect various Celtic languages from place where the holiday was originally celebrated. In ancient Ireland the year was divided into “Raitheanna”, quarters and cross quarters, headed by “Raithe”, the beginning day of the quarter. These quarter days were used in the British Isles to divide the year for the purpose of paying rents, taxes and wages. The term Samhain may derive from the Irish language word Sámh, meaning peaceful or at ease, the implication being that nature was quieting down, agricultural activities were ending for the season, and that winter was coming. The word is also used in modern Irish as the word for November, the Irish word for Halloween being ‘Oíche Shamhana’, or ‘November Night’. Perhaps Samhain means “the peaceful time is over”?
Historians have traced some Samhain lore to the 5th century B.C.E. Samhain is referred to several times in older Irish literature, including the stories of CuChullain and Fionn mac Cumhaill. Julius Caesar documented Celtic bonfire rites, including one held in late autumn. Pope Gregory the third set the date of the Roman Catholic festival of All Saints’ Day as November 1st sometime between 731–741, but the Venerable Bede wrote that Nov. first had previously been used for this holy day since the beginning of the 700s. Originally held in May, it is believed that All Saints’ Day might have been moved to coincide with the celebration of the Pagan’s holiday, Samhain. In 835 Louis the Pious made the custom of celebrating All Saints’ Day on November 1st official. A writer called James Bonewick journaled about Irish customs of the mid-1800s which had survived from ancient times, including bonfires, divination and feasting. Sir James George Frazer wrote about Samhain lore and traditions in The Golden Bough. He and Sir John Rhys may be responsible for some revivals of Halloween in Europe. Sir Walter Scott wrote about Hallowmas legends, including the ride of the “Night Hag” and alluding to the Wild Hunt, as well as performing a spell in her name, although the poem contains some Christian references:
On Hallowmas Eve, ere ye boune to rest,
Ever beware that your couch be blest;
Sign it with cross and sain it with bread,
Sing the Ave and the Creed.
For on Hallowmas Eve, the Night Hag shall ride
And all her nine-fold sweeping on by Her side,
Whether the wind sing lowly or loud,
Stealing through moonshine or swathed in cloud.
He that dare sit in St. Swithin's Chair,
When the Night Hag wings the troubled air,
Questions three, when he speaks the spell,
He must ask and She must tell.
On the various nights of Samhain, Druids, Witches and Pagans may participate in rituals, honor their ancestors, worship the Gods and partake of a feast to commemorate the harvest. These activities can also take place on Nov. 7th or the full moon. Samhain was considered to be outside of the calendar, a time when the boundaries between the material world and the unseen realms were able to be crossed. Several Halloween rites involve contacting the spirits or protecting oneself from their wrath. Pagan ceremonies may include divination to learn about the events of the coming year. Ritualized fortune-telling of old included “scrying” or “kenning” using the flames of a bonfire or candle, or gazing into a bowl of water or a dark mirror, and such natural forms of divination as observing the flights of birds and seeing images in the patterns of branches. Ancient methods of divination such as casting stones or bones, or using the peel of an apple to form letters or shapes, were performed, and sometimes, those with “the second sight” were invited to attend gatherings and offer their talents. Other rites of forseeing the future on Samhain include eating an apple while gazing into a mirror, roasting hazel nuts to see which way they move, or allowing an egg white to drip into water. These methods are included in this article from the “Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids” website, about the sacred day from a Druid perspective: http://goo.gl/msTQc6 ... this article also contains rituals, legends, lore and a couple of delightful ghost stories.
In The Golden Bough, Sir Frazer lists several older Samhain ceremonies, including, divination and offering food to ancestors or spirits. The “dumb supper” may be one such ritual, or it could be attributed to spiritualism, which enjoyed a revival during the Victorian era. The dumb supper was practiced in Appalachia by Scots-Irish immigrants as a rite of prognostication or communion with the departed, recorded by a folklorist in 1954. The table was to be set backward, with forks on the right. A plate of food was prepared for the dead loved one, or empty plates left to represent future marriage prospects. Both ceremonies required all participants to eat silently. Some scholars believe this rite was not originally part of the Celtic holiday. Others think it was equated with offerings left out of doors for ancestor spirits.
Numerous legends of Samhain center on ghosts, frightening old hags, monsters and the Gods of death, including the Wild Hunt riding to collect departed souls. The Cailleach Bheur is a fearsome blue-faced crone representing winter in Ireland, while the Mailte y Nos is the night-hag of Wales, who rides along with the wild hunters. Both of these incarnations may be associated with the Morrighan. (More information about these possible models for modern witches appear in this issue of Magickal Media.) Fairies and mystical beings were given offerings to appease them, lest they make mischief. Perhaps the legends of darkness, death, and fierce supernatural beings of Samhain can be traced to actual events common in Western Europe during ancient times in late autumn. This was typically the season to slaughter animals to provide enough food to last throughout the entire winter. It was also the deadline to harvest the crops, bring in the hay and straw, and gather wood from the forests before harsh rainy or snowy weather made it difficult to find sources of food or fuel. Other concerns included hunting and gathering enough medicinal herbs. Many of the older ceremonies focused on preserving and maintaining the food supply. In several cultures, Death is personified as a specter or fearful entity, and with good reason. Ill preparation for the season could have meant starvation or hypothermia. This may be why so many older rituals focus on placating spirits and appeasing the gods.
The custom of guising or guizing, wearing costumes, may have arisen as a way to disguise the wearer from spirits, or to mimic or honor the dead. Masks were worn, or faces blackened by fireplace ashes. Animal skins were worn in the rite of hoodening, which is described further in the articles about Cernunnos here on Magickal Media. These magioreligious traditions may be the precursor of our modern Halloween costume. Of course, costumes may also have been worn to disguise pranksters who soaped windows, upset outhouses, took carriages apart and engaged in other acts of “hooliganism”. Modern Pagans may wear special costumes for the reason of personal transformation or to commune with other entities.
Many modern Druids host rituals to honor the Gods on the astronomical Samhain or the full moon of November. Some act out the union of the Dagda, the good God of Ireland, whose cauldron can heal wounded soldiers and provide a never-ending supply of victuals, and the Morrighan, the Goddess in her dark aspect of Crone. The Morrighan is also the Goddess of war, sexual pleasure, and death, and is sometimes viewed as the Lady of Witchcraft. Some Druids re-enact the story of the Goddess of springtime and love, Rhiannon, and her marriage to Arawn, the God of Death, which causes the surface worlds to experience winter. This legend is much like the Greek tale of Persephone and Hades, or the Roman legend of Kore and Pluto. Sometimes, an apple and pomegranate are used to represent life and death and ritually consumed. Others revere Cernunnos, the horned God of animals, the woodlands, sexuality and the Underworld. Hazel nuts symbolize the Stag Lord, and are ritually eaten to commune with him. Pagans may journey to the Otherworlds, meditate on the nature of life and death, and perform vision quests for personal enlightenment.
Hellenic or Roman Reconstructionists may act out the legends of ancient Greece or Rome, including the relationship of Persephone and Hades or Kore and Pluto, using the pomegranate fruit’s seeds as a symbol of wisdom and mystery. Deities are thanked for their gifts of the harvest. Goddesses include Demeter, Pomona, Annona, and Ceres, and Gods include Dionysus, Vertumnus, Ammon, Priappus, Sylvanus and Mars, who is a God of agriculture as well as war. Hecate is honored as the Goddess of Witchcraft and divination. The ancient Greeks and Romans did not experience such a profound change of season as did the Celtic lands; hence, Greek and Roman rites are more about gratitude for the harvest, honoring ancestors, and the acquisition of wisdom. Libations are given to deities, patrons and patronesses, and ancestors. Liber Pater, the God who grants his name to both “libation” and “patron”, is the deity who represents fertility and wine in the Roman pantheon. His consort is Libera, the Goddess who also represents fecundity and alcoholic spirits. Their feast in ancient times was the occasion for wearing masks, singing funny songs, merrymaking, sexuality and sometimes mischief. A cornucopia may be used in these rites as a symbol of abundance. Some Roman reconstructionists celebrate a festival to honor the dead in midMay, called “Lemuria”.
Samhain was a traditional “fire festival”, documented by various writers from the time of Julius Caesar. Bonfires were a common sight in the British Isles and America well into modern days. In the 1860s, one Scots Protestant clergyman despaired, “The practice of lighting bonfires prevails in this and the neighboring Highland Parishes.” Mr. James Bonwick wrote, “In the Western Islands (of Ireland) the old superstition is dying very hard, and tradition is still well alive.” In some locations, all of the hearth fires were extinguished and rekindled from a common village bonfire. In other places, this ritual was performed on Yule, Beltain, or all of these holidays. Fire was used as a fertility symbol, to protect animals, to scare away harmful entities, and in some cases to light the way for friendly spirits. Burning rushes or torches were often paraded through town, or taken around the perimeters, or carried along the boundaries of a homestead. Turnips, or beets were hollowed out and filled with oil, or carved into skull-like faces and placed over a candle, to create a light to scare off baneful specters or welcome ancestors to the home. They may have been used to fetch a coal from the communal “need fire”. This custom later evolved into the legend about “Jack of the lantern”, or “Stingy Jack” a dead man forced to wander earth searching for an honest person. Irish immigrants brought the tradition to America, and soon found that pumpkins were much easier to carve into Jack O’Lanterns. The familiar orange gourd may have taken its name from “punkies”, the gourds or turnips used as containers for fire in Somerset, England at Samhain. This tradition was observed in the Isle of Man and continued to the present day, as outlined in this article, below. Other Samhain rituals, customs and history can be found here: http://goo.gl/kWPdBL
In Britain, some Halloween and Samhain traditions were transferred to Guy Fawkes Night. Puritan colonists in the 17th and 18th centuries also celebrated this secular festival. In 1605, a man called Guido Fawkes plotted with other dissatisfied Catholics to blow up Protestant King James in London. They rented the cellars below the British Parliament and filled the area with barrels of gunpowder. Someone told authorities, and Fawkes was arrested on Nov. 5, tried and hanged. This act of terrorism was commemorated for many years by parading in the streets, singing, lighting fireworks, and burning straw effigies of Guy Fawkes, or possibly the Pope, depending on if revelers were Catholic or Protestant. These processions and ceremonial fires may harken back to Pagan rites were scarecrows and representations of a harvest God were carried through the streets of a village, then ritually burned. Guy Fawkes Night also included begging for coins and treats, which may be another precursor of trick-or-treating. Although largely forgotten in America, Guy Fawkes Night is still celebrated in some parts of Britain.
The modern Halloween holiday is celebrated nearly worldwide, including many of the same traditions as Americans enjoy, such as dressing in costume, wearing masks, partying, trick-or-treating and feasting. In many places, ancestors are honored, ghost stories are told, paranormal investigations ensue, divination is performed, and parades and dances are held. In the Magickal Media news feed many Halloween news stories from around the world can be found, from Russia, Argentina, India, Japan, Western Europe, the Philippines, Canada and America. Some ancient traditions have survived to the present day. Several are included, below:
Halloween Samhain festivities in Edinburgh, Scotland in 2010 featured a huge parade and bonfires. A report with many photos can be seen here: http:/goo.gl/JAahji … a quote from this website:
“It’s the time of the year again where people around the world decorate their houses with jack o’lanterns (scary pumpkin face cut out), kids don scary masks and costumes ‘trick-or-treating’, and people having ghastly parties, visiting haunted attractions and watching horror films.
“Halloween has its origins derived from the Gaelic harvest festival of Samhuin (pronounced “sow-en”). For Pagans, it is a time to honor their ancestors and loved ones who are deceased, a time to celebrate the cycle of life and also the end of the harvest season where Summer meets Winter.
“In Edinburgh, the locals celebrate this festival by holding a parade every year. People would turn up in colorful costumes playing flutes, drums, carry torches and parade down the Royal Mile from Edinburgh Castle to the West Parliament Square near the St. Giles Cathedral. It is here that the festival takes on a more fiery approach with impressive fire displays while captivating the spectators with a theatric play of Summer versus Winter.”
In China, the ethnic Qiang people celebrate New Year’s Day in late autumn. This year’s festival occurred on Oct. 27th in Beichuan County. A parade is held, and participants wear beautiful embroidered finery decorated with furs. A Shaman drums to lead holy rites, and the Qiang people dance in a sacred circle, singing traditional folk songs, while sacrifices are burned on an altar. More photos and the full article can be viewed here: http://goo.gl/kVfSHl … a quote from this site:
“The Qiang Ethnic Group is one of China's 55 ethnic minority groups. According to the Chinese lunar calendar, the first day of October represents New Year for the Qiang nationality (the date falls on October 27 this year). On this special day, the Qiang people often hold a sacrificial ceremony to celebrate the occasion.
“Qiang people dance around the altar and yell, setting light to the branches of cypress trees which creates a thick plume of smoke which rises into the air. It is said that through the smoke, God can hear the voices of the Qiang People.”
On the Isle of Man, traditional Celtic culture is still very much alive, having survived or been reconsturcted. This includes the celebration of the original new year’s eve, or Hop-tu-Naa, which likely derives from Shogh ta’n Oie, meaning "this is the night" in Manx Gaelic. It is also called Sauin, which is pronounced pretty much the same as Samhain. The holiday, which takes place on Oct. 31st, predated the modern Halloween, yet contains many similar customs, including a harvest fair or Mhelliah, costumed trick-or-treating and processions, carving turnip lanterns, and a witch figure whose name has been Anglicized to Jinny.
According to an article in the "Manx Independent" newspaper in October 2007, Jinny's real name was Joney Lowney. She was tried at Bishop's Court for witchcraft in 1715 and 1716. Her offense was hexing a grist mill. Joney was sentenced to 14 days' imprisonment, fined £3 and made to stand at the crossroads dressed in sackcloth.
Like other Celtic-based Samhain or Halloween holidays, on Hop-tu-Naa feasting is enjoyed and divination is practiced. In olden times, cakes called Soddag Valloo, which means “dumb cakes”, were made from flour, eggs, salt and fireplace ashes by all female members of a family, and eaten in total silence by the unmarried women. They were expected to walk backward to their beds. While they slept, they would dream of a future spouse. This is reminiscent of the Dumb Supper practiced in the Appalachians. On the night of Hop-tu-Naa, ashes were smoothed out on the hearth before bedtime. If a footprint was found the next morning, it had special significance. A track pointing toward the door indicated that someone in the household would die, but if the footprint pointed inward, it indicated a birth.
While Manx children are trick-or-treating, they often carry the lit turnip lanterns and sing a traditional song, which contains lyrics about “Jinny the Witch” and proclaims, “I met a witch cat, it grinned at me, and I ran away.” At the end of the song, the kids announce:
“If you are going to give us anything, give it us soon,
Or we'll be away by the light of the moon.
Hop-tu-naa, Trol-la-laa.”
Another version of the song goes:
“Shoh shenn oie Houiney, Hop-tu-naa,
T'an eayst soilshean, Trol-la-laa"
In English:
"This is old Hollantide night, the moon shines bright".
You can view an article about the modern-day Hop-tu-Naa festivities here: http://goo.gl/9xCOIX … which includes a calendar of events that coincided with Halloween activities on the Isle of Man, including “a competition for the best homemade turnip lanterns”. One commentator added: “Mhelliah fairs are held traditionally at the end of summer or harvest time at which all produce grownmade is sold to the highest bidder in auction fashion. Dating back over a century, a mhelliah is thought to have originated in Celtic countries and is still a popular social occasion on the Isle of Man where they are held traditionally in the September / October of each year."
The BBC website, which has many photos, offers a more detailed explanation of the Hop-tu-Naa celebration’s history and customs ... http:// goo.gl/8iINuQ
We hope you enjoyed reading about these various Samhain customs, history and traditions, and that you continue to celebrate a very blessed Holy Day and happy New Year… at least until November 7th!