Some History and Traditions of Samhain

“Great was the darkness of that night, and demons would appear on that night always.”

In the United States we celebrate Halloween, All Hollows Eve, or Samhain (pronounced “Sah-win”), commonly by dressing up in costume and parading children around in the local neighborhoods while they go door to door and ask for candy.  Adults generally do this masquerading in local taverns and clubs while trying to win prizes for the best costumes.  However, to the average pagan, this is the time of year in which we acknowledge many traditional aspects about the holiday and find ourselves partaking in customs that are more closely related to the magical practices and beliefs of the ancient Celts. 

It is commonly known that November Eve is the night in which the veil between the living realm and the spirit realm is the thinnest or is completely removed, allowing for supernatural forces to occur.  This concept was interestingly Christianized at some point in history and lead to the belief that the ghosts whom came through this non-existent barrier on Halloween were the souls of those who found themselves in Purgatory after death.  Perhaps this derives from the rise of papal authority of the Roman church and the result of de-paganizing Rome during the Reformation which concluded with the destruction of many pagan traditions and literature surrounding Europe, leaving us with not nearly as much reference as was possibly produced about pagan tribes and traditions throughout history. 

However, according to folklorists and surviving ancient Irish sagas of the 9th through 12th centuries during this holiday pagans worship the old gods and special efforts were made to cope with the spirits who roamed the earth.  This was also a time for legal and practical affairs surrounding the immense harvest that took place during this time, such as securing farmsteads, thus rituals surrounding this concept were performed.  Battles were also fought, journeys began, and wars were decided upon.  The decisions made in regards to these practical affairs resulted in reliance on prophecy and divination.

The divinations performed during Samhain were not always inspired by legal and practical matters.  It is also said that if one wished to see their future mate that they can look into a mirror during this night and see an image of them appear over their shoulder in the mirror’s reflection.  These divinations were regarded as traditional games.  One such game which is still known in modern Ireland is referred to as, “the snap-apple game”, where one secures or fastens an apple and a candle to the arms of a cross and spins them around while players try and take bites from the apple as the cross spins passed them…but there is also the chance that the participant will accidently snatch the end of the cross containing the burning candle…what was the purpose? And, ouch! Perhaps this is where our traditional and somewhat safer game of bobbing for apples from a bucket of water derived from?

Commonly, in Western culture we carve pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns for Halloween.  The story of the jack-o-lantern is quite a dark tale, originating from Great Britain, “The jack-o-lantern is said to be the wandering spirit of a blacksmith named Jack, who was too evil to get into Heaven, but because he had outwitted the devil, was not allowed into Hell.  Expelled from Hell, he gathers glowing coal in the vegetable he is eating and uses it as a lantern to light his way as he wanders Earth.”

Halloween costumes seemingly originated from the idea of taking on the persona of a pagan figure or deity.  Looking at early American traditional Halloween costumes, the majority of them are masked representations of devils, demons, witches, etc.  During this time in which the veil between the spirit realm and living realm is passable it could inspire one to associate themselves with the dead or demonic presumably allowing them to blend in with the ghoulish creatures to detract themselves from their evil or mischievous doings or to celebrate alongside as a pagan invoking and evoking the traditional and original elements of this festivity.

We are here to inform you on the folklore, magic, and myths of Samhain and “dispel” any commercialized information on the holiday in order to bring an understanding of its true meaning. Magus Books hopes that you all have a splendid Samhain and autumn season this year, no matter what spooky shenanigans you get yourselves into during this holiday!      



KYLE FORD

Cress, Tom Peete, and Clark Harris Slover. "The Irish Monthly." Ancient Irish Tales. no. 757 (1936): 496.
Johnson Sewell, Helen. "November Eve Beliefs and Customs in Irish Life and Literature." The Journal of American Folklore. no. 320 (1968): 133-142.
Santino , Jack. "Halloween in America: Contemporary Customs and Performances." Western Folklore. no. 1 (1983): 1-20.