The festival of Samhain in Ireland’s Celtic past holds the origin of Halloween
Samhain has been divided into three distinct elements. Firstly, the fire festival is celebrated on the evening of 31st October and the following day
Old fire flames have to be extinguished ceremonially with the help of druids; then the new fire will be re-lit. It’s not like the New Year’s Day which is the transition from the old to the new.
According to the pagan ancestors, the day is marked as the pastoral cycle. It’s the time of the year when the crops are harvested and placed in the storage for the long winter. At the same time, the slaughtering and the breeding of the livestock will be carried out.
During this time of the year, it is also said that the souls of the departed would return to their former homes and the malevolent spirits would be released from the other world and are visible to the mankind.
The place Celtic calendar: Samhain
Four festivals are celebrated by Celtics. Neither of those festivals are connected to the Sun cycle. The origin of Halloween is rooted in The Celtics autumn festival. This festival is held on the first day of the 11th month; the month is November and this festival is held on the first day of the 11th month. The month is November in English and Samhain in Irish.
The festival is known by different names in other Celtic countries usually with the same meaning.
While in Scottish Gaelic, the Festival of autumn is called as Samhuinn and called Sauin in the Manx.
The word ‘sam’ means summer and ‘fuin’ means end. This just mean the idea of seasonal change rather than the cultural worship or ritual.
In Q Celtic (the Celtic language of another group) has very different words but the same intention. In Welsh, this day is called as Calan Gaeaf, which means the first day of winter. Similarly, the day in Brittany is called Kala Goanv, which is termed as the beginning of November.
Celtics believe this day starts with darkness and transition into lightness. The same thing explains why winter is the season of the long dark nights that marks the beginning of the year and transition into the lighter days of spring, autumn and summer.
This is the reason, 1st of November in accordance to Samhain is termed as Celtic New Year. The celebration on this day begins at sunset; a day before its Eve.
Roman Autumn Festival
Romans celebrated the harvest festival dedicated to Pomona, which means the goddess of fruits, especially apples. This is the reason the Halloween special menu includes apples and so does the Halloween games. It’s all dated back to this period.
Pomona was celebrated long after the arrival of Christianity in Roman Europe. So did the Samhain in Ireland. While it was inevitable defined in alternate you to push pagan culture and lure into a more acceptable Christian event.
Halloween’s spookiness Origin
Samhain is a spiritual time for Celtics, but there are lots of confusion around it.
In transit or years between, usually there has been stable boundaries between the human world and the other world but during this time; the world becomes less secure so that Puka, fairies, banshees other spirits are able to come and go quite freely. There are also ‘Shape Shifters’ and that’s when the dark side of Halloween originated.
At Samhain, to let loose the evil, large bonfires are lit and people would wear ugly beard mask in order to disguise/confuse the spirits and the dead one’s from identifying the people whom they had disliked during their lifetime.
Deliberately, they make lots of noise in order to unsettle the spirits and drive them away from home. Some timid people would also leave food outside their homes, whitethorn or hawthorn thinking that their generosity would please the Spirits.
Well for some of them the tradition of leaving food and a spoon to eat was more of hospitality towards their ancestors.
Samhain Night is believed to be full of portents of the future because incantations of evils and witches is very powerful that day.
Derry in Ireland holds the best Halloween party
The origin of Halloween doesn’t lie in Derry. Derry still holds world’s largest Halloween party each year. As per the records, more than 30,000 people appear on streets that day and most of them are dressed as ghouls, vampires, witches and monsters who seem to have appeared from the other world.
During this day, you would certainly hear the Banshees screaming, you can hear ceilidh music, marching bands, hard rock and calypso and carnival proceeds through the town.
Many places host free concerts and events including ghost walks which are held throughout the city followed by a spectacular fireworks display that brings the celebrations to the close.