This Thursday, I’d like to post some interesting tidbits about Samhain!

Thirteen Interesting Things About Samhain

1. Secular Halloween’s customs of costumes, tricks and treats, jack o lanterns and ghosts all stem from an ancient pagan, mostly Celtic holiday called Samhain. Samhain was considered the end of the year - the crops were virtually all harvested at this point, and winter was setting in, and it was, to them, the end of one year, and the beginning of the next. It was also strongly affiliated with the death, and was considered a time to remember the dead.
2. Samhain is pronounced in half a dozen ways, but you’ll find that most people consider SOW-en (sow as in female pig, not as in sow your seeds) to be the ‘correct’ pronunciation. However, this varies as well, as Gaelic has many dialects and influences. Scots would not pronounce it the same as the Irish, nor the Welsh, etc.
3. Samhain is not - and was never - the name of any Celtic god, contrary to popular belief. It’s derived from a Gaelic word meaning ’summer’s end’.
4. The Church attempted to Christianize the holiday by forming All Saint’s Day, to remember dead saints. It obviously never really caught on…
5. Jack o lanterns were originally carved out of gourds and were used to frighten away evil spirits. Pumpkins were not used for jack o lanterns until American colonists discovered the pumpkin! Today’s gourds wait patiently on the sidelines while their fat, orange counterparts bask in candlelit glory.
6. Samhain is not always celebrated on October 31st, or November first as ‘tradition’ stands. Some modern pagans like to use the actual cross-quarter date (the exact middle date between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice) for their Samhain festival. This year, that would be November 7th. (On an unrelated note, that’s Election day where I live… I can sense a real need for some banishing spells here… *grin* Kidding, kidding… mostly…)
7. Modern pagans often hold the Samhain as the time between times, or the thinning of the veil, as ancient pagans did. This refers to the invisible veil between this world and the spirit world - or, in some cases, this world and /all/ other worlds. When this veil thins, it is easier to ‘cross over’ so to speak, and come in contact with those on other planes - the dead.
8. It’s also considered to be a prime time for divination, because during this time, as the time between times, /time/ does not function normally - and thus, you can easily see into the past and the future with much more clarity than usual. Think of it like taking a deck of cards and shuffling them and stacking them. This is time - one card flipped over every day, whatever. During Samhain, however, it’s as if the cards were thrown up in the air and scattered about, and you can see many of them at once.
9. Apples are one traditional divination tool. Unattached ladies - try this: on Samhain Eve (Oct 31st), peel an apple in one long spiraled piece, and toss it over your shoulder. When you turn around, it should form the first initial of the name of your husband to be. ;-)
10. Leaving food out for the spirits is another important tradition. Milk and bread are always good - but so is grain, soul cakes, or just anything.
11. Many modern pagans hold Dumb Suppers on Samhain or Samhain Eve. This is a supper served entirely in silence, usually with a plate set for the dead. The supper is in silence so to revere those passed, and also, to be able to hear and feel them when they join the table.
12. Sex on Samhain Eve/ Samhain can result in reincarnations, according to lore.
13. Looking for some witchy correspondences? Here’s a list:
    Colors: orange, black, brown (and personally, I like purple)
    Herbs: acorn, oak, apple, corn, hazel, nightshade, mugwort, allspice, sage, catnip, gourds
    Offerings & Food: apples, pumpkin pie beets, turnips, hazelnuts, corn, gingerbread, pomegranates, cider, herbal tea, pork.
    Gods/Goddesses: Hecate, Anubis, Isis, Osiris, Hel, Arawn, Don, Merlin, Morrigan, Idunna, Cailliach

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22 Comments »

1. Interesting! Thanks for educating us about Samhain. I was aware of #1 on your list, but most of the rest was new to me.

   Have a good day. :)

   Comment by Caylynn — October 26, 2006 @ 2:24 am

2. great TT! I will definitly be back here more often!

   Comment by Nathalitanis — October 26, 2006 @ 3:46 am

3. Being Welsh, I am going to go away and think about exactly how I pronounce Samhain … *walks off saying Samhain over and over*

   Comment by Jo (Laquet) — October 26, 2006 @ 3:54 am

4. Very interesting, I didn’t know this. Except in UK and Ireland, Halloween was not known at all in the rest of Europe but since a few years it came over more and more. As in Waterloo/Belgium where I live there are a lot of americans and britains it’s celebrated timidly yet but it’s nice. I also talked about Halloween in my gattinamycats blog because I also have a black cat amongst my four ! But so far she only brings me luck. She doesn’t need a costume for Halloween !

   Comment by Gattina — October 26, 2006 @ 4:01 am

5. Haha, great minds think alike! ;-)
   Happy TT!

   Comment by Tink — October 26, 2006 @ 4:31 am

6. Thursday Thirteen: The Guide to Halloween Costumes…

   64

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   The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, le…

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7. Celtic names are always a mystery to me. Siobhann is chevaon.

   Saiham = sowen. Okay now that word is stuck in my head.

   Happy TT!

   Comment by Mysterious Lady — October 26, 2006 @ 5:38 am

8. Thanks for all the info, particularly the pronunciation.

   LOL on #6–I sent my ballot in last week.

   Comment by Darla — October 26, 2006 @ 5:54 am

9. I love lists like this. Thanks for posting it.

   Have a Happy!

   Comment by Bev — October 26, 2006 @ 6:26 am

10. I love educational lists like this one! Happy TT!

    Comment by Uisce — October 26, 2006 @ 6:33 am

11. Great list. I learned a lot about Halloween today.

    Thanks for dropping by!

    Comment by Tiffany — October 26, 2006 @ 6:56 am

12. Glad you put the correct pronounciation for Samhain in there.

    Happy Samhain and blessed be.

    AC

    Comment by Andrew — October 26, 2006 @ 7:08 am

13. Great history lesson! I love Celtic/pagan history.

    Happy TT!

    Comment by N. Mallory — October 26, 2006 @ 7:32 am

14. Interesting to see two lists on the same topic but including different facts. I learned how to say Samhain–now when I read to my kids, they’ll hear the correct pronunciation.

    Have a great week!

    Comment by Melissa — October 26, 2006 @ 7:50 am

15. Wow, another post on something I had no clue about! Thanks for filling us in!

    Comment by Imperfect Christian — October 26, 2006 @ 8:04 am

16. I think I’ll try #9. Great post!

    Comment by Janet — October 26, 2006 @ 8:18 am

17. Very cool TT! I may also have to try out #9

    Comment by Annie — October 26, 2006 @ 10:03 am

18. Fascinating! Thanks for posting!

    In a tangentially related TT, I posted 13 lines from my demon story :)

    Comment by racy li — October 26, 2006 @ 1:08 pm

19. I continue to learn alot from todays TT. Thanks for sharing and for visiting me

    Comment by delightfulduchess — October 26, 2006 @ 1:29 pm

20. wow much more indepth then mine! Great job

    Comment by Sparky — October 26, 2006 @ 7:46 pm

21. I’ve never heard of this before. Thank you for the information!

    Comment by Kailani — October 26, 2006 @ 11:49 pm

22. […] year, I posted a TT on Samhain. Read it here. That done, here’s some information on […]

    Pingback by Knit Witch ~ casting on a spell — October 25, 2007 @ 4:08 am

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