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Happy Samhain

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Halloween, or All Hallows Eve, in its original form is an ancient Celtic religious celebration that welcomed the harvest. People feasted and partied and in order to cautiously ward off ghosts, they lit bonfires and wore costumes to scare them away.

The advent of Christianity meant that elements of the ancient harvest festival were frowned on and the early church decided to incorporate it into the new November 1 All Saints Day, which was meant to eventually replace Samhain.

But things got a little muddled. “Halloween” is derived from All Hallows Eve, the name given to the evening before November 1, which is when Christians are to recognise and venerate the hallowed or consecrated and holy saints. Except things didn’t completely go that way.

The Samhain traditions remained largely untouched, regardless of Pope Gregory’s long-ago efforts back in AD 1000 to replace the celebration with a Christian one.

Most people don’t realise that the name “Halloween” is the shortened form of a Christian religious observance meant to overtake and eventually remove the old Samhain beliefs and practises, but Samhain lives on and the religious importance of November 1 has often been forgotten.

Happy Tuesday; happy Samhain. 🎃

18 thoughts on “Happy Samhain”

  2. I think the observance of autumn harvest is still an important event. A time to relax, rejoice and reflect. Organized religions often try to change things with varied degrees of success. Big business then gets involved and capitalizes. Happy Samhain Lynette. Allan

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    1. Thank you, Allan.
      I agree. I was in Canadian Tire last week and literally saw holy family figures next to the zombies while the Christmas trees were competing with the plastic pumpkins. I surreptitiously tried to take a photo but was unsuccessful. It felt like I was inside someone else’s hallucination. And no recognition of Remembrance Day or a bit of a hold on Christmas fripperies until it has passed. My apologies – a bit of a rant – but it’s really quite awful.

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      1. I do agree. Hallowe’en only became this extravagance because companies could make money off peoples need to decorate. We were just talking about the collision between Hallowe’en and Christmas in stores on the weekend. There is no money to be made in Remembrance Day, so it never gets space. If not for those that fought and died, many would not be able to make money. Sorry, I ran ted too. Allan

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        1. Rant away! I agree that Remembrance Day is left in the dirt because companies can’t make money and yes, good point: they are able to make money because of the historical sacrifices of others.

          I complained to a company last year who referred to Remembrance Day “celebrations” in their advertising. As a veteran I found that behaviour particularly egregious. They came back with an apology … and a discount. I haven’t shopped there since.

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  7. I am one of those people that didn’t realize where the name Halloween comes from. Thanks for the fun facts. Hope you had a happy Samhain. We didn’t get nearly as many trick-or-treaters this year compared to last year so we’re stuck with a bunch of leftover Halloween candy and chocolates. And I have no control over my sweet tooth.

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    1. It’s funny how the name Halloween and the ghost-fearing traditions of Samhain became intertwined. I don’t think poor old Pope Gregory would be happy about how his plan turned out!

      Oh boy, Halloween leftovers! I both adore and hate them. Like you, I don’t have a lot of control over my sweet tooth!

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  8. I used to only know about Halloween from movies. I was amazed experiencing it the first time when I went to the US in 2005. I liked the different colors of the pumpkins.

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