Samhain Overview
Samhain is a pagan religious festival that began in ancient Celtic spiritual tradition.
In modern times, Samhain (a Gaelic word pronounced “sow-win”) is usually celebrated from October 31st to November 1st to welcome in the harvest and usher in “the dark half of the year.”
Peolple who celebrate Samhain believe that the barriers between the physical and the spirit worlds break down during Samhain, allowing more interaction between humans and denizens of the Otherworld.
Ancient Samhain
Ancient Celts marked Samhain as the most significant of the four quarterly fire festivals, taking place at the midpoint between the fall equinox and the winter solstice.
Celebrants joined with Druid priests to light a community fire using a wheel that would cause friction and spark flames. Cattle were sacrificed, and participants took a flame from the communal bonfire back to their home to relight the hearth.
Christian Influences
As Christianity gained a foothold in pagan communities, church leaders attempted to reframe Samhain as a Christian celebration.
The first attempt was by Pope Boniface in the 5th century. He moved the celebration to May 13 and specified it as a day celebrating saints and martyrs. The fire festivals of October and November, however, did not end with this decree.
In the 9th century, Pope Gregory moved the celebration back to the time of the fire festivals, but declared it All Saints’ Day, on November 1.
Modern Halloween
Neither new holiday did away with the pagan aspects of the celebration. October 31 became known as All Hallows Eve, or Halloween, and contained much of the traditional pagan practices before being adopted in 19th-century America through Irish immigrants bringing their traditions across the ocean.
Halloween pranks also have a tradition in Samhain, in the ancient celebration, tricks were typically blamed on fairies.