It is hard to believe that it is already October 31st! It has been strangely warm (upper 70s) here in Wisconsin, where it is not unusual for Halloween to come with our first light snowfall! It is no secret my favorite time of year is fall. With the increasingly darker days, we move towards winter and the start of a new wheel of the year. So while we enjoy the final beautiful leaves falling let us celebrate Samhain!
To the ancient Celts (9th century), Samhain (Sow-win) was the final of three harvest festivals, beginning with Lughnasadh in August, followed by Mabon in September. It is the Celtic New Year, final harvest, and summer’s end, as final crops have been harvested, and garden beds cleared and prepared for the winter’s rest. It is also the time to tuck in and prepare our homes for the colder and darker months ahead. Samhain is also when the veil between the worlds is very thin allowing space between the human and spiritual worlds such that spirits can cross over more easily.
Early in European Christianity, the church set holidays coinciding with already long-established pagan traditions, as a way to bring them into the fold. Where Samhain is concerned it coincides with the religious All Saints Day on November 1st, and All Souls Day (also Dia De Los Muertos) on November 2nd. Here you can see the different belief systems all had one main focus of this feast; celebrating our ancestors and the dead.
So where did carving pumpkins come from?? Jack O’Lanterns came from Christian Irish lore about a man named Stingy Jack1 who repeatedly cheated the devil by tricking him. God was so unhappy with Jack, when he died God did not allow him into heaven but sent him around purgatory with a lump of burning coal in a turnip. In Ireland, people would carve turnips with faces, light them, and place them by their front doors to scare away Stingy Jack. Over the years pumpkins and gourds of all kinds were carved as part of the tradition.
Samhain is celebrated by lighting bonfires or candles, to guide the spirits and to prepare the earth for the next season’s growth. It is a time of gratitude, remembrance, and turning inward to hearth and home. You do not have to have elaborate traditions to celebrate the day! You can do any of a few easy things.
Light a candle and place it in an east-facing window to let your ancestors know you are thinking of them.
Make a hearty soup using root vegetables to celebrate the harvest. (I’m doing Colcannon to honor my Celtic roots2)
Carve a pumpkin or bob for apples!
Spend some time outside in nature; do some final garden clean-up, or collect leaves to dry.
Until Next Time,
