Samhain (sow-ihn) is an Irish Gaelic word that means "summer's end." Today is the witches' new year, the most important of the eight Wiccan Sabbats, the final harvest festival in the Wheel of the Year, and a day to honor the dead. Those of us who are celebrating Samhain tonight still enjoy the festive atmosphere that comes with Halloween, but for us, this is a particularly holy day, when the veil between the worlds is thin and much magick is possible. Around the world tonight, witches will be meeting to communicate with their ancestors, to release the past year, to ask the ancestors for their guidance in the next, and to celebrate with seasonal food and drink, always leaving a place for the one who is no longer with us.

Celtic Spirit has a great overview of Samhain.

For me, tonight will be about connecting with ancient Scottish ancestors I've recently discovered and with the grandmother who is my namesake. The Scots refer to tonight as Samhuinn Oidhche Shamhna (sah-vin uh-ee-hyuh how-nuh), or Samhuinn Eve.

In an old book I found, Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Scottish Highlands by John Gregorson Campbell, 1902, Samhain, or Hallowmas, is described:

The coming of winter was hailed with more fun and merriment than any other season of the year. The cold was now fairly set in, the fruits of the summer, down to the very nuts, were gathered, and the young became desirous of learning their fate with regard to that subject of anxiety in every age, their future husbands and wives. This natural welcoming of winter explains the ceremonies of the day, and the games of the evening. Hardly any of them have reference to the practices or deities of the nations of antiquity or to Scripture, and this explanation must be sought for in Pagan times.

The Raven, © 2004-2006 Tattoed at deviantART

Campbell's obvious Greco-Roman bias regarding "deities of the nations of antiquity" is really rather amusing. There are a number of Celtic deities one can associate with Samhain, particularly The Mórrígan, a triple goddess represented by the Raven. While Mórrígan is a powerful warrior goddess, she is also regarded as a protector of her people and in one aspect is a goddess of the land and of fertility. One legend has Dagda, the Father God of ancient Celts, coming upon Mórrígan one Samhain, bathing herself in a stream. The two have sex, reminding us of the Samhain ritual marriage between the leader of the tribe and the goddess of the landd to ensure prosperity for the coming year. Mórrígan warns Dagda of an approaching enemy army and counsels him on how to defeat the enemy king, thus securing victory for the Tuatha Dé Danann, the race of divine beings who inhabited Ireland prior to the coming of the Celts.

But back to our dear Mr. Campbell. Despite some of his prejudice, his book is a wonderful accounting of Scottish traditions associated with the Wheel of the Year. It's interesting to note that for all of its Christian whitewashing, the book is largely a compendium of the very Pagan practices and origins that Campbell takes pains to dismiss. To continue with his description of the Samhain celebration:

On the last day of autumn children gathered ferns, tar-barrels, the long thin stalks called gàinisg, and everything suitable for a bonfire. These were placed in a heap on some eminence near the house, and in the evening set fire to. The fires were called Samhnagan. There was one for each house, and it was an object of ambition who should have the biggest. Whole districts were brilliant with bonfires, and their glare across a Highland loch, and from many eminences, formed an exceedingly picturesque scene. Some find in them traces of the worship of the invariable Baal, but there is no reason to look upon them otherwise than as the natural and defiant welcome of the season, in which fires are most required, when the heat of the year is departed, and cold and frost and rushing winds cover all things with gloom. Bonfires are kindled on all occasions of public rejoicing, or excitement, and Hallowmas fires are a natural extension of the change of the season. It is possible a deity was originally associated with the practice, but there is now no trace of him in name or practices of this day.

Deity indeed! As with other Pagan festivals and Wiccan Sabbats, the gods draw near to Earth at Samhain, so it is traditional for people both ancient and modern to make offerings to them in thanksgiving for the harvest and to take this opportunity to communicate with them for a variety of reasons. Campbell's reference to Baal as a particular god may be a misuse of the generic term baal, which is a semitic honorific title, like "lord," given to a variety of gods and spirits. The lighting of fires at Samhain, and at Beltane, is symbolic of the Druids' practice of lighting the fire for the new year, from which all members of the tribe would light their own hearth fires. Pagan spirituality, and Wicca in particular, is rooted in the cyclical movement of the seasons and following the Sun on its journey into the dark and back into light again; the Sun God dies, is born again and rises to glory. At Samhain, while the Sun is dark, there is a seed of hope that he will return again in the new year. As we light fires at Samhain, we feel a kindling of new dreams for the year to come. These fires are often used to send personal prayers, or petitions, to the gods and ancestors for the things we need or want in the new year or to help us banish bad habits that we don't wish to bring into the new year with us.

As the evening wore on, the young people gathered to one house, and an almost endless variety of games (cleasan) were resorted to, with the object in every case of divining the future lot of the company.

The Tarot Spread © 2006 amkfoto at deviantART

Divination is another important aspect to Samhain. Because the spirits are so close, it's the perfect time to ask for their guidance and wisdom. Campbell lists in his book a long and entertaining list of customary methods of divination from Scottish folklore, many of which center around questions of marriage. Surely, this would have been a natural source of curiosity for young people - and still is! I also think that Campbell thought that divination about marriage was inoffensive enough for what he considered to be his Christian audience. Most Pagan references to Samhain include divination methods particular to this holiday, like Apple Magic and Dreaming Stones, but tarot is also a typical and popular tool. SFGate had a great article on the subject of divination at Samhain: Finding My Religion: A pagan priestess talks about Halloween and the Tarot

Many of the practices and traditions associated with modern-day Halloween are stalwart Pagan hold-overs from ancient times, so important was this holiday to the people. Halloween was always my favorite holiday growing up. I'd like to think it was the Pagan in me instinctively celebrating when the veil was thin and the ancient ancestors and spirits were able to reach me. Tonight, I look forward to reaching out to them.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 12:32 PM