The most important Sabbat of the Wiccan year, Samhain (also called All Hallows Eve and Halloween) is at the opposite from Beltane on the wheel of the year. Pronounced SOW-wen (not sam-hane!), this sabbat is the one that suffers the most misinterpretation and bad press. Like the Christians' celebration of the birth of Christ, Samhain has been commercialized and secularized to the point where it is nearly unrecognizable from the old traditions.
This is the old Celtic New Year, and as such many wiccans and pagans recognize this as their own turning of the year. All Hallow's Eve is the day before All Hallow's Day (November 1st), and this is one of the few holidays where tradition remembers the Eve as more important than the Day. The celebration begins on sundown, October 31st. It marks the end of Summer and Autumn, and the beginning of Winter. Winter is often recognized as the domain of the God, and many covens echo this by having the High Priest in charge from Samhain to Beltane, and the High Priestess in charge from Beltane to Samhain (this is not the case in Our Lady of the Prairie). Samhain is the end of the old year, and the beginning of the new. Celebrants of Samhain used this time to remember those who had passed away in the past year, especially since this night was considered to be the night when the veil between this world and the spirit world is thinnest.
As a festival of the dead, it was believed the dead could return to the land of the living for this one night to celebrate with their family, tribe or clan. Extra places were set at the table and food set out for those who chose to return (called a 'dumb supper'). Celebrants also recognized that this night divination was most powerful. This can be best explained by Mike Nichols in an article about Samhain:
In a culture that uses a linear concept of time, like our modern one, New Year's Eve is simply a milestone on a very long road that stretches in a straight line from birth to death. Thus, the New Year's festival is a part of time. The ancient Celtic view of time, however, is cyclical. And in this framework, New Year's Eve represents a point outside of time, when the natural order of the universe dissolves back into primordial chaos, preparatory to re-establishing itself in a new order. Thus, Samhain is a night that exists outside of time and hence it may be used to view any other point in time.
At no other time in the year is Divination so powerful or accurate. Thus, our ancestors took this opportunity to foresee their futures by scrying, runes and later, tarot. Some other forms of divination traditional were the use of the apple: slice the apple through the equator (to reveal the five-pointed star inside) and then eat it by candlelight before a mirror. Your future spouse will appear over your shoulder. Or, peel an apple making sure the peeling comes off in one long strand, reciting: "I pare this apple round and round again, my sweetheart's name to flourish on the plain, I fling the unbroken paring o'er my head, my sweetheart's letter on the ground to read." Girls were also told to place hazelnuts along the front of the firegrate, one for each suitor. She could then divine her future husband by chanting, "If you love me, pop and fly. If you hate me, burn and die."
The Christian religion of course, views all attempts at 'seeing the future' as inherently evil. This did not keep the medieval Church from co-opting Samhain's other motif of remembering the dead. But the Church only remembers those 'blessed dead', those hallowed (made holy) by their obedience to the Church and the Christian God. Thus we have All Hallow's, and later All Saints or All Souls Day.
Theories abound regarding the origins of the famous jack-o-lanterns that are so popular now. Some say it is either Scottish or Irish in origin. It seems clear that a carved gourd was used as a lantern to mark roads and houses, the scary face would frighten away the evil spirits. The American pumpkin seems to have superseded the old European gourd in these modern times. Bobbing for apples may represent the remnants of a Pagan 'baptism' rite called 'seining', in which a water-filled cauldron was used to dunk a novice's blindfolded head, whose hands were also tied behind their backs.
Dressing in costume and 'trick-or-treating' is of Celtic origin, with strong survivals in Scotland. There are some important differences from the modern version however. First, the custom was not relegated to children only, but adults participated primarily. The 'treat' was often one of the spirits (the liquid variety). Roving bands would go singing seasonal carols from house to house, similar to Yuletime wassailing. In fact, 'caroling', which is now exclusively a Yule custom, was practiced at all major holidays. Finally in Scotland, the custom of dressing in costume was almost exclusively cross-dressing (men dressing as women, women dresing as men).
To Wiccans, Samhain is one of the four High Holidays, or Great Sabbats. It is in fact the most important Sabbat of all. With this being one of those rare holidays where many customs have survived in some form from ancient traditions, most wiccans continue these customs today. Our Lady of the Prairie celebrates Halloween with a commemoration of our beloved dead, a dumb supper, divination, and solemn yet joyful rituals. We generally spend the better part of the day together, when possible, eating out and wearing costumes or cloaks and cone witch's hats to the mall where the kids gather in costume to safely trick-or-treat.
Some things you can do for Samhain:
Beltane
Litha
Lughnassad
Samhain
Yule
Imbolc
Excerpts from OLP's Book of ShadowsContact Our Lady of the Prairie by EMAIL!
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Last modified March 16, 2002