topic Re: Samhain in Community Chat

Samhain

traveler — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 14:46:18 GMT

Anyone celebrate? We're not really into Halloween. No children.

Re: Samhain

AngusandBuddhasMom — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 14:54:14 GMT

@traveler wrote:
Anyone celebrate? We're not really into Halloween. No children.

Yes my daugher's birthday is October 30th so the celebration starts for us early and after other significant holidays that fall before are observed and celebrated.

Re: Samhain

Noel7 — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 14:57:38 GMT

I acknowledge the Celtic New Year, November 1.

What do you do for Samhain? I consider Samhain the basis of Halloween.

Re: Samhain

Q4u — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 15:24:27 GMT

Both of my boys were born on Oct 27th (4 years 6 3/4 hurs apart) so we celebrate their birthday at the end of the month.

Both boys went to Lutheran School until 6th grade and although the All Hallows Eve was celebrated (the evening prior to All Saints Day).... the children were not allowed to wear devil or "evil" costumes (by the Church and by us) The school had a Fair, a Cake Walk and tons of fun activities and we took them trick or treating too but they had a little different education regarding the night.

Re: Samhain

mstyrion 1 — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 15:42:51 GMT

I observe Samhain. As Noel said, it is the basis for Halloween and also a celebration of the Harvest. It's roots are Pagan and there is no All Saints Day associated with the Samhain holiday. That was a clebration added by the early Catholic church.

In Pagan tradition the veil between heaven and earth is said to be the thinnest on Samhain. It is when the spirits of the departed are closet to us.

Re: Samhain

Moonchilde — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 16:31:07 GMT

@traveler wrote:
Anyone celebrate? We're not really into Halloween. No children.

Not sure what you're asking, by the thread title and your OP.

While Samhain as the Celts observed it is the the basis of the beginnings of our "modern" (19th-21st C) celebrations of Halloween, and Irish immigrants brought with them the roots of some of our Halloween customs, Samhain hasn't traditionally been just another name for Halloween, even if a few 21st C references say it is.

Samhain was and still is a Celtic pagan harvest festival and is still observed as such by some completely apart from "Halloween" traditions. It has more meaning than just trick-or-treat.

I recognize, and by that I mean acknowledge as 21st C celebrations/observances, both Samhain and the Winter Solstice/Yule, as well as Beltane and Lughnasa, in part because of my Celtic roots.

Re: Samhain

Noel7 — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 18:30:24 GMT

All of the Celts celebrated celebrated Samhain as far as I know, but the Irish have come to stand for all Celts unfortunately. I see a lot of art that's Welsh but called Celtic by the umbrella term or even assumed to be Irish because it isn't specified.

Anyway, being mostly Welsh, then Irish with some Cornish, I imagine my ancestors pretty much all celebrated the festival.

Re: Samhain

Moonchilde — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 18:47:43 GMT

And Celtic peoples were not just restricted to the British isles. Brittany in France and Galicia in Spain have strong Celtic heritage in language (Breton), music, and culture, among other places in Europe and the Iberian Peninsula.

I haven't heard a lot of Galician music (have liked what I've heard), but I've learned that I love Breton music. The pipes they use (biniou) sound melancholy-medieval to me.

An excellent recording to get the feel is the album Celtic Wedding by The Chieftains.

Re: Samhain

RainCityWoman — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 19:01:48 GMT

Halloween has always been one of my favorite celebrations. As kids, we would plan all summer for our costumes, which we made ourselves. We had a costume parade at school and prizes were given, plus the moms would bring in cupcakes and punch for our rooms. Then my family would make their famous popcorn balls for just the kids on our street, plus we'd buy candy for everyone else. After that was the Trick or Treating. It was just the best.

I have Celtic roots, so I am familiar with the Druid celebrations and All Hallowed Saints Eve. I've been to Stonehenge, and have always wished that I could attend a modern day celebration in the shadows of the rocks on Halloween.

Re: Samhain

Noel7 — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 19:03:41 GMT

The Welsh are said to be pre Breton and in the British isles before the Celts came. But over time they blended with the Celts.

I remember reading that it was the Irish who began carving and carrying gourds for Samhain.

Re: Samhain

Imadickens — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 19:11:50 GMT

I have never heard of this particular day! Thank you for bringing it up! I'll enjoy researching it!

Re: Samhain

Noel7 — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 19:15:30 GMT

Have fun! @Imadickens

I hope you don't read anything about devil worship, it wasn't that at all. In fact, the devil is a Christian construct, not Pagan.

Re: Samhain

Moonchilde — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 19:21:53 GMT

@Noel7, when you said it was "unfortunate" that in many peoples' minds a Celt is automatically thought of as Irish, I was going to say that *Halloween* is certainly considered Irish Celtic because of the huge waves of Irish and Scots-Irish immigrants to the US in the 19th and 20th C, and rightly so in that frame. It was the many Irish traditions that caught on in the US simply because of the huge numbers of Irish immigrants in comparison to other Celtic areas.

My Celtic roots (as opposed to my English ones) are mostly Irish and Scots-Irish, but also include Cornish and Welsh - and for all I know, perhaps even Galician/Iberian as 1% of my DNA has been identified as Iberian. My last DNA test has just come out. 91% UK ancestry going back 1000 years.

Re: Samhain

Noel7 — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 19:39:48 GMT

@Moonchilde wrote:
@Noel7, when you said it was "unfortunate" that in many peoples' minds a Celt is automatically thought of as Irish, I was going to say that *Halloween* is certainly considered Irish Celtic because of the huge waves of Irish and Scots-Irish immigrants to the US in the 19th and 20th C, and rightly so in that frame. It was the many Irish traditions that caught on in the US simply because of the huge numbers of Irish immigrants in comparison to other Celtic areas.

My Celtic roots (as opposed to my English ones) are mostly Irish and Scots-Irish, but also include Cornish and Welsh - and for all I know, perhaps even Galician/Iberian as 1% of my DNA has been identified as Iberian. My last DNA test has just come out. 91% UK ancestry going back 1000 years.

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@Moonchilde

The Welsh came at the same time, there were just a lot more Irish than Welsh or Cornish. But I was referring to many things, not Halloween specifically. I see art all the time labeled "Celtic" when it is specifically Welsh. And other things.

Re: Samhain

wildlifewitch — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 22:01:05 GMT

Exactly.Pagans don't even beleive in Satan.

Re: Samhain

RainCityWoman — Tue, 25 Oct 2016 01:13:58 GMT

I believe the Celts and their Druid priests celebrated the change of seasons with Samhain and Beltane. Samhain dealt with harvest and the death of vegetation. Beltane celebrated fertility and regrowth. Samhain morphed into All Hallowed Saint's Day celebrating the spirits of the dead. The may be two other seasonal days, but I don't remember them I'll have to look them up. Halloween, its actual name came from Hallowed Evening or E'en.