A Guide to Samhain: Exploring the Customs & Origins of Samhain

Samhain (pronounced sow-in or sah-win) is one of the four major Celtic festivals, a holiday that marks the passing of summer into winter, of the ‘light season’ into the ‘dark season’, and the end of the old year and beginning of the new. Now celebrated or acknowledged by many modern pagans, wiccans, druids, and magical practitioners throughout the world, Samhain’s origins lie in Ireland.

When we hear Samhain, that invokes in most images of bonfires, the Aos sì, ghosts, jack-o’-lanterns, and the like. Many of the practices observed around the holiday today are rooted in ancient Celtic customs of Ireland and Scotland, or hail from a mixture of later traditions with customs from England, Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany, as well as from traditions brought in with the Christianization of the holiday.

CUSTOMS & TRADITIONS:

Samhain is, hands down, the most widely celebrated of the Celtic festivals today. It was an ancient New Year festival, the ending of one year and the coming of the next. Samhain came to be known in modern times as the Witches’ New Year, as many modern practitioners of witchcraft all around the world make it a point to observe Samhain. However, the ‘Samhain’ that many people acknowledge today is more rooted in the Christianization of the tradition, which birthed the holiday of All Saints’ Day/All Souls’ Day, and not in the ancient Celtic pagan festival. This has certainly birthed more than a bit of confusion and misinformation about Samhain, its history and origins, and its traditions.

So, how is Samhain observed today and in the historical Celtic practices?

Bonfires

Bonfires were lit for many festivals in the Celtic practice. The fire has significance and power, the power to cleanse away any ill-fortune, to banish evil, and to protect the land and its people from malicious forces. It’s believed that the central Samhain bonfire in Ireland was, historically, on the Hill of Tlachtga near the town of Athboy in County Meath, which is known as the Hill of Ward. Smaller towns and villages would have a central bonfire, from which the fire would be taken by torch to every house in the area, and that house’s fire would be lit with the sacred, protective fire from the ritual bonfire.

Many people still light bonfires (or light a smaller campfire or fireplace) as a way of marking Samhain.

Spirits & Ancestors

Samhain occurs during a liminal time of year, when ‘the veil’ between our world and the Otherworld, the spirit realms, is thinner than usual. This means that this is a time when it is easier for the dead to come forth and communicate, and for other spirits and the Aos sí or sìth to travel among us. This means that, during this time, those who aren’t practiced in spirit work and those who don’t have the ability of second sight will be more likely to see, speak to, and interact with these forces than they otherwise would.

For this reason, Samhain is a time when one’s ancestors are honored. Many make offerings to the dead, nowadays commonly in the form of flowers, food, and alcohol, commonly ale, wine, or whiskey. It’s also an ideal time for ancestral work. If you’ve wanted to bring ancestral work into your practice but not known exactly when to start or how to do so, Samhain is a great time for exploring that because it will be easier to make contact with those ancestors you seek and to reach out and form the bonds needed to carry on with ancestral work. (Check out our post ‘Ancestor Work: an Introduction for Beginners’.)

Dumb Supper

Dumb Suppers, or Silent Suppers, are another tradition associated with Samhain. A Dumb Supper in this context is a silent feast for the dead, in which you prepare a meal (if reaching out to particular ancestors, you prepare a meal with some of their favorite foods or traditional foods from their time and culture) and you leave an empty seat open with a place set for whatever spirit(s) you’re trying to honor, or for whoever else may take a fancy to drop in for a bite. Traditionally, a door or window (or all the doors and windows) are left unlocked so the spirit can enter easily. I know some practitioners who leave their doors and windows unlocked all night. More power to ‘em, but not in my neck of the woods. Practice with caution, friends.

And, yes, you read that right. It’s a silent feast. No one speaks. The silence serves as a gesture of respect and to signify the sanctity of the event. It’s also believed that silence makes it more inviting for the spirits to come forth and makes them feel like it will be easier for them to be noticed and heard.

In some traditions, a plate is prepared for the spirits and is left out after the supper for the whole night, either just outside of the house or on the table. No one living is allowed to eat of this food, as it’s believed by many that if one does eat that which is designated for the dead, they’ll be denied any food or even food offerings from descendants in their afterlife.

For more on how to throw or observe a Silent Supper, please read our post: ‘the Silent Supper: A Rite to Honor the Spirits of the Dead.’

Feasts

As with the other major festivals of Beltane, Lughnasadh, and Imbolc, Samhain included a feast. This feast, however, was a bit riskier than those enjoyed on the other holidays because, while there was joy in celebrating this communal gathering and celebrating the year that has passed and the new year to come, there was also fear of what winter would bring. No one had any way of knowing how difficult the coming season would be, so it was a risk to hold a feast when the food used could have instead been added to the supplies for the winter.

Feasts, though, were a fixture of Samhain festivities and still are to this day. Many practitioners now host them on a smaller scale, celebrating with a dinner amongst friends and family instead of a grand affair involving their entire neighborhood or town. That being said, there are still areas that host communal Samhain gatherings and dinners.

Mumming & Guising

Here lie the origins of the Halloween customs of trick-or-treating, dressing up in costume, and making jack-o’-lanterns. Guising is the act of putting on a disguise or costume, which was intended to conceal one’s identity and protect them from the sìth but also to protect them from any repercussions that may come as a result of their Samhain pranks, thievery, and trickery, which was a very popular pastime amongst the youth, much like the modern Halloween acts of minor vandalism and prank calls that are still popular today. Mumming is the custom of merrily parading in guise and visiting the houses of one’s neighbours, where the leader of your group would recite whatever chant or prologue related to the holiday in their customs (much like children say ‘trick or treat’ at every door on Halloween). Food or drinks were offered to the parade of mummers.

The origins of mumming are believed to be found in the Roman festivals for Saturnalia, during which masked parades were organized as part of the revelry, as far back as 400 b.c. In the traditions of Ireland and Scotland, mummers would dress themselves as spirits or as figures in nature, such as trees, animals, and plants.

Jack-o’-lanterns come from the tradition of guising as well. Those who would go guising would prepare a lamp made from a hollowed-out turnip with a hole in the front, in which a lit candle or burning coal was placed to provide light in the dark night.

Divination

Divinatory practices and ‘divination games’ are also associated with Samhain. The Samhain bonfires were often featured in the divination rituals and games – some games involved running around the fire and singing and cheering, others involved throwing nuts into the flames and reading their behavior. Preparing Soddag Valloo (‘dumb cake’) is a traditional method of Samhain divination believed to originate on the Isle of Man. There were a few other cake-related and food-related methods of divination throughout Ireland, Scotland, and England as well, but those, and much more, can be found in our post – ‘Samhain Divination: Traditional Divinatory Practices of Samhain’.

Alcohol

Heavy drinking wasn’t uncommon at Samhain gatherings. Traditionally, ale was served. In many modern practices, that’s still the case. Some practitioners have taken to using apple-based liquors in keeping with the seasonal abundance of apples. In the southern United States, particularly in my home state of Kentucky, bourbon and whiskey are popular fixtures.

It’s a common practice to present alcoholic drinks as an offering to the dead, but it was also a traditional offering to local gods, spirits, and síth when bargaining during Samhain for safety through the winter.

HISTORY & ORIGINS:

Samhain was birthed in Ireland. Historically the festival was celebrated throughout Ireland, Scotland (where it’s called Samhuinn or Oidhche Samhuinn), and the Isle of Man (Sauin). The people of Brittany, Wales, and Cornwall acknowledged the (very similar) festival of Kalan Goañv/Calan Gaeaf/Kalan Gwav (respectively).

Samhain’s earliest known mention is found in ancient Irish literature from the 9th century, which depicts the festival as a time of great communal gatherings, feasts, and remembrance. There was also mention of bonfires and sacrifices. This would have been the time of year when the preparations for the long stretch of winter were wrapping up. In these times, the lives of the people in these areas changed from season to season. The harvests that came throughout the year would now provide the rations needed to survive the dark days of winter, during which there would be little-to-no hunting and gathering. This meant that you could not always provide for all your cattle throughout the length of winter. Instead of letting them starve to death or thinning the supplies that could go to your children or your family, often the ‘weaker’ (perhaps elderly or sickly, or maybe just less likely to thrive and make it through the season) of one’s livestock would be sacrificed at Samhain.

Though today Samhain is most popularly celebrated on a fixed date (the 31st of October into the 01st of November in the northern hemisphere, and the 30th of April into the 01st of May in the southern hemisphere), this would not have been the case for the ancient progenitors of this holiday. The festival would have fallen on (or very near) the midway point between the Autumnal Equinox and the Winter Solstice. It also lasted for more than the one or two days over which it is commonly celebrated now. In most references found, Samhain was observed for a period of at least three days to even a month. Many reconstructionist practitioners and native Irish and Scottish folk practitioners therefore observe Samhain over a longer period. Some observe from the New Moon before the 31st of October to the New Moon after.

CELEBRATING SAMHAIN TODAY:

There are many ways we can observe Samhain today. As I’ve gone over in this piece, many of the traditions of the ancient Samhain festival have given life to practices associated with this time of year, modern Samhain practices, and Halloween.

Maybe you’d like to forego the modern Halloween and pay the ancient festival of Samhain some love, but you’re not sure where to start. If that’s the case, start with whatever you can easily incorporate into your observance. If you live in an area where you can have a bonfire or light your fireplace, that’s a great tradition to keep. Having fire alone enables you to invoke protection, to take part in select divination practices, and to perform some ancestral or spirit work, as many practitioners of that craft use fire in their work.

Hosting a ‘feast’ – a celebratory dinner or family meal – or silent supper is an easy and familiar way to bring Samhain into your life. Some people host Samhain costume parties, complete with divination games and bonfires.

Paying respects to your ancestors and speaking to them, reaching out to them, is another way to observe Samhain, and it can be done as simply or as elaborately as you like – a simple ‘hey, how are you? Here’s a bouquet of flowers. Know that you’re remembered,’ a silent supper, or maybe a séance. Whatever way you feel comfortable reaching out, that’s the best place to start.

In whichever way you chose to mark Samhain, it’s important that we don’t forget where the festival and its traditions originate, and that we treat the customs and those who keep these traditions living with respect. We shouldn’t erase the roots of the holiday. Quite the opposite, we should honor those who brought this festival into the world. They may not be biological ancestors to all observers of Samhain, but they are in essence spiritual ancestors, and they should be honored and acknowledged for the traditions they’ve bequeathed us.

Sources and further reading:

‘Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore’ – Monaghan, Patricia
‘Carmina Gadelica, Vol. II’ – Carmichael, Alexander
‘Old Scottish Customs: Local and General’ – Guthrie, E.J.
'Samhain in Ireland' – O’Brien, Lora
‘Jones’s Celtic Encylcopedia’
'the Irish Pagan School'
‘Cailleach's Herbarium’

The Hill of Ward:

'Tlachtga: the Hill of Ward & the Samhain Fire' – Witt, Brian
'Discover Boyne Valley: Tlachtga (Hill of Ward), Athboy