Remembering Samhain

Samhain night with its ancient lore 
was occasion for new and merry custom; 
it was learned in the wilderness 
in oak-woods, from spirits and fairies.
-The Metrical Dindshenchas 

As the so-called "Halloween" approaches,  busy parents all over the country are frantically preparing their children's  costumes, buying candy for thick-or-treaters and attending Halloween carnivals and parties.  Kids of all ages tingle with the anticipation of the fun on Halloween night and some tremble with fear. Fundamentalist Christians froth at the mouth, insisting Halloween  is "evil" and "satanic," just as their creepy medieval predecessors did in the days they were burning eccentric old women alive and drowning or hanging others based on mere eccentricities coupled with false allegations of witchcraft.   Christians have defined their own religion, but unfortunately cannot accept that people of other faiths will define theirs. This leads to the inevitable (and continual)  "demonization"  of known Pagan holidays.  Since Samhain is widely known to be a Pagan holiday, the only alternative to wiping out historical memory of it is to misrepresent the spirit of the Samhain festival and its ancestral connections.  Therefore, instead of the truth that the Celts honored their ancestors on this night,  Christians have created the falsehood that our ancestors were sickos who worshipped evil Gods and sought to bring them to earth to create havoc on Samhain night. 

There is No Celtic Death God 

One of the most persistent rumours spread by the fundamentalist Jewdeo-Christians is that Samhain (pronounced "Sah-win") is the Celtic God of the Dead, and that the traditional Samhain festival is a celebration of him.  There has been mention of an obscure Celtic deity named Sawan or Samain,  who played the role of a minor hero in Celtic mythology, but most Celtic historians know little of him.  His role in Celtic mythology appears limited to a reference of Balor the Evil Eye stealing his magical cow.  Major dictionaries of Celtic languages don't mention any Samhain deity at all.  Apparently, the so-called Samhain demon was popularized by a man named Godfrey Higgins in 1827.  Higgins wrote a book attempting to prove the Druids originally came from India.  There was mention of Samana, the ancient Hindu/Vedic (Aryan) deity, their God of the Dead.  Modern historians and practitioners of our ancestral religion trace the erroneous information of a death God named "Samhain" to this 18th century book.  The reference, though, was not the first.  A man named Col. Vallency made mention of it in the late 1700's, before any research had been done on Celtic deities.   Since then, modern fundamentalist Christians have claimed followers of our people's religion are "lighting great bonfires to the Aryan death God,"  and despite evidence to the contrary, they continue to spread the erroneous information.  Regardless of whether or not there was some minor deity with a name resembling Samhain in the Celtic pantheon or anyone else's,  the Celts'  language explains the meaning of Samhain pretty clearly:  Samhain (Samhuinn) is Gaelic for "summers end," and means "Hallowtide."  Other word and definition variations exist in the Celtic world, but the meaning is essentially the same. 

Celebrating Lives; Past and Present

Samhain  (pronounced sow-een)  was the night of the great fire festival.  Halloween is celebrated on October 31st, but the ancients celebrated the Samhain festival in the first week of November.  Samhain was a cross-quarter holiday which fell on the night the sun reached 15 degrees in Scorpio.  Contrary to Christian assertions that our ancestors were kidnapping and sacrificing babies to the Aryan death God, they were merely marking the end of one season and the beginning of another.  Cattle were brought in for winter sheltering, crops were harvested and stored in preparation for winter.  There was a huge feast and celebration.  A celebration of life, for those who were living and remembrance of the deeds of ancestors who lived before them.  Samhain was a time when the veils between the worlds were the thinnest.  Certainly, creatures from the "otherworld" were thought to have crossed the portals, for those who were open to receiving them.  This was indeed the best time for divination, and many communed with the spirits of beloved ancestors. Catholics wanted the Celts to forget the deeds of their own ancestors, and adopt the Hebrew biblical folk tales in their place.  Samhain represented a problem in this regard (as Mother Goddess did before "Mother Mary" was brought in), because fun was associated with it.  The Celts were quite stubborn, and loved parties.  Samhain was an excuse to throw a big party.  So in typical Catholic style, they adopted Samhain, just as they have adopted most other Pagan holidays, deities, rites and rituals.   Such traditions as apple bobbing and the jack-o-lantern all originated from the original Samhain holiday, as did dressing up and pulling pranks.  The Celts recognized two seasons:  summer and winter.  Samhain was the beginning of the Celtic new year, and on this day the negatives were reflected upon and rituals were performed to ask for help in dissipating them.  Today, we call this the "New Years Resolution."  If you are interested more information on the history, lore or the rites and rituals associated with the ancient Samhain, here are a couple of references: 

www.chalicecenter.com/samhain.htm

www.quinion.com/words/articles/bump.htm

Wicca sites are also a good source of information, but I didn't list them here since they tend to reconstruct the Celtic religion in a manner that promotes feminism.  They generally ignore the masculine aspect, as well as promoting homosexuality, liberalism and multiculturalism.  Unfortunately, they are the only ones who still celebrate the holiday with rites and rituals.  As far as I am concerned, the best way for White people to celebrate Samhain is to light candles in the windows and reflect on the deeds of your ancestors.  As you take in the scent of Sandalwood (or whatever), you can ponder the sacrifices and hardships our ancestors made to get us here.  Since Samhain is our New Year, we can also resolve to perform deeds which will further the cause of our continued survival and prosperity.  If we honor our traditions and people, we will not fail them. 

Have a wonderful Samhain! 

ANGRY WHITE FEMALE