Samhain & the Wheel of the Year

In the Celtic Isles, many of the old ways persist, remnants of traditions from centuries ago are still loyally preserved or else they’ve been distilled into common traditions whose roots lie hidden under the moss and leaf litter of time. Peek behind the gauzy curtains of Halloween and we can trace these old ways, see the persistence of age old traditions and uncover the roots of our most common Halloween ways.

Ancient Celtic Wheel of the Year - The Four Festival Days: Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane, & Lunasa

and the 4 Cross Quarter Days arranged by the suns positions: Winter Solstice, Spring Equinox,
Summer Solstice, & Autumn Equinox 

The ancient Celtic calendar was a wheel which turned little by little through the seasons until it rolled right back around to Halloween or Samhain as it was called. Samhain in Irish is pronounced SOW-EN and it means summer’s end. It marks the end of the Celtic Year and so also the New Year. It is a threshold, when crossed one passes from the summery light half, to the wintry dark half. And entering the cold dark half has a lot to do with why Samhain, Halloween, is associated with dark things. The sun grows cold and the trees shed their final golden leaves, plant wither to grey then they are gone, animals prepare for long winter sleep. Food and warmth are scarce. The harvest has been stored, the wood gathered, and folks, too, prepare for the season of Earth’s sleep. Because Samhain, summer’s end, is traditionally a festival day, there are many folk traditions and rituals that accompany it. We'll explore those next...