A Samhain post from back in 2023, all very factual and not very fun, but for the day that’s in it I think it’s worth a reshare. Genuinely one of my favourite holidays. I feel this and Imbolc in my bones! 🎃

Oíche Shamhna shona duit!

What aspects of your cultural heritage are you most proud of or interested in?

Samhain (pronounced SOW-in) is a significant cultural and historical festival in Ireland. It is one of four Gaelic seasonal festivals: Samhain (1 November), Imbolc (1 February), Bealtaine (1 May), and Lughnasa (1 August). It marks the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter and is believed to have Celtic pagan origins and some Neolithic passage tombs in Ireland are aligned with the sunrise at the time of Samhain.

Dating back thousands of years, Samhain was a time when the people believed that the veil between the mortal world and the spirit world was at its thinnest, they would celebrate and honor their ancestors, believing that they could communicate with them during this time. It also symbolised the transition from the light half of the year to the dark half.

Samhain included various customs and rituals that have been passed down through generations. These traditions involved bonfires, feasting, divination, playing games, and wearing costumes as protection against spirits.

The ancient festival is considered to have influenced the modern-day celebration of Halloween. As Christianity spread in Ireland, the festival merged with the Christian holiday of All Hallows’ Eve, which eventually transformed into Halloween. Do not get me started on the way Christianity appropriated pagan holidays. It’s maddening!

Despite the changes in religious and cultural practices in Ireland, Samhain’s essence has remained alive in Irish folklore and storytelling. It continues to inspire artistic expressions, music, and literature, reflecting the rich cultural heritage of Ireland.

The history and traditions surrounding Samhain offer a glimpse into Ireland’s cultural richness and the deep connection we have with our ancestors and seasonal cycles. Samhain and Imbolc are personally my two favourite seasonal festivals. I don’t mind the winter darkness and actually look forward to slowing down but come February I’m excited to start shaking off winter and welcome spring with open arms.

Fun fact:  pumpkin jack-o’-lanterns are a very new phenomena but jack-o’-lanterns are actually an old practice used by the Scots and Irish during Samhain, we used turnips and Mangelwurzel. This was something I actually did as a child as pumpkins weren’t readily available even then. Those creations were often times a lot scarier than the cute jack-o’-lanterns of today. The main reason being the fact that carving a turnip is not an easy task and a few of mine had the added bonus of real blood! 🎃

I was always under the impression that they were used to keep evil spirits away and we would carry them lit (with string handles) while trick-or-treating. I think this is a mixture of a few things to be honest but I was never attacked by an evil spirit so it obviously worked! 😉

The name Jack-o’-lanterns comes from the reported phenomenon of strange lights flickering over peat bogs, called will-o’-the-wisps or jack-o’-lanterns.