Delving into the rich tapestry of folklore, customs, and beliefs surrounding the night of the 31st of October to the 1st of November—commonly known as Samhain or Halloween—offers a fascinating journey through time and across cultures. From the pastoral landscapes of Wales to the rugged terrains of Scotland and the Isle of Man, the night has been considered a liminal time, fraught with supernatural potency. Yet, as we’ve explored, the customs and beliefs are far from monolithic. They vary from region to region, reflecting local traditions, fears, and hopes. Whether it’s the lighting of bonfires, the performance of divinatory rites, or the belief in supernatural beings like the tail-less black sow in Wales, these customs serve as protective or propitiatory measures against the unknown.
Contrary to popular notions, the idea of a ‘Celtic fire festival’ doesn’t hold up under scrutiny. Instead, we find strong local traditions that have evolved, influenced by pagan and Christian beliefs. While the night has been imbued with a sense of the supernatural, there is no conclusive evidence to suggest that it was universally associated with the dead or marked the beginning of a new year. Yet, the night remains enveloped in a shroud of mystery, its customs a testament to the human need to understand and negotiate with the unseen forces of the world. So, let’s continue to unravel these intricate threads of history, belief, and tradition that make this night one of the most enigmatic and captivating in the calendar. (Hutton, 2001, pp.716–736)
Before we dive in, I’d love to remind you to sign up for my newsletter! Please don’t rely on the inconsistent algorithm and social media platforms that could shut down whenever they decide. By signing up for my Newsletter, you’ll always be up to date with my work and will get access to exclusive content, pictures, insights and academic research.
You will find the link in the Bio, the cards, the info box, and a pinned comment. You’ll also find all the ways to support Angela’s Symposium, as this project is brought to you by you! And thank you to the generous souls who make this knowledge available to all!
Now, Let the Symposium begin!
Hello Symposiast! I’m Dr Angela Puca, religious studies PhD, and this is your online resource for the academic study of magick, esotericism, paganism, Shamanism, and all things occult.
As it is known today, Hallowe’en has its roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain, which marked the transition from summer to winter and was considered the beginning of the Celtic New Year. Samhain was a time of dualities: both an end and a beginning, a time of physical and spiritual transitions. The Celts observed nature’s cycles—such as the falling leaves and the onset of winter—as metaphors for life and death. This festival was not just a time of reflection but also one of active engagement with the spiritual realm. The Celts believed that the boundaries between the earthly world and the afterlife were porous during Samhain, making it a suitable time for communion with ancestral spirits who could offer guidance for the coming year.
The festival also had a practical side. It was a time for feasting and culling weaker animals to conserve resources for the harsh winter months. Druids and soothsayers played a significant role in these celebrations, offering divinations and forecasts for the year ahead, which were necessary for agricultural and political planning.
With the advent of Christianity in Britain, efforts were made to subsume the pagan traditions of Samhain under Christian observances like All Saints Day (November 1st) and All Souls’ Day (November 2nd). However, the pagan practices were not entirely eradicated and lived on in the form of Hallowe’en, the eve of All Saints Day. While Christianity sought to recast the festival’s ‘uncanniness’ as a threat to Christian souls, it also adopted some of its themes, such as the veneration of the dead, albeit in a Christian context.
However, it’s important to highlight that much of the history around Samhain remains ambiguous and warrants further scholarly investigation.
Samhain, celebrated on the 1st of November, was a significant festival in early medieval Ireland that marked the onset of winter. It was one of the four quarter days mentioned in the ancient text Tochmarc Emire and was considered the antithesis of Beltane, a festival welcoming summer. Samhain was when livestock were brought in from summer pastures, and the cold and confinement season began for humans and animals. The cereal harvest would have been completed by this time, and periods of warfare and trading would close.
The festival was also a crucial time for tribal assemblies, known as ‘the feis of Samhain,’ where local kings convened their communities. These gatherings were a popular setting in early Irish narratives. According to the twelfth-century text Serglige Con Culaind, the feis of the Ulaid (Ulstermen) spanned seven days—three days before, three days after, and the day of Samhain itself. These assemblies were filled with meetings, games, entertainment, and feasting, making Samhain a time of transition and a period of community bonding and celebration.
Jeffrey Gantz and Proinsias MacCana offer different interpretations of the significance of Samhain in early Irish literature. Gantz suggests that Samhain was considered a time of heightened supernatural activity, as evidenced by the numerous stories set during this festival involving encounters between humans and otherworldly beings like deities, fairies, and monsters. He also notes that many legendary kings met their end during this time.
MacCana, on the other hand, views Samhain as ‘a partial return to primordial chaos,’ a setting that symbolises the dissolution of established order before its eventual renewal. Both scholars acknowledge that the tales themselves cannot definitively prove these interpretations. The stories may simply be set during Samhain because it was a major gathering of royalty and warriors, providing an ideal context for narrative development. This is similar to how many Arthurian stories begin with courtly assemblies during Christmastide or Pentecost.
By the fourteenth century, it was believed that ‘bright folk and fairy hosts’ would hold games and feasts at the prehistoric mounds of Bruigh na Boinne each Samhain. These otherworldly gatherings could be seen as mirroring the human assemblies during the same period.
Heavy Irish immigration brought the festival of Samhain to the Scottish Highlands and Isles in the early Middle Ages. However, in Wales, the day was known as ‘Calan Gaeaf,’ or ‘the first day of winter,’ and the night before as ‘Nos Galan Gaea,’ or ‘winter’s eve.’ Unlike the Irish and Scottish traditions, early Welsh literature does not attribute any special significance to these dates, contrasting with the importance given to May Eve and New Year gatherings. This suggests that contrary to popular belief, November 1st was not a major pan-Celtic festival with religious ceremonies.
In Anglo-Saxon tradition, Bede’s work on the calendar mentions that November was called ‘Blod-monath,’ meaning ‘blood month.’ This name likely refers to the annual slaughter of livestock in early winter, possibly as sacrifices to gods. However, whether this was a festival equivalent to Samhain or merely an agricultural practice is unclear.
Pagan Scandinavia had its winter-opening festival, ‘ Winter Nights,’ held between 11 and 17 October. This festival featured prominently in saga literature as a time for feasting and sacrifice. However, the accuracy of these Christian-authored sagas in depicting pagan practices is debatable, and it’s uncertain whether this festival was introduced into Britain.
In the late 19th century, academics Sir John Rhys and Sir James Frazer significantly influenced popular conceptions of Samhain. Rhys posited that Samhain was the ‘Celtic New Year,’ a theory not based on early records but inferred from contemporary folklore in Wales and Ireland. He supported his view by citing various sources and observing that the Isle of Man referred to October the 31st as New Year’s Night. However, the evidence was tenuous, and Rhys acknowledged that customs could have been transferred between New Year’s Eve and Hallowe’en to enhance celebrations.
James Frazer popularised Rhys’s theory and extended it to suggest that Samhain was a pagan Celtic feast of the dead. He argued that the Christian Church’s dedication of November the 1st and 2nd to honouring the dead was a Christianisation of a pre-existing pagan festival. However, Frazer admitted that evidence for this was inconclusive and based on a series of inferences, including the Church’s history of adopting pagan holy days and the common cultural practice of honouring the dead at the beginning of the year.
Both theories were speculative and faced the challenge that the earliest records from Wales and Ireland were influenced by Roman calendars, which began the year on January the 1st or March the 25th. While some Irish records hint at an earlier system that considered Samhain the beginning of the year, it remains unclear whether November the 1st was the sole date observed or if it coexisted with January for different types of reckoning.
The history of the Christian feast honouring martyrs and saints is complex and evolved differently across regions. Initially celebrated on the 13th of May in the Mediterranean by the mid-fourth century, the date varied in the fifth century, with Syrian churches commemorating it during Easter Week and Greek churches preferring the Sunday after Pentecost. Rome stuck to May until Pope Boniface IV formally endorsed it in 609. However, by 800, churches in England and Germany had shifted the All Saints’ celebration to the 1st of November. This practice was later endorsed by Pope Gregory, contradicting the notion that the November date was influenced by ‘Celtic’ traditions. In Ireland, early medieval churches celebrated All Saints on the 20th of April.
The concept of honouring the dead became prominent later. In 998, Odilo, abbot of Cluny, initiated a mass for all Christian souls in February. Over the next two centuries, the feast of All Souls gradually shifted to the 2nd of November, aligning with the season’s sombre nature and the preceding All Saints’ festival. By the high Middle Ages, both festivals primarily focused on prayers for deceased friends and family, influenced by the developing Christian theology emphasising the terrors of hell and the doctrine of purgatory. While it’s possible that northern European pagans had similar traditions, evidence is lacking, and previous theories linking these practices to ancient Celtic or pagan rituals are not supported.
Understanding the ancient religious significance of Samhain and Calan Gaeaf relies heavily on inferences from folklore collected in recent centuries. Both medieval and modern evidence suggest that May Eve and May Day were times when supernatural beings like fairies and witches were particularly active. By extension, the onset of winter would logically be another such time. In 19th-century Wales, Nos Galan Gaea was considered the most frightening night for spirits, while in Ireland, Samhain Eve was also known as ‘Puca’ (or Goblin) Night. In Scotland, the 16th-century poet Alexander Montgomerie wrote about the King of Faerie and his court riding on Hallowe’en night.
These beliefs were not confined to Celtic regions. In 19th-century Shetland Isles, where Norse culture prevailed, it was believed that trolls wreaked havoc on ‘Hallowmas.’ In the Lancashire Pennines, a custom called ‘lating’ involved people walking hillsides on Hallowe’en carrying lighted candles to ward off witches.
While Christian associations with the Feast of the Dead likely reinforced these beliefs, the strong analogy with May Eve and May Day suggests that the dread associated with these nights did not solely originate from Christian traditions. This lends some credence to the idea, posited by scholars like Jeffrey Gantz and Proinsias MacCana that ancient Samhain was a particularly numinous time despite the lack of clear evidence in early literature.
The use of fire as protective magic during Hallowe’en has historical roots, with some scholars like Frazer terming it one of the ‘Celtic’ fire festivals. Detailed records of these fire customs began to appear when they were already in decline. For instance, in 1589, ‘hallowmas fires’ were forbidden in Stirling, Scotland. In 1741, an Anglesey writer noted that Hallowe’en bonfires were declining. Travel writer Thomas Pennant described how, in the eastern Highlands, people would set fire to a bush of broom and run around the village, eventually creating a large bonfire. In North Wales, families would place a white pebble in the ashes of the fire for each family member, and if any stone was missing in the morning, it was believed that the person it represented would die within the year.
By the 19th century, the fire customs were well-documented but were also dying out. In Perthshire, the customs were noted for their exuberance and were maintained throughout the 19th century. In Moray, boys would beg for fuel to ‘burn the witches,’ and the smoke from the fire was considered to have protective powers. Queen Victoria even participated in 1874 by having a bonfire in front of Balmoral Castle, where an effigy of a witch was burned.
Despite its popularity in certain regions, the fire custom was not universally observed. It was notably absent in the Western Highlands and the Isles, and by the end of the 19th century, it had largely disappeared. However, the belief that all household fires should be extinguished and relit on the morning of All Saints’ Day had a slightly wider distribution, echoing the custom of Beltane.
The belief in the supernatural potency of the night from the 31st of October to the 1st of November was widespread across Ireland, Wales, and Scotland, but the customs varied. In north and central Wales, bonfires were lit and divinatory rites performed. A fearsome spirit, a tail-less black sow, yr Hwch Ddu Gwta, was believed to roam on this night. In the Isle of Man and some parts of Ireland, fires were also kindled with less ritualistic significance. In southern Ireland, people relied on other protective measures like crosses of sticks and straw or charms of fire, iron, and salt. People propitiated sea powers in the Hebrides with rituals that survived into the Christian era.
As you can see, the notion of a ‘Celtic fire festival’ breaks down upon closer examination. Instead, a strong local tradition emerges in specific areas: north and central Wales, districts on either side of Scotland’s Highland Line, and the Isle of Man. The customs were not universally observed in all ‘Celtic’ areas like Cornwall and Cumbria. The fires in Wales were more associated with divination than purification, lasting until the 1930s in some areas.
Overall, while there is no evidence to suggest that this time was connected with the dead or marked the year’s opening, it was undoubtedly considered a period requiring special protective or propitiatory measures against supernatural forces. These activities took different forms in different regions and were only reinforced by the imposition of a Christian festival focused on the dead.
So happy Samhain to all of you celebrating.
This is it for today’s video.
If you watched until this point, leave me a witch emoji.
Now, my dear symposiast, this project of delivering free academic knowledge based on peer-reviewed scholarship can only exist thanks to your support.
So, if you have the means and want to support this project, I would appreciate it if you would consider supporting my work with a one-off PayPal donation by joining my Inner Symposium on Patreon or Ko-Fi, super thanking me in the comments, looking up the services that I offer on my website drangelapuca.com or buying my merch.
All links are in the description box, bio, and a pinned comment.
Also, don’t forget to sign up for my Newsletter to get to know me better with exclusive pictures, insights and academic research.
If you liked this video, please SMASH the like button, subscribe to the channel if you haven’t already, and activate the notification bell so that you will never miss an upload from me. Share this video around so the Symposium can grow, and thank you so much for being here. I hope that you will stay tuned for all the academic fun!
Bye for now.
REFERENCES
Hutton, R. 2001. The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain [ebook] [Online]. Oxford University Press. [Accessed 11 August 2020]. Available from: https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205708.001.0001/acprof-9780198205708.