Samhain: The Ancient Irish Origins of Halloween

Halloween is a festival still celebrated today in many countries around the world but, its’ origin dates back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain.  Meaning ‘end of summer’, this celebration symbolises the beginning of ‘the dark half of the year.’

Some of the ancient Irish rituals involved in Samhain are believed to be over 2000 years old. With no written evidence, not much is known about them before the coming of Christianity in the 5^th century. Many of the early traditions such as lighting bonfires and dressing up are still practiced today.

Ancient Purpose of Samhain

There was an ancient myth, that Samhain was the time of the year when the wall between the dead and the living was at its faintest. Spirits had the ability to pass from one world into the other. Some of the ancient traditions of this festival were aimed to ward off evil spirits. Others, to welcome the spirits of friends and family into the home.  

Evidence from early texts shows that Samhain was once a mandatory celebration lasting three days and nights. It was the duty of each member of the community to present themselves to their local king or chieftain. According to ancient myth, if they did not do this, punishment from the local gods could result in illness, or even death.

This festival was also practiced to welcome in the harvest. It went on to be celebrated from the 31^st October to 1^st November and was the most significant of four pagan fire festivals. Each one symbolised the changing of a season. Along with Samhain, there was Imbolc (1^st February), Bealtaine, (1^st May) and Lughnasadh (1^st August). After the harvest was gathered, celebrants would join together with ‘Druid priests’ and light up a fire for the local community. Locals would take a flame back to their own home and use it to light the fire. These fires symbolised the power and victory of light over darkness. They were lit using a wheel to cause friction, before turning into flames. The wheel was an ancient Celtic symbol representing the sun, which was a symbol of life.

Coming of Christianity

Christianity first reached pagan Ireland around 400 AD. Like many other pagan festivals, Samhain was Christianised with the introduction of the church. It was hard to replace the old myths of magic, revival of kin and the significance of the sun with the new beliefs of the Vatican church. In the 5^th century Pope Boniface, changed the date of Samhain to May 13^th displaying it as a chance to celebrate the saints. This new holiday did not stop the fire festivals that still took place on Oct 31^st and Nov 1^st.

In the 8^th century, Pope Gregory moved this festival back to its original date. Bonfires were still lit, but now to appreciate Christian saints. He was responsible for naming 1^st November ‘All Saints Day’. There was also a belief that this was an easier time of year for priests to predict the future.

From the time this ancient festival began, different traditions have emerged, but their time of origin is difficult to identify. Trick-or-treat, Jack-o-lanterns and dressing up have gone on to became traditions that are still performed today.

Fire Lighting

There were certain rituals involved in the fires that were lit during the festival of Samhain. Livestock was slaughtered, burning the bones in a communal bonfire or ‘bone-fire’. The flames, smoke and ashes were seen to have protective powers, to ward off evil spirits.

During the Middle Ages, the popularity of fire festivals increased.  Personal bonfires, known as ‘Samhnagans’ became more common and were set close to local farms. They were often used as protection from evil spirits such as witches and fairies.

Lighting indoor hearths was seen as a way to direct the good spirits into the home. The hearth fire was left on and food was left out to warm and feed any ancestors returning from the dead. As it was used as a source of heating and cooking food, the hearth was known as ‘the heart of the home’. If it was put out by hand on October 31^st, this was believed to anger the gods and bring bad luck to the family.

To welcome the spirits of their ancestors back into the home, doors and windows in the house were sometimes left wide open. Known as a ‘dumb supper’, if food was left out, it could not be consumed until the celebrants had invited their ancestors to join them.

Dressing Up

Dressing up is a practice that derives from early Celtic traditions. This first started when the Celts began to darken their faces with bonfire ashes, to disguise themselves from any evil spirits that might be lurking around. Known as ‘guising’, a later tradition was to wear a mask made from animal skin.

Another means of disguise still practiced today was the wearing of costumes, known as ‘mumming’. Common creatures included werewolves, vampires and ghosts. If the spirit of a loved one appeared, they could take off their disguise and reveal themselves. The time that these different practices came into being is unknown but, they are likely to have been introduced by the time that Christianity arrived in Ireland.

Trick or Treat

At the time of year when the curtain between the dead and the living was believed to be at its thinnest, pagans saw this as a time when the world would go back into the chaos that it first started in. The pranks played by people on the night before Samhain were a symbol of the chaos. When they ceased the next day, this was a symbol that law and order had been restored. In ancient times, these kinds of pranks were blamed on fairies.

Vandalism went on to become a problem. People started to lay food outside the house, hopefully to satisfy unwanted visitors so they did not choose to play a game on the residents. If they were given food, hopefully they would leave the homeowner alone in peace. This was known as ‘trick or treat’ but did not involve knocking on doors.

It is unknown where the actual phrase ‘trick or treat’ originated from. It has been referred to as the ancestor of ‘guising’, which dates back to the Middle Ages. ‘Guising’ is the tradition of dressing up, knocking on doors, and asking for a treat. Visitors might sing or tell a joke, hoping for a treat that was usually in the form of fruit, nuts, or money.

Jack-O-Lanterns

The practice of putting candles into pumpkins that are carved into a face, dates back to the ancient Irish myth of “Stingy Jack”. After inviting the devil for a drink but refusing to pay for it, Jack somehow persuaded the devil to turn himself into a coin. However, Jack just kept the coin and put it in his pocket beside a silver cross, so the devil could not turn back into his original form. Jack did agree to set the devil free, as long as he promised not to disturb him for a year or claim his soul after death.

The year after, Jack persuaded the devil to climb up a tree and pick piece of fruit. After carving the sign of the cross into the tree, the devil was stuck and could not climb back down. This time, he had to promise Jack that he would not bother him for another ten years. 

After Jack died, he was not allowed into heaven or hell for his actions. The angry devil sent him away with just a burning piece of coal for light. Jack, decided to put this coal into a turnip and according to legend, has been roaming the earth ever since. This mythical figure became known by the Irish as “Jack of the Lantern”, or ‘Jack-o-Lantern’. It became a tradition for people in Scotland and Ireland to make their own lanterns. They decided that it was easier to carve a face out of a pumpkin than a turnip.

Conclusion

During the time of the Irish potato famine (1845-1852), over 1.5 million Irish citizens travelled over to America. They brought the traditions and celebration of Samhain with them, by this time renamed Halloween.

Today, Samhain is still represented by the Irish phrase Mí na Samhain, meaning November. It is still seen as a symbol of transformation: from light into dark, dead into the land of the living, bones into ashes and animals into food.

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References

• History of Halloween
• Halloween Traditions
• How Trick-or-Treating Became a Halloween Tradition
• Samhain
• Samhain: The Celtic Roots of Halloween
• Samhain: The Precursor to Halloween
• Hourly History, Celtic Mythology: A Concise Guide to the Gods, Sagas and Beliefs (2016).
• O’Neill, Bill, The Great Book of Ireland (2019). Lak Publishing.