Samhain

Ancient Celts marked Samhain as the most important of the four quarterly fire festivals, held midway between the fall equinox and the winter solstice. During this season, hearth fires in homes were left to burn out while the harvest was gathered.

After the harvest, celebrants joined Druid priests to light a communal fire using a wheel that produced friction and sparked flames. The wheel represented the sun and was used in ceremonies alongside prayers. Cattle were sacrificed, and participants carried flames from the bonfire back to their homes to relight their hearths.

Early texts describe Samhain as a mandatory three-day, three-night festival during which people were required to appear before local kings or chieftains. Those who failed to participate risked punishment from the gods, often in the form of illness or death.

In Ireland, Samhain also had a military element, with ceremonial thrones prepared for army commanders. Anyone who committed a crime or wielded a weapon during the celebration faced execution.

Some accounts mention six days of heavy drinking—typically mead or beer—accompanied by lavish feasts.

Because the Celts believed the barrier between worlds could be crossed during Samhain, they left offerings outside villages and fields for fairies, or sidhs. They also expected ancestors to return during this time, so people dressed as animals and monsters to avoid being kidnapped by fairies.

Several supernatural beings were linked to Samhain mythology, including a shape-shifting creature called a púca that received harvest offerings from the fields. The Lady Gwyn was said to be a headless woman in white who chased night wanderers, accompanied by a black pig.

The Dullahan appeared either as an impish creature or a headless rider who carried his own head. Mounted on a flame-eyed horse, his appearance was considered a death omen.

A band of hunters known as the Sluagh—or Faery Host—was also said to roam during Samhain, kidnapping people or stealing souls from the west.

One of the most popular Samhain tales told during the festival was The Second Battle of Mag Tuired, which recounts the final conflict between the Celtic pantheon, the Tuatha Dé Danann, and their evil oppressors, the Fomor. The myth says the battle took place during Samhain.

Another well-known Samhain story, The Adventures of Nera, follows the hero Nera as he encounters a corpse and fairies and enters the Otherworld.

Samhain also features in the adventures of the mythological hero Fionn mac Cumhaill, who battled the fire-breathing underworld dweller Aillen, known for burning down the Hall of Tara every Samhain.

In another Fionn mac Cumhaill legend, the hero is sent to the Land Beneath the Wave. Set during Samhain, the tale also describes his holiday gatherings.

As the Middle Ages progressed, so did celebrations of the fire festivals. Smaller bonfires known as Samghnagans—personal Samhain fires lit near farms—became traditional, said to protect families from fairies and witches.

Carved turnips called jack-o-lanterns also appeared, hung from sticks and filled with burning coals. Later Irish tradition replaced turnips with pumpkins.

In Wales, men tossed burning wood at one another in rough games and set off fireworks, while in northern England, men paraded with noisemakers.

The tradition of the “dumb supper” began during this time, in which celebrants ate only after inviting their ancestors to join, allowing families to commune with spirits until they departed after dinner.

Children played games to entertain the dead, while adults shared the past year’s news with them. That night, doors and windows were sometimes left open so the dead could enter and eat cakes set out in their honor.

As Christianity gained a foothold in pagan communities, church leaders sought to reframe Samhain as a Christian observance.

The first attempt came from Pope Boniface in the fifth century, who moved the celebration to May 13 and designated it as a day to honor saints and martyrs. The fire festivals of October and November, however, continued despite this decree.

In the ninth century, Pope Gregory moved the celebration back to coincide with the fire festivals, declaring November 1 as All Saints’ Day and November 2 as All Souls’ Day.

Neither new holiday did away with the pagan aspects of the celebration. October 31 became known as All Hallows Eve, or Halloween, and contained much of the traditional pagan practices before being adopted in 19th-century America by Irish immigrants.

Trick-or-treating is thought to have evolved from ancient Irish and Scottish customs practiced on the nights leading up to Samhain. In Ireland, “mumming” involved wearing costumes, going door to door and singing songs to honor the dead, with cakes given as payment.

Halloween pranks also trace back to Samhain, though in the ancient festival, tricks were usually blamed on fairies.

A broad revival of Samhain in its traditional pagan form began in the 1980s with the rise of Wicca.

Wiccan celebrations of Samhain vary, ranging from traditional fire ceremonies to modern observances that incorporate elements of Halloween and rituals honoring nature and ancestors. Wiccans view Samhain as the turning of the year and include common Wiccan practices in their festivities.

In the Druid tradition, Samhain honors the dead with a festival on October 31 that typically includes a bonfire and communion with spirits. American pagans often mark the occasion with music and dance events known as Witches’ Balls, held near Samhain.

Pagans who follow Celtic traditions with the goal of faithfully reintroducing them into modern paganism are known as Celtic Reconstructionists.

In this tradition, Samhain is called Oíche Shamhna and honors the union of the Tuatha Dé Danann god Dagda and the River Unis. Celtic Reconstructionists mark the occasion by decorating their homes with juniper and setting up an altar for the dead, where a feast is held in honor of departed loved ones.