Observed on

October 31st - Nov 1st

Observed by

Gaels, Irish, Scottish, Manx, Modern Pagans

Country of Origin 

Ireland, Great Britain, Northern France

Celebrations/Customs

Bonfires, Guising, Mumming, Divination, Saining, Veneration of the Dead, Feasting, Spells

Similar/Related to:

Allantide, All Saints' Day, All Souls' Day, Calan Gaeaf, Day of the Dead, Dziady, Halloween, Hop-tu-Naa, Kekri, Winter Night

Key Points / Halloween Connection

- Gaelic festival marking the end of the harvest and the beginning of the darker half of the year

- Most Halloween traditions come from Samhain

- Traditions were brought to the US by Irish and Scottish immigrants

- Time when the veil between worlds was at its thinnest

Brief Bio

Samhain is a Gaelic festival on 1 November marking the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter or the "darker half" of the year. It is also the Irish and Scottish Gaelic name for November. Celebrations begin on the evening of 31 October, since the Celtic day began and ended at sunset. This is about halfway between the autumnal equinox and winter solstice. It is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals along with Imbolc, Bealtaine, and Lughnasa. Historically it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. Its Brittonic Celtic equivalent is called Calan Gaeaf in Wales.

Samhain is believed to have Celtic pagan origins, and some Neolithic passage tombs in Great Britain and Ireland are aligned with the sunrise at the time of Samhain. As a festival for communing with the ancestors, however, it may predate the Celtic era. A number of stone circles and dolmens, including for example, Avebury, exhibit a west-south-west alignment, the azimuth angle of the setting sun on 31 October.

Samhain is mentioned in the earliest Irish literature, from the 9th century, and is associated with many important events in Irish mythology. The early literature says Samhain was marked by great gatherings and feasts and was when the ancient burial mounds were open, which were seen as portals to the Otherworld. Some of the literature also associates Samhain with bonfires and sacrifices.

The festival was not recorded in detail until the early modern era. It was when cattle were brought down from the summer pastures and livestock were slaughtered. Special bonfires were lit, which were deemed to have protective and cleansing powers. Like Bealtaine, Samhain was a liminal or threshold festival, when the boundary between this world and the Otherworld blurred, making contact with the aos sí (the 'spirits' or 'fairies') more likely. Most scholars see them as remnants of pagan gods. 

At Samhain, they were appeased with offerings of food and drink to ensure the people and livestock survived the winter. The souls of dead kin were also thought to revisit their homes seeking hospitality, and a place was set at the table for them during a meal. Mumming and guising were part of the festival from at least the early modern era, whereby people went door-to-door in costume, reciting verses in exchange for food. The costumes may have been a way of imitating and disguising oneself from the aos sí. Divination was also a big part of the festival and often involved nuts and apples.

In the 9th century, the Western Church endorsed 1 November as the date of All Saints' Day, possibly due to the influence of Alcuin or Irish missionaries, and 2 November later became All Souls' Day. It is believed that Samhain and All Saints'/All Souls' influenced each other and the modern Halloween. Most American Halloween traditions were inherited from Irish and Scottish immigrants. 

Since the later 20th century Celtic neopagans have observed Samhain, or something based on it, as a religious holiday.