The Feast of the Three Nights of Samhain
Searles O'Dubhain

Mon Oct 23 10:01:38 2000
Samhain*p*Samhain is the beginning of the Celtic year and marks the time of the Cailleach and the beginning of Winter. The doors of the Sidhe are opened on this night and the veil between the Worlds is thinnest. This is the night that Druids offered sacrifices (usually the excess cattle that would form the basis of the Winter's meat stores). This is the time that the Ancestors walk the Earth once more and cross the thin veil to visit with the living. Samhain is associated with the province of Munster and the fortress of Tlachtga.*p*Samhain is the celebration of the Dead and their continued existence in the life after life. It is also the quiet time of realization that we have passed through the Light of the past Year and are now facing the approaching Darkness of Winter. The Lifeforce of our souls walks into the darkness of the year along with the Dark God of Winter. As the Sun is lessened, we tend to turn inward. This happens in our lives, in our homes, in our work and within our souls.  On this sacred night, at the beginning of the Dark half of the year, we should open ourselves to communion with our ancestors. We should share the touch of Life with those that have passed through their Deaths into the realms of a still greater Life. The Dead walk the Earth on this holiest of eves. We are joyful yet reflective. Our lives are yet to be lived.*p*Samhain (SOW-in) is the Celtic New Year.  As such it is many things and its origins are similar to the attitudes about endings and beginnings that are contained within New Year’s celebrations in most cultures. It is no mistake that the Jewish New Year occurs slightly before Samhain (at the Fall Equinox), as the two celebrations signify a change in the earth and the seasons. Samhain as a word means “Summer’s Ending” in Old Irish.  It is all about harvests and preparation, completion and renewal, death and life, to name only a few ideas and concepts.*p*The Tide of Life*p*Samhain also marks a time when the tide of life that is found within Nature, is perceived to be flowing back into the Land Herself.  Evidence of this is to be found in the falling of the leaves from trees, the ripening of fruits and berries, and the rich harvest of nuts that have fallen to the ground.  As the sap of life for the trees flows back into the earth and the greenness of spring and summer, fades, our thoughts become less filled with the light and life of Summer as Winter approaches. *p*The Gates of the Otherworld*p*It is because this flow of life occurs twice a year that Celtic Pagans believe the gates to the Otherworld to also be opened.  Just as Nature has a life of wheels and cycles, so do we also have such cycles within our lives, our years, our days and our spirits.  Each of us has an ebb and a flow within , in much the same way that the seasons change, the tides roll in and out and the birds migrate to their many homes.  As the Life River flows between worlds at Samhain, the ways are opened for the recent dead and the honored ancestors to pass from one side of the veil to the other.  Gifts were placed outside for anyone who might be in need, the door was left open (so as to not be barred against one’s departed relatives), and a place was provided by the fire for the living or the dead.*p*Three Days of Feasting*p*Among the Celtic Pagans, it was noted that the time of greatest physical wealth (after the two harvests) was the best time to offer hospitality to all, both in the community of the living and especially to the community of the dead.  Samhain was celebrated as a feast that lasted for three nights and days.  Anyone coming to the opened door was welcome to join in the feast or receive a gift.  Especial care was given to visitors and unknown people, since they could possibly have been a spirit of the dead or even a deity (who had come across the void and between the veils to visit among the living).*p*Samhain Customs *p*Board Games and Divination: Sometimes board games would be played that were considered to be games of fate, such as a form of chess called “fidcheall” among the Irish.  For the leaders of the family to be successful in such games meant that the coming year would bring prosperity.  Loss in the games that approximated life signified death or want in the future.  Other forms of divination occurred that were centered around such games as bobbing for apples, twisting their stems, and/or slicing them open to count and read the patterns of their seeds.  More formal divinations were performed by Druids and Seers to determine the severity of winter, the need for culling the cattle and the expectation of strife during the months of the Sun’s darkness.*p*Other Activities: Apple Bobbing, Carving turnips, Costume Parties, Gifts and Treats, Bull Feast.*p*Symbols: The Stone, the Apple, the Bull Feast, The Sacrifice for the Ancestors.*p*Food and Drink: Mead, Cider, cakes, fruits.*p*Lighting the Fire: A major activity at Samhain was the lighting of the fire, which was an act that symbolized the relationship between the king (or other leader) and the Land.  Prior to the lighting of the main fire, all fires were extinguished in the surrounding country-side and hearth.  A ritual was held to affirm the king’s truth, and to join him with the Goddess of Sovereignty, which is to say, the Spirit of the Land.  Many times such a ritual might have been accompanied by the sacrifice of a bull, which was roasted and boiled within a cauldron for all to eat.  The milk of the milch cows would have been a drink that symbolized the gifts of the Goddess. In this symbolic ritual meal, the entire family, and community of families, joined in the sacrifice and the relationship of the king to the Land.  Another drink that was especially sacred at this time was mead, which is named after Medb, another name for the Irish Goddess of Sovereignty.  Its intoxicating effects were described in its name, which means, “intoxicating.”  This also meant that a person should drink wisely of the cup, as they also should soberly use the resources of their harvest, for Winter was coming and folly during the fat times would mean disaster during the lean times.*p*A Ring of Fire: The main fire was set ablaze by the Druids and by using a ceremonial fire drill or cross piece.  Woods were brought from all directions and of nine kinds to form a central fire representative of everyone and every part of the community.  Dancing and games occurred around the fire and a part of this fire was taken back to the hearths of each household.  In a kingdom or large clann holding, distant friends and relatives would light their own bonfires as they saw the first fire lighted.  It was in this way that the spirit of truth, of the Land and the People radiated outward from the heart of the Land to the edges of the country.*p*Samhain was about the end of summer and the beginning of a New Year.  It was about the relationship between the people and their leaders.  It was about the truth of the leaders as found in their love of the Land.  It was about sacrifice and giving.  It was a time of honoring death and the dead and a time of rejoicing about life among the living.  In short, Samhain was about the holiness of the spirit as it manifests in Nature, within death in the ancestors, within life in the people, and within deity as manifested in the Land.*p*Oíche Shamhna *p*Many of the activities of modern-day Halloween come out of the practices of ancient and modern Celtic Samhain customs.  The giving of gifts and candies to visitors and children, echoes the hospitality of the Celts to all comers (especially on Oíche Shamhna, the evening of Samhain).  It also is reminiscent of their awareness that the spirits of the Otherworld could more easily approach this world at that time.  The focus upon fall and the fruits of the harvest are also reminders of days gone by, when we lived more closely with the Land and less within the artificial character of modern life.  The holiness of this time among the Celts is still seen in the location of the Feast of All Saints at this time.  After all, “All Saints” really means “All Souls” and that is who Celtic Pagans and Christians alike are honoring at this time of the year.  When you give someone a candy or a gift at this time, please remember that the ancestors have made your life possible and that the community of souls around you includes all manner of the living, the dead and deity as well.*p**p*Ikanuba wrote,*br*: Hello*br*: I have been learning the teachings of Druidry for about a *br*: year now, and have yet to find some clear information on *br*: celebrating the 8 Sabbats in the year. Can anyone give me *br*: some good links or info. on where I might find some good *br*: information. I would really enjoy celebrating Samhuinn in *br*: the authentic Druid fashion this year. I appreciate any help *br*: you may give me.*br*:*br*: *br*: Thank You*br*: Ikan*br*
Celebrating Samhuinn
Ikanuba
658
Sat Oct 21 02:06:30 2000