Samhain, the 31st of
October, now Halloween, is the Celtic cross-quarter day lying midway
between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice.
Samhain has always been one of the
most sinister dates of the calendar. It marked the final passing of summer and
the arrival of the trials of winter: blizzards, famine, deathly cold.
It was the time when the Earth Goddess changes from her Mother aspect to her
more feared Crone aspect. Many – man and beast – would not survive to see the
next spring.
Samhain had two aspects. It
was the time when livestock – those old and weak and unlikely to survive the
winter hardships – were slaughtered, and the meat stored to feed the community
through the coming months. And secondly, after the sun was set, when darkness
crept across the land, the shadows began to stir. Samhain night was a night
when the veils between worlds grew thin. It was a night when creatures from the
otherworld could cross to our world, a night when the faerie walked the lonely
countryside, and a night when, if great care was not taken, a man could find
himself transported to another realm of existence, never to find his way home.
Samhain was not a night to wander.
The night wanderers were unwelcome.
They drained the milk from cows' udders, terrorised animals so they broke their
confines and bolted, curdled milk and stole food. To repel their
attentions, wards were placed around
houses and settlements to frighten them away. This is the origin of the custom
of carved pumpkins and the other pomp which comes with Halloween.
It is not just the Celts who linked
this date with the nearing of other worlds. The 1st November is All
Souls' Day in Catholic tradition, the day when the dead are remembered. In Mexico the 2nd of November is the Day of the Dead or Dia de los Muertos, the day when the dead return to earth. Ancestors are remembered and offerings made, both from respect and fear of vengeance if the spirits find themselves neglected.
So remember, if you see something
moving in the lonely shadows, the sense of an insubstantial being flitting
unseen behind you, don't look back, and walk just that little bit faster.
Happy Samhain everyone.
