Samhain == Halloween, literally
Oct. 31st, 2003 12:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
acroyearOriginally posted as a comment, now echoed here:
Being historically specifical, Samhain is the Celtic new year. The Celtic religion was slightly different from other pre-christian religions on that they had holidays *between* the major solar events. So whereas most cultures, including the Romans (Saturnalia), Norse, and Germans had celebrations on the Equinoxes and Solstices, the Celts also has celebrations at the half-way points. The two most significant are Samhain (pronounced Sa-wane or Sa-wen) and Beltane (which is the springtime between March and July, modernly translated into "May Day" or Whit-Sunday). Samhain is, to some, the original Celtic New Year.
The thing about traditions in the british isles (and their american descendents) is that some traditions moved when the calendar moved, in some areas, and others stayed where they were in the solar year regardless. So with the New Years tradition in Scotland and Ireland of the "First Footer" (the first person to step into your house after midnite of the new year was to be given the best that Highland hospitality could offer), the Irish in America gave that tradition to their kids in the form of Trick or Treating...only they kept it associated with their original New Years at Samhain, aka All Hollows Eve, rather than move it to the calendar new year. First Footers, on the other hand, moved to January 1st in Scotland and Wales.
Patrick had a knack for realizing that converting Ireland wouldn't work if he didn't account for what people already were doing, so many Saints' Feast days were set to be the same days as Irish pagan holidays, hence All Hollow's Eve and All Saints Day matching the already practiced Samhain tradition. This was exactly the same as the earlier Christians picking Saturnalia as a safe time to celebrate Christmas. Similar practices and rituals, originally to Pagan gods, occur all over England throughout the year, modified to be venerating saints instead of Celtic gods...in a few cases, the god or goddess themselves were re-written into being a non-existent saint. The Catholic church has had some difficulty in deciding what to do about it, like the case of St. Christopher, the patron saint of travellers, who never really existed.
The springtime traditions get even more mixed up, as different parts of England moved their practices based on when the different shires each adopted the various changes in the calendar. So Morris dancers have *3* significant spring holidays: the original Whit Sunday (now just a bank holiday, our Memorial day monday), May Day (May 1st, which is the more appropriate Beltane I think), and April 1st. The April Fool and the May Fool are historically one and the same.
Being historically specifical, Samhain is the Celtic new year. The Celtic religion was slightly different from other pre-christian religions on that they had holidays *between* the major solar events. So whereas most cultures, including the Romans (Saturnalia), Norse, and Germans had celebrations on the Equinoxes and Solstices, the Celts also has celebrations at the half-way points. The two most significant are Samhain (pronounced Sa-wane or Sa-wen) and Beltane (which is the springtime between March and July, modernly translated into "May Day" or Whit-Sunday). Samhain is, to some, the original Celtic New Year.
The thing about traditions in the british isles (and their american descendents) is that some traditions moved when the calendar moved, in some areas, and others stayed where they were in the solar year regardless. So with the New Years tradition in Scotland and Ireland of the "First Footer" (the first person to step into your house after midnite of the new year was to be given the best that Highland hospitality could offer), the Irish in America gave that tradition to their kids in the form of Trick or Treating...only they kept it associated with their original New Years at Samhain, aka All Hollows Eve, rather than move it to the calendar new year. First Footers, on the other hand, moved to January 1st in Scotland and Wales.
Patrick had a knack for realizing that converting Ireland wouldn't work if he didn't account for what people already were doing, so many Saints' Feast days were set to be the same days as Irish pagan holidays, hence All Hollow's Eve and All Saints Day matching the already practiced Samhain tradition. This was exactly the same as the earlier Christians picking Saturnalia as a safe time to celebrate Christmas. Similar practices and rituals, originally to Pagan gods, occur all over England throughout the year, modified to be venerating saints instead of Celtic gods...in a few cases, the god or goddess themselves were re-written into being a non-existent saint. The Catholic church has had some difficulty in deciding what to do about it, like the case of St. Christopher, the patron saint of travellers, who never really existed.
The springtime traditions get even more mixed up, as different parts of England moved their practices based on when the different shires each adopted the various changes in the calendar. So Morris dancers have *3* significant spring holidays: the original Whit Sunday (now just a bank holiday, our Memorial day monday), May Day (May 1st, which is the more appropriate Beltane I think), and April 1st. The April Fool and the May Fool are historically one and the same.
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no subject
Date: 2003-10-31 11:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-11-01 06:39 am (UTC)