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Samhain ( SAH-win, SOW-in, Irish: [ˈsˠəunʲ], Scottish Gaelic: [ˈs̪ãũ.ɪɲ]), Sauin (Manx: [ˈsoːɪnʲ]) or Oíche Shamhna ( EE-hə HOW-nə) is a Gaelic festival on 1 November marking the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter or "darker half" of the year. It is also the Irish language 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. A similar festival is held by the Brittonic Celtic people, called Calan Gaeaf in Wales. Samhain is believed to have Celtic pagan origins, and some Neolithic passage tombs in Ireland and Britain are aligned with the sunrise at the time of Samhain. It 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 great gatherings and feasts marked Samhain 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 late 19th century, John Rhys and James Frazer suggested it had been the "Celtic New Year", but that is disputed. In the 9th century, the Western Church endorsed 1 November as the date of All Saints' Day, possibly due to the influence of Alcuin, 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. Folklorists have used the name 'Samhain' to refer to Gaelic 'Halloween' customs until the 19th century. Since the later 20th century Celtic neopagans and Wiccans have observed Samhain, or something based on it, as a religious holiday. Etymology In Modern Irish and Scottish Gaelic the name is Samhain, while the traditional Manx Gaelic name is Sauin. It is usually written with the definite article An tSamhain (Irish), An t-Samhain (Scottish Gaelic), and Yn Tauin (Manx). The ⟨amhai⟩ is a pentagraph for the sounds /əu̯/. Older forms of the word include the Scottish Gaelic spellings Samhainn and Samhuinn. The Gaelic names for the month of November are derived from Samhain. These names all come from the Old and Middle Irish Samain or Samuin [ˈsaṽɨnʲ], the name for the festival held on 1 November in medieval Ireland, which has been traditionally derived from Proto-Indo-European (PIE) *semo- ('summer'). As John T. Koch notes, however, it is unclear why a festival marking the beginning of winter should include the word for 'summer'. Linguist Joseph Vendryes contends that it is unrelated, saying that the Celtic summer ended in August. Linguists Xavier Delamarre and Ranko Matasović derive it from Proto-Celtic *samoni- (< PIE *smHon- 'reunion, assembly'), whose original meaning is best explained as 'assembly, feast of the first month of the year' (cf. Old Irish -samain 'swarm'), perhaps referring to an 'assembly of the living and the dead'. Coligny calendar On the Gaulish Coligny calendar, dating from the 2nd century CE, the month name SAMONI is believed related to the word Samhain. However, SAMON[I] also bears strong similarity to the reconstructed Proto-Celtic word *samos, meaning "summer", which parallels the reconstructed word for winter (*gyemos) which is likely cognate with the month appearing six months later on the calendar, GIAMONI. A festival of some kind may have been held the 17th day of Samonios : the "three nights of Samoni today" (Gaulish TRINOX SAMO[ SINDIU = trinoxtion Samoni sindiu). The starting point of the calendar is unclear. Origins Samain or Samuin was the name of the festival (feis) marking the beginning of winter in Gaelic Ireland. It is attested in the earliest Old Irish literature, which dates from the 9th century onward. It was one of four Gaelic seasonal festivals: Samhain (~1 November), Imbolc (~1 February), Bealtaine (~1 May), and Lughnasa (~1 August). Samhain and Bealtaine, at opposite sides of the year, are thought to have been the most important. Sir James George Frazer wrote in his 1890 book, The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion, that 1 May and 1 November are of little importance to European crop-growers, but of great importance to herdsmen practising seasonal transhumance. It is at the beginning of summer that cattle are driven to the upland summer pastures, and at the beginning of winter, they are led back. Thus, Frazer suggests the festival has pastoral origins. Some Neolithic passage tombs in Ireland are aligned with the sunrise around the times of Samhain and Imbolc. These include the Mound of the Hostages (Dumha na nGiall) at the Hill of Tara, and Cairn L at Slieve na Calliagh. In Irish mythology While Irish mythology was originally a spoken tradition, much of it was eventually written down in the Middle Ages by Christian monks. The tenth-century tale Tochmarc Emire ('The Wooing of Emer') lists Samhain as the first of the four seasonal festivals of the year. The literature says a peace would be declared, and there were great gatherings where they held meetings, feasted, drank alcohol, and held contests. These gatherings are a popular setting for early Irish tales. The tale Echtra Cormaic ('Cormac's Adventure') says that the Feast of Tara was held every seventh Samhain, hosted by the High King of Ireland, during which new laws and duties were ordained; anyone who broke the laws established during this time would be banished. According to Irish mythology, Samhain (like Bealtaine) was a time when the 'doorways' to the Otherworld opened, allowing supernatural beings and the souls of the dead to come into our world; wh.... Discover the Brittany Samons popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Brittany Samons books.