Samhain (pronounced SAH-win or SOW-in) is a Gaelic festival that takes place on November 1. It marks the end of the harvest season in autumn and the beginning of winter, or the "darker half" of the year. It is also the name for November in Irish and Scottish Gaelic. Celebrations begin on the evening of October 31 because the Celtic day started and ended at sunset. This date is about halfway between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice. Samhain is one of four important Gaelic seasonal festivals, along with Imbolc, Bealtaine, and Lughnasa. It began in Ireland and was widely celebrated in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. In Wales, the similar festival is called Calan Gaeaf.
Samhain is thought to have origins in ancient Celtic pagan traditions. Some ancient burial sites in Great Britain and Ireland are aligned with the sunrise on Samhain. The festival is mentioned in early Irish writings from the 9th century and is linked to many stories in Irish mythology. Old texts describe Samhain as a time of large gatherings and feasts. At this time, ancient burial mounds were open, and people believed these were portals to the Otherworld. Some medieval stories mention bonfires and sacrifices during the festival.
Details about Samhain were not recorded until the early modern era. During this time, people brought cattle from summer pastures and prepared for winter by slaughtering livestock. Bonfires were lit, believed to offer protection and purification. Like Bealtaine, Samhain was a time of change, when the boundary between this world and the Otherworld became unclear. People thought this made it easier to contact the aos sí, or "spirits" and "fairies." Scholars believe these were once pagan gods. People offered food and drink to the aos sí to ensure survival during winter. It was also believed that the spirits of deceased family members returned to their homes, and a place was set at the table for them during meals.
During Samhain, people participated in activities like "mumming" and "guising," where they visited homes in costumes and recited verses to receive food. These costumes may have been a way to imitate or hide from the aos sí. Divination, or fortune-telling, was also common, often using nuts and apples. In the late 1800s, some scholars suggested Samhain was the "Celtic New Year," but this idea is not widely accepted.
In the 9th century, the Western Church chose November 1 as the day for All Saints' Day, possibly influenced by Irish missionaries. November 2 later became All Souls' Day. It is believed that Samhain, All Saints'/All Souls', and modern Halloween influenced each other. Many American Halloween traditions come from Irish and Scottish immigrants. Until the 19th century, folklorists used the term "Samhain" to describe Gaelic Halloween customs.
Since the late 20th century, some modern religious groups, such as Celtic neopagans and Wiccans, have celebrated Samhain or similar traditions as a religious holiday.
Name
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). 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. The Irish name for Samhain night is Oíche Shamhna (/ˈiːhə ˈhaʊnə/ EE-hə HOW-nə).
The name of the Galician festival of Samaín from the Cedeira comarca is etymologically unrelated, being derived from Latin sambucum 'elderberry'.
These names all come from the Old and Middle Irish Samain or Samuin [ˈsaβ̃ɨnʲ], the name for the festival held on 1 November in medieval Ireland. Traditionally, it is derived from proto-Indo-European semo ('summer'). However, John T. Koch notes that it is unclear why a festival marking the beginning of winter would include the word for 'summer'. Linguist Joseph Vendryes argues that it is unrelated, stating that the Celtic summer ended in August. More recently, linguists Xavier Delamarre and Ranko Matasović suggest it derives from proto-Celtic samoni ('reunion, assembly'), cognate with Old Norse saman, Gothic samana, and Sanskrit samāna (all meaning 'together'), as well as the Old Irish term bech-samain ('bee swarm'). Delamarre also suggests it could refer to an "assembly of the living and the dead".
The word Samain is believed to be related to the month name SAMON on the Gaulish Coligny calendar from the 2nd century CE. The 17th day of SAMON is marked as TRINOX SAMONI ("the three nights of Samon"), indicating a possible festival. This festival could represent the early November festival of Samain or possibly the summer solstice. Six months later is the month GIAMON, which appears to contain the word for "winter". An early Irish glossary, Sanas Cormaic, gives Gamain as "November, the winter month after the festival of Samain".
Origins
Samhain, also spelled Samain, was a festival in ancient Gaelic Ireland that marked the start of winter. It is mentioned in the oldest writings from Old Irish literature, which began around the 9th century. Samhain was one of four important Gaelic festivals that celebrated the changing seasons: Samhain (around November 1), Imbolc (around February 1), Bealtaine (around May 1), and Lughnasa (around August 1). Samhain and Bealtaine, which marked the start of winter and summer, were considered the most important of these festivals. In his 1890 book The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion, Sir James George Frazer suggested that these festivals, especially those on May 1 and November 1, were important for communities that moved their livestock between areas based on the season. Cattle were taken to summer pastures in May and brought back to lowlands in November, showing the festival’s connection to farming and herding.
Some ancient stone tombs in Ireland are aligned with the sunrise during the times of Samhain and Imbolc. These include the Mound of the Hostages (Dumha na nGiall) on the Hill of Tara and Cairn L at Slieve na Calliagh.
In Irish mythology
Irish mythology was first shared through spoken stories. Later, during the Middle Ages, Christian monks wrote many of these stories down. A tenth-century tale called Tochmarc Emire (The Wooing of Emer) mentions Samhain as the first of four important seasonal festivals. The stories describe times when peace was declared, and people gathered to meet, eat, drink, and compete. These gatherings were common settings for early Irish tales. Another story, Echtra Cormaic (Cormac's Adventure), says the Feast of Tara was held every seventh Samhain. The High King of Ireland hosted this event, where new laws were set. People who broke these laws were sent away.
In Irish mythology, Samhain, like Bealtaine, was a time when the "doorways" to the Otherworld opened. This allowed supernatural beings and the souls of the dead to enter the human world. Bealtaine was a summer festival for the living, while Samhain was a festival for the dead. The story Boyhood Deeds of Fionn says the sídhe (fairy mounds or gateways to the Otherworld) were always open during Samhain. Each year, a fire-breather named Aillen came from the Otherworld and burned the palace of Tara during Samhain. He lulled people to sleep with music, but one Samhain, the young Fionn mac Cumhaill stayed awake and killed Aillen with a magical spear. For this, Fionn became leader of the fianna. In another tale, a being named Cúldubh emerged from a burial mound on Slievenamon during Samhain and took a roast pig. Fionn killed Cúldubh with a spear throw. When Fionn’s thumb got caught between a door and a post as it shut, he put it in his mouth to ease the pain. Because his thumb had touched the Otherworld, Fionn gained great wisdom. This may mean he learned from ancestors. Another story, Acallam na Senórach (Colloquy of the Elders), says three female werewolves came out of a cave each Samhain and killed livestock. When a musician named Cas Corach played his harp, the werewolves turned human. A warrior named Caílte then killed them with a spear.
Some stories say offerings or sacrifices were made during Samhain. In the Lebor Gabála Érenn (Book of Invasions), people of Nemed gave two-thirds of their children, grain, and milk to the Fomorians each Samhain. The Fomorians represented harmful forces of nature, like chaos, darkness, and drought. This tribute may symbolize a sacrifice made at the start of winter, when dark and destructive forces were strongest. Later writings, like the Dindsenchas and Annals of the Four Masters (written by Christian monks), mention a god called Crom Cruach. They say a firstborn child was sacrificed at a stone idol of Crom Cruach in Magh Slécht. One Samhain, King Tigernmas and three-fourths of his people died while worshiping Crom Cruach.
In some tales, legendary kings died in three ways on Samhain: being wounded, burned, and drowned. They were warned of their deaths beforehand. In Togail Bruidne Dá Derga (The Destruction of Dá Derga's Hostel), King Conaire Mór died on Samhain after breaking his geasa (rules or taboos). He was warned by three undead horsemen who were messengers of Donn, the god of the dead. Boyhood Deeds of Fionn says that each Samhain, men in Ireland went to woo a beautiful maiden who lived in a fairy mound on Brí Éile (Croghan Hill). Each year, someone was killed "to mark the occasion" by unknown people. Some scholars think these stories recall human sacrifices. Ancient Irish bog bodies, like Old Croghan Man, may have been kings ritually killed around Samhain.
In Echtra Neraí (The Adventure of Nera), King Ailill of Connacht tested bravery on Samhain. He offered a prize to whoever could reach a gallows and tie a band around a hanged man’s ankle. Demons stopped each challenger, but Nera succeeded. The dead man asked for a drink, and Nera carried him to three houses. At the third house, the dead man drank and spat on the householders, killing them. Nera returned to find a fairy host burning the king’s hall and killing people inside. He followed them through a portal into the Otherworld and learned what he saw was a vision of what would happen the next Samhain. He warned the king.
In Aided Chrimthainn maic Fidaig (The Killing of Crimthann mac Fidaig), Mongfind killed her brother, King Crimthann of Munster, so her son could become king. She gave him a poisoned drink, but he made her drink it first. She died on Samhain eve. The writer notes that Samhain was also called Féile Moingfhinne (the Festival of Mongfind) and that people made petitions to her during Samhain.
Many events in Irish mythology happened on Samhain. The invasion of Ulster in Táin Bó Cúailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley) began on Samhain. Cattle-raiding usually happened in summer, so this surprise attack caught the Ulstermen off guard. The Second Battle of Magh Tuireadh also began on Samhain. The Morrígan and The Dagda met and had sex before the battle against the Fomorians. This act gave the victory to the Dagda’s people, the Tuatha Dé Danann. In Aislinge Óengusa
Historical customs
Samhain was one of the four main festivals in the Gaelic calendar. It marked the end of the harvest season and the start of winter. Medieval texts describe Samhain customs. In the story Serglige Con Culainn ('Cúchulainn's Sickbed'), it is written that the Ulaid people celebrated Samhain for a week: Samhain itself and three days before and after. During this time, people gathered for meetings, feasts, drinking, and contests. Another text, Togail Bruidne Dá Derga, mentions that bonfires were lit at Samhain, and stones were thrown into the fires. Geoffrey Keating wrote about Samhain in his book Foras Feasa ar Éirinn, which was written in the early 1600s but used older sources. He described the feis of Tara, a week-long event every third Samhain where Irish nobles and scholars met to create or update laws and celebrate. He also wrote that druids lit a sacred bonfire at Tlachtga and offered sacrifices to gods, sometimes by burning them. Other fires were extinguished and then relit from this bonfire.
Like Bealtaine, bonfires were lit on hilltops during Samhain, and rituals involved them. By the early modern era, these fires were common in parts of the Scottish Highlands, the Isle of Man, north and mid-Wales, and parts of Ulster. F. Marian McNeill noted that these fires were once called "need-fires" but this practice later disappeared. Traditionally, only certain types of wood were used, but later records show many flammable materials were burned. Some believe the fires were a form of magic meant to mimic the sun, help growth, and fight winter’s decay. They may also have been used to symbolically destroy harmful influences. 18th- and 19th-century accounts say the smoke and ashes were thought to have protective and cleansing powers.
In 19th-century Moray, boys collected fire fuel from village homes. When the fire was lit, youths lay near it to let smoke roll over them, while others ran through the smoke and jumped over them. After the fire burned, people competed to scatter the ashes. In some areas, two bonfires were built side by side, and people—sometimes with livestock—walked between them as a cleansing ritual. Bones from slaughtered cattle were sometimes thrown into bonfires.
People also brought flames from bonfires home. In parts of Scotland during the 19th century, burning fir or turf torches were carried around homes and fields to protect them. In some places, families extinguished their hearth fires on Samhain night and then relit them from the communal bonfire, creating a sense of unity. Geoffrey Keating wrote that this was an ancient tradition started by druids. Dousing old fires and lighting new ones may have been a way to drive away evil, a practice found in many New Year celebrations.
Bonfires were used for divination. In 18th-century Ochtertyre, stones were placed in a ring around a fire, one for each person. Everyone ran around the ring with a torch, "exulting." The next day, if a stone was misplaced, it was said the person it represented would not live through the year. Similar customs were found in north Wales and Brittany. James Frazer suggested this might have come from an older tradition of burning people (human sacrifice) or was always symbolic. Divination likely existed since ancient times and still appears in some rural areas.
At household celebrations in Gaelic regions and Wales, rituals were used to predict the future, especially about death and marriage. Apples and hazelnuts were often used in these rituals. In Celtic mythology, apples were linked to the Otherworld and immortality, while hazelnuts were connected to wisdom. One common game was apple bobbing. Another involved hanging a rod with a lit candle and an apple, spinning it, and trying to catch the apple with teeth. Apple peels were tossed over the shoulder, and their shapes were said to form the first letter of a future spouse’s name.
Two hazelnuts were roasted near a fire, one named for the person roasting them and the other for someone they admired. If the nuts jumped away from the heat, it was a bad sign, but if they roasted quietly, it meant a good match. Items like rings or coins were hidden in food, and what someone found was said to predict their future. A salty oatmeal bannock was eaten in three bites, then the person went to bed without drinking, hoping to dream of a future spouse offering them a drink. Egg whites were dropped in water, and their shapes were said to show the number of future children. Young people also chased crows, using the number of birds or their flight direction to predict things.
Samhain was seen as a time when the boundary between the living world and the Otherworld was thinner. This allowed aos sí, or "spirits" and "fairies," to enter the human world more easily. Scholars believe aos sí were once pagan gods and nature spirits. People left food and drink outside for them and sometimes left crops in the ground.
A custom recorded in the 17th century in the Outer Hebrides and Iona involved fishermen pouring ale into the sea at night to ask the "god of the sea" for a good catch. This practice ended in the 1670s but was later moved to spring and survived until the early 19th century.
People avoided offending aos sí by staying near home or turning clothing inside-out, carrying iron or salt if they had to walk at night. In southern Ireland, a small cross made of sticks and straw called a "parshell" was hung over doorways to ward off bad luck, sickness, and witchcraft. It was replaced each Samhain.
The dead were honored at Samhain, as winter’s start was seen as a time for remembrance. Souls of the dead were believed to return home, seeking hospitality. Places were set at dinner tables and by fires to welcome them. The belief that dead souls return each year to be appeased is found in many cultures. James Frazer suggested this idea may have come from the belief that winter’s cold would drive hungry ghosts to seek help.
Celtic Revival
During the late 19th and early 20th century Celtic Revival, there was increased interest in Samhain and other Celtic festivals. Sir John Rhys suggested that Samhain might have been the "Celtic New Year." He based this idea on stories and traditions from Ireland and Wales, which included customs linked to new beginnings. He also visited the Isle of Man and learned that the Manx sometimes called October 31st "New Year's Night" or "Hog-unnaa." A medieval text called Tochmarc Emire described the year as being divided into four festivals tied to the start of each season, with Samhain marking the beginning of this cycle. Rhys's theory became widely known through Sir James George Frazer, though Frazer sometimes noted that the evidence was not certain. Frazer also claimed that Samhain was a pagan Celtic festival honoring the dead, which later became the Christian holidays of All Saints and All Souls. Since then, Samhain has often been viewed as the Celtic New Year and a festival related to the dead. For example, the Celtic League's calendar begins and ends with Samhain.
Ronald Hutton argued that the evidence showing Samhain was the Celtic or Gaelic New Year is weak. He concluded that medieval records do not show that November 1st was a major festival shared by all Celts.
Related holidays
In the Brittonic languages, which are part of the Celtic language family, Samhain is called the "calends of winter." In the Brittonic regions of Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany, people held festivals on October 31 that were similar to the Gaelic Samhain celebration. In Wales, this festival is called Calan Gaeaf. In Cornwall, it is called Allantide or Kalan Gwav. In Brittany, it is called Kalan Goañv.
The Manx people, who live on the Isle of Man, celebrate a festival called Hop-tu-Naa on October 31. This festival marks the beginning of the New Year. Traditionally, children carve turnips instead of pumpkins and carry them through their neighborhoods while singing songs about Hop-tu-Naa.
In 609, Pope Boniface IV chose May 13 as a holy day to honor all Christian martyrs. By 800, churches in Gaelic Ireland and Anglo-Saxon Northumbria were holding a feast on November 1 to honor all saints. This day became known as All Saints' Day. Gaelic traditions had a strong influence on Northumbria and its church. Some scholars believe the date of All Saints' Day was inspired by Samhain, the Celtic festival that occurred on November 1. Other scholars think the date was influenced by Germanic traditions, as some Irish records mention a saint’s day on April 20. Some old Irish writings from this time list April 20 as a day to honor all saints in Europe and November 1 as a day to honor all saints worldwide. In 835, the Frankish Empire officially set November 1 as All Saints' Day. This decision may have been influenced by Alcuin of Northumbria, a member of Charlemagne’s court, or by Irish religious leaders who were also part of the Frankish court. Over time, the rest of the Western Church adopted this date. By the 11th century, November 2 was established as All Souls' Day. This created a three-day celebration called Allhallowtide: All Hallows’ Eve (October 31), All Hallows’ Day (November 1), and All Souls’ Day (November 2).
Some scholars believe that many modern Halloween traditions, such as trick-or-treating and wearing costumes, were influenced by the Samhain festival. Other scholars think the influence of Samhain has been overstated and that All Saints’ Day may have also shaped Samhain traditions.
Most Halloween traditions in North America were brought by Irish and Scottish immigrants in the 19th century. Later, American culture helped spread these traditions to many other countries by the late 20th century.
Modern paganism
Some modern pagans celebrate Samhain and festivals inspired by Samhain. Because there are many types of Neopaganism, their Samhain celebrations can vary widely. Some try to follow the traditions of the historic festival as closely as possible. Others use ideas from different sources, with Gaelic culture being one example. Folklorist Jenny Butler explains that Irish pagans choose some parts of old Samhain traditions and combine them with references to the past of the Celts, creating a new version of Samhain that is unique to Neopagan culture.
Neopagans usually celebrate Samhain from 31 October to 1 November in the Northern Hemisphere and from 30 April to 1 May in the Southern Hemisphere, starting and ending at sunset. Some Neopagans celebrate it at the midpoint between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice (or the full moon closest to this point), which is often around 6 or 7 November in the Northern Hemisphere.
Celtic Reconstructionist Pagans (CRs) focus on being historically accurate, like other Reconstructionist traditions. They base their celebrations and rituals on old traditions and research about the beliefs of the polytheistic Celts. They celebrate Samhain around 1 November but may change the date depending on their local climate, such as when the first winter frost appears. Their traditions include cleansing the home and lighting bonfires. Some follow the old practice of building two bonfires, through which people and animals walk as part of a purification ritual. For CRs, Samhain is a time to honor the dead. While they make offerings throughout the year, Samhain is when they make more detailed offerings to specific ancestors. This might include creating a small altar or shrine. They often have a meal where a place is set at the table for the dead, and they are invited to join. An untouched portion of food and drink is left outside as an offering. Traditional stories, songs, poems, and dances are often shared. A door or window facing west may be opened, and a candle is placed on the windowsill to help guide the dead home. Divination for the coming year is often done, whether seriously or as games. Those who are more spiritually focused may also use this time to deeply connect with their deities, especially those closely linked to the festival.
Wiccans celebrate a version of Samhain as one of their yearly Sabbats on the Wheel of the Year. Most Wiccans consider it the most important of the four "greater Sabbats." Some see Samhain as a time to honor those who have died, including ancestors, family members, elders, friends, pets, and other loved ones. In some rituals, the spirits of the dead are invited to join the celebrations. Samhain is seen as a festival of darkness, opposite on the Wheel of the Year to the spring festival of Bealtaine.
Wiccans believe that during Samhain, the boundary between this world and the afterlife is thinnest, making it easier to communicate with those who have passed away.