Samhain, beyond the veil
1) Origins and Meaning of Samhain
Samhain (pronounced sow-in) is one of the oldest and best-known festivals of the Celtic peoples. Its name derives from the Gaelic sam-fuin, meaning “end of summer,” marking the time when the harvest was completed and livestock returned from the pastures.
Originally, the festival combined agricultural and spiritual elements: it celebrated the end of the rural year and the transition into winter, when visible life “died” only to be reborn within the womb of the earth.
Some scholars, including Clement Miles and J. A. MacCulloch, have suggested that the name Samhain might also refer to a “collective assembly.”
Indeed, during this time, communities gathered for assemblies, solemn oaths, and prophecies-a complex set of rituals that engaged the entire community under the watchful presence of ancestors and spirits believed to walk among the living during these nights.
2) The Celtic New Year and the Coligny Calendar
Modern interpretations often call Samhain the “Celtic New Year,” but was it truly regarded as such? The historical evidence comes primarily from archaeological findings and medieval Irish literature.
Among the most important is the Coligny Calendar, a Gallic inscription written in Latin characters on a bronze tablet dating to the late 2nd century CE (during the Gallo-Roman period), discovered near Lugdunum (modern Lyon, France).
This was a lunisolar calendar, believed to have been created by the Druids to preserve their traditional reckoning of time after the introduction of the Roman Julian calendar.
It is the only known written Celtic calendar, since the Druids did not use writing to transmit their teachings, which were passed down orally.
The calendar includes the note TRINUX(tion) SAMONI SINDIV(os), translated as “the three nights of Samonios begin now.” It is the sole festival explicitly mentioned for all five years represented in the calendar, suggesting its significant importance.
Unlike the Roman calendar, with its four seasons, the Celts divided the year into two major cycles:
The summer season, Samradh, which began with Beltane and ended with Trinox Samoni (the “three nights of Samonios” or Samhain)
The winter season, Geimredh, which began with Samhain and ended with Beltane.
Thus, Samhain stood at the crossroads between the two halves of the year-a liminal threshold marking both an ending and a beginning.
Later sources, primarily Christian ones, include medieval Irish manuscripts such as the Lebor na hUidre (12th century, The Book of the Dun Cow), Acallam na Senórach (ca. 1200, The Dialogue of the Elders), and Lebor Gabála Érenn (11th century, The Book of the Invasions of Ireland).
We cannot be certain, therefore, whether Samhain was truly considered the “New Year” in the pre-Christian era.
The Coligny Calendar remains our only direct pre-Christian textual evidence, composed before Roman Christianization (which began in the following century and concluded by the 5th century CE). Although written in the Gaulish language, it employed Latin script, and it remains unclear how much Roman influence may already have been present.
3) Liminality and the World of the Aos Sí
What we do know for certain is that Samhain represented a liminal time a threshold in the fabric of existence, when the veil between the world of the living and that of spirits and ancestors grew thin, as intangible as the mists that veil the earth.
This concept of liminality was central to Celtic spirituality.
“Liminal time” referred to transitional moments existing between states-neither wholly past nor yet future.
Samhain perfectly embodied such a threshold, marking the passage between the closing and the coming year, between light and darkness, between life and death. This was seen as part of the natural, necessary rhythm of existence.
The sun descended, the seeds lay dormant, and from this darkness, from this mysterious void, life would one day arise anew. During this sacred period, the aos-sì (Old Irish aes sídhe) the “people of the mounds” were believed to move more freely between worlds.
But who were these beings? They were thought to be a supernatural race dwelling in the sídhe (burial mounds), seen as portals to the Otherworld.
Their exact nature remains debated among scholars, since our surviving medieval Irish sources-written by Christian monks-provide varying and sometimes conflicting accounts.
The aos-sì occupy a liminal identity of their own, hovering between gods, nature spirits, and ancestral souls.
Some equate them with the Tuatha Dé Danann (“the People of the Goddess Danu”), the ancient deities of Ireland, who, after being defeated by the mortal Milesians (the ancestors of humankind), retreated underground into the mounds.
Others view them as primal spirits of nature, guardians of sacred places and manifestations of the earth’s living forces.
A third interpretation links them to the souls of the dead, regarding the sídhe as homes of the departed.
The truth likely lies in a synthesis of all three: the aos-sì as “the Others,” inhabitants of a parallel world who embody divine, natural, and ancestral aspects all at once.
They inspired a reverent awe among the ancient Celts, who sought to appease and honor them by leaving offerings of food, drink, and harvest portions outside their homes, ensuring protection, prosperity, and good fortune through the long winter ahead.
Although Samhain is today strongly associated with the remembrance of the dead, no definitive evidence proves that this was the central focus of the pre-Christian festival.
Early sources describe it mainly as a seasonal celebration marking the end of harvest, the bringing home of herds, and the onset of the dark half of the year.
The connection to the dead likely emerged later, shaped by the influence of Christian practices of commemoration.
4) Rituals, Fires, and Folk Traditions of Samhain
Samhain was celebrated by the ancient Celts with solemn feasts that could last for weeks.
The timing was practical: livestock returning from summer pastures were gathered into barns, and surplus animals-those that could not be fed through the winter-were slaughtered.
The meat that could not be preserved was shared and consumed by the whole community during the festivities.
All agricultural work also had to be completed by this time; what was left in the fields was offered to the mischievous spirits known as the Pùca. The center of the celebration was the great ritual fires.
Two sites in the Boyne Valley were closely linked to Samhain: the hills of Tlachtga and Tara.
Tlachtga (modern Hill of Ward, near Athboy in County Meath) was the site of the Great Fire Festival, which began on the eve of Samhain.
Fire symbolized the spark of future life that would return in spring and was thus an omen of renewal and blessing.
It also served as a beacon for the souls of the dead, guiding them to and from their resting places. At Tlachtga, the Druids lit a great sacred bonfire.
From this fire, each family would take a torch to relight their household hearths-which had been extinguished at sunset before the ceremony.
These sacred flames were believed to possess protective and purifying power, warding off malevolent spirits and harmful beings thought to roam freely as the veil between worlds thinned.
It was also a time for divination and prophecy to foresee who might die in the coming year, or who would marry and with whom.
Divination used seasonal fruits such as nuts, hazelnuts, and apples.
Ethnographic studies by Máire MacNeill document these practices surviving in rural Irish communities well into the 20th century.
On Samhain night, nuts were thrown into the fire to predict the future of romantic relationships, molten lead was poured into water to interpret its shapes, apples were placed under pillows to dream of one’s future spouse, and hazelnuts-symbols of wisdom-were eaten before scrying.
Apples represented immortality, prosperity, wisdom, and the link between worlds.
The playful custom of “apple bobbing,” where participants try to catch floating apples with their teeth, descends directly from these ancient rituals.
Another Samhain tradition was wearing costumes and masks often made from animal hides, skulls, and furs of wolves, bears, or deer to frighten away unwanted spirits or to disguise oneself among them.
This was not mere entertainment, as it is today, but a spiritual act of protective mimicry.
Over the centuries, the ancient customs of Samhain evolved and intertwined with Christian and European folk traditions, eventually giving rise to new forms of celebration-still recognizable in part today.
In the next article, we will explore how from these ancient roots emerged the modern festival of Halloween.