...an excerpt from
The Pagan Book of Days........
"Samhain or Samhuinn, November 1, marks the beginning of winter, at which time it was customary to slaughter livestock. (
sorry to all who are vegetarians but this comes from another time when this was necessary to survive) Its Eve marked the End of the old year in the Celtic calendar and its Dawn, the Beginning of the New Year....
Samhain is thus a time Between the Years and Between the Worlds, when the veil between the Present and the Past... the Living and the Dead... is Thin... It is the Festival of the Dead, that time of Year when we Remember our Ancestors and Hail our Descendants....
In the Christian tradition, November 1 celebrates All of the Departed Saints, while November 2, Remembers the Souls of all the Dead not elevated to Sainthood. Materially the nature of the Festival, as with many other celebrations, is the same in the Pagan and the Christian Traditions....
The Festival of Samhain is celebrated widely on its Eve... This is the Christianized Festival of All Hallows' Eve, popularly known as Halloween... which is observed after dark on Oct. 31.... The masks, bats, skeletons and witches hats of present day Halloween parties are a modern expression of the Pagan Festival of Remembrance of Death and the Departed...
In the Natural year, Samhain is the third harvest when in former days, Animals were slaughtered and their meat smoked or salted down for Winter... The tangible link with the Dead at Samhain is present in the custom of Divinations on Halloween...."
I wanted to add this addendum as I think many of us have forgotten what this festival is all about.. I know I like learning more about it...
and it is good to remember the reasons why we do things......
The feast of Samhain (pronounced
sow-ain) marks the onset of a darker, more introspective time of year...
