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Traditional Samhain
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Featured October 20 , 2007
 Samhain is the season when the living and the dead meet. The "real" world and the "other" world briefly open to each other, bridging the gap that leads back to one's ancestors and the dawn of time. In Celtic literature, the most important mythical occasions, such as the great battles, journeys to the Otherworld, ritual deaths of royalty, and reckoning for breaking taboos all occur at Samhain. The Sidhe fight a battle for the harvest at the start of November. There is the great battle of the Tuatha de Danaan (light) against the Fomorians (darkness). Time and law are revoked. Everything turns inside-out and upside-down. The Celtic year was divided into winter and summer by the axis of November and May. The pivotal celebrations were Beltaine and Samhain. Etymologically, Samhain means "end of summer." It was such an important festival that every member of the community was required to attend. Pork was the main food at the feast, as the meat of the pig was connected with immortality. Where Beltaine is bright, Samhain is dark. Beltaine is life and fertility. Samhain is death and barrenness. Symbols of a traditional Samhain differ from those of Halloween, although Samhain is the great-grandmother of All Hallows Eve. Apples, hazel nuts and barmbrack (sweet bread with charms baked into it) are all used for different methods of divination on Samhain night. The apples are a reference to the Celtic Emhain Abhlach, "Paradise of Apples," where the dead, having eaten of the sacred fruit, enjoyed a blissful immortality. There are no pumpkins because these are not native to the Celtic lands. Instead, candlelit turnips banish the dark forces on this night. This comes down from the old practice of using a hollowed turnip or gourd to carry the live ember from the sacred Samhain bonfire to the home hearth. Fire is the most prevalent symbol of Samhain. There is the bonfire which is lit by the druids after all the other fires have been extinguished. Fire guides both the living and the dead home on Samhain night. It burns the sacrifices and the roasts the feast. Candles are lit for deceased loved ones, for whom plates with their favorite food are set at the table. It is heat and light against the impending darkness of winter. The Halloween witch with her green face, warty chin and black pointed hat is the comic remnant of the Cailleach, the Hag of Winter, or the banshee, who is one of the main figures of Samhain. November first is Phooka Day, when supposedly if you see a phooka you can ask them for advice or divination The phooka is a shapeshifter who can take the form of a horse, rabbit, goat, cow, bird or bat. It inspires both fear and respect. After Samhain night, anything that remains in the fields is considered phooka-blasted, unfit for human consumption. Some set out an offering especially for the phooka, If you can be enticed onto its back, it will take you for one wild ride but usually doesn't harm anyone. It likes to play tricks or confuse people. The Phooka can speak and will sometimes give advice or protection. It is up to you to decide whether or not to trust that. Another strange creature connected with Samhain is An Mhuc Dubh, the Black Pig. Boars and pigs play major roles in many Celtic legends. One of the greatest Irish sagas is "MacDatho's Pig" in which the carving of a sow caused a great battle. Generally the Black Pig is a particularly nasty force of cold and winter that awakens at Samhain. It has been linked with all sorts of horrors and destruction, even to Armageddon. According to W.B. Yeats (Writings on Irish Folklore, Legend & Myth) the black pig appears with the intent "to do battle with the summer, and with the fruits and leaves anad finally...of the darkness that will at last destroy the gods and the world." Yeats further describes this in his poem "The Valley of the Black Pig": The dews drop slowly and dreams gather: unknown spears Suddenly hurtle before my dream-awakened eyes, And then the clash of fallen horsemen and the cries Of unknown perishing armies beat about my ears. We who still labour by the cromlech on the shore, The grey cairn on the hill, when day sinks drowned in dew, Master of the still stars and of the flaming door. At Lughnasadh in Celtia, we met Crom Dubh. The Dullahan ("Dark Man") is believed by some to be a shade of Crom Dubh. He is the Irish headless horseman or angel of death. He carries his head in one hand, and has a whip made from a human spine in the other. He can see through the eyes of his severed head in the dark and for great distances. The Dullahan rides a powerful black horse that goes so fast that it leaves a trail of fire. No gates are secure against him. Where he stops, someone dies. If you look at the horseman, he will throw a bucket of blood at you or strike you blind. If you hear him call your name, you're dead. The only way he can be banished is with gold, of which he has an inexplicable dread. Lair Bhan (White Mare) leads a door to door procession on Samhain. The White Mare is legendary in Ireland. In mythic times, she was the embodiment of the Sovereign Goddess or spirit of the land. On Samhain, the Lair Bhan is simply a sheet thrown over a wooden fame, with a painted cutout for a head. Some heads can be quite elaborate, with snapping jaws controlled by the one under the costume. Members of the procession collect money, eggs, butter and bread in the name of Muck Olla. A generous response ensures blessings while a meager offering brings withdrawal of Muck Olla's favour. The identity of Muck Olla has been lost in the past. It may be the Black Pig, an old nature god of Samhain, a bastardization of a foreign deity, or even a nonsensical name created to avoid speaking the real name to save the chance of casually invoking its dark power. "Trick or treat!" sums and summons up the theme of a traditional Samhain. It is a time to placate the dead, the Pucca, Muck Olla, and whatever other mysterious forces may be running loose on this night. We confront our own mortality in these symbols and hope to come safely through the realm of darkness into the light. (header illustration by Maud Gonne from "Celtic Wonder Tales" 1910) |
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