Get the look: Samhain, Celtic Halloween, woman

We all know that modern Halloween has drifted over from America and that this celebration has its origins in the Irish samhain. But what does this mean in a broader Indo-European context? What do these celebrations tell us about our form of ancestor worship? In this blog, we attempt to place samhain, the precursor to Halloween, accessibly in a broader context. 

Indo-European paganism is a dharmic nature religion; we speak of dharmic because there were prescriptions and rules that maintained and supported the cosmic order. 

In this, the ancestors play an important role. For thousands of years, the Proto-Indo-European peoples buried high-ranking deceased individuals in burial mounds. On the steppes, these mounds were visible from afar. They were sacred places that emphasized the status of the ancestor. Tribes, which were predominantly nomadic, regularly returned to these places to make offerings in honor of the ancestors. The people buried in these mounds were also a personification of the semi-mythological ancestors of the tribe. Their heroic deeds and achievements were passed down and revered for generations. Their deeds were immortalized in the bardic oral traditions of the people. Peoples of Indo-European descent, such as the Greeks, Romans, Germans, Celts, Balto-Slavs, Indo-Iranians, Indo-Aryans maintained this tradition. 

In this context, we must view the Germanic álfablót, the Celtic samhain, and the Slavic dziady.

All these celebrations have one thing in common: the commemoration of deceased ancestors. These can be both one's own ancestors and the mythological ancestors of the tribe or clan. Ancestor worship is a very important practice in Indo-European cultures. It connects the people and creates a bond of honor and pride. 

Samhain is a Celtic holiday, which begins on the evening of October 31st. The Celtic day began at sunset, not sunrise as it does today. The festival marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter.

Some Neolithic passage tombs in Great Britain and Ireland are aligned with the sunrise at the time of Samhain, which may indicate a much older origin of this festival. 

October 31st falls roughly halfway between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice. The light season transitions into the dark season, with winter symbolizing death. After Samhain, the wild hunt begins towards Yule (midwinter) and then the light (life) returns to earth. 

On Samhain, people honored their ancestors and made offerings at their graves. This could be one's own ancestors or the semi-mythological ancestors of the tribe. The period was considered a time when the veil between the world of the living and the dead (the Otherworld) was thin, allowing souls of the deceased to come closer.

The night of Samhain was not without danger. Because the world of the dead lay right next to the world of the living, traveling between the two worlds was easier. In Old Irish mythology, it is clear that there were monsters and evil spirits in the underworld, which could cross over to the world of the living during this night. 

Samhain is frequently mentioned in Irish manuscripts and is linked to significant events in Irish mythology. These stories were written down between the 9th and 13th centuries by Christian monks. They were likely passed down orally for hundreds of years before that. Often, the texts known today are copies of earlier texts.

From this literature, we can deduce that feasts and large gatherings took place. Tochmarc Emire (10th century) names Samhain as the first of the four seasonal feasts. According to Echtra Cormaic (12th century), the High King of Ireland (ard rí na hÉrenn) organized the Feast of Tara every seventh Samhain, during which he established new rules, laws, and duties. The feast was also a time when people had to give part of their yield to their lord, as described in an extreme version in Lebor Gabála Érenn (12th century).

Such gatherings, where the heroes of Ireland assembled and people feasted, drank, and held competitions, were a popular setting in the stories because disputes easily arose, or love was sealed, and all heroes were gathered in full glory.

It was a time of peace. In Táin Bó Cúailnge (12th century), the cattle raid on Ulster begins on Samhain, a day when no one expected war.

During Samhain, beings from the Otherworld in the human world, as recounted in Macgnímartha Finn (12th century) and Acallam na Senórach (early 13th century). Burial mounds were seen as gateways to the Otherworld. In the Dinnshenchas of Móin Gai Glais, Cúldub kills someone on Samhain and is killed in revenge by a certain Gae Glass. In Dunaire Finn, Samhain is not mentioned, but Cúldub emerges from a burial mound to steal cattle, and the hero Fionn pursues him. He throws a spear at Cúldub, who stumbles back into the burial mound. A woman slams the door to the mound shut, and Finn's thumb gets caught. He puts it in his mouth to ease the pain. Because his thumb was in the Otherworld, Fionn gains great wisdom, possibly referring to ancestral knowledge.

From Echtra Neraí (10th century) and Togail Bruidne Dá Derga (11th century), it is clear that Samhain was associated with death, not only of individuals but of entire populations. In some versions of the former story, Nera remains in the Otherworld for a long time and convinces his rulers of this by bringing summer flowers as proof.

How the ancestors celebrated Samhain exactly remains unclear. But by studying Old Irish texts, Indo-European moral expressions, Old Irish law, and early modern celebrations, we can make a reconstruction.

In contrast to the Germanic and Scandinavian álfablot, likely the entire community participated in one large, central Samhain celebration, and the festival was thus not limited to the domestic sphere. It is possible that once in a while a larger Samhain feast was held than usual.

Men and women washed themselves and put on their finest clothes to present themselves well. They went to a central place where they were received by the king (rí) or his nobility (the flaith). Hospitality and generosity were very important to ensure the king's status. If he did not receive his guests according to the status they held, a conflict could arise and his good name would be tarnished. The guests were given food. Gifts may also have been exchanged, or this was the moment when clients gave gifts to their lord.

Offerings were made to the dead, both one's own deceased family members and the mythological ancestors. The offering was likely performed by the druid and by the king, who also fulfilled a spiritual role. This emphasized and confirmed the bond between ancestors, law, beauty, and tribe (túath).

At nightfall, two large fires were lit. Tribe members and cattle (cows) were possibly guided between the fires as a ritual purification. In the early modern period, all fires were first extinguished before being relit from the central bonfire.

The bards told stories and sang songs about the heroic deeds of the ancestors. This was the greatest gift one could give to the dead: eternal fame by telling their story. There were competitions, such as spear throwing and horseback riding.

Feasts were also an opportunity to make business arrangements, such as dividing grazing land for the next year among each other. It may be that the king, either the rí túaithe (king of the tribe) or the high king (ard rí), read new laws to the gathered revelers. He was likely supported by his judges (brithemna), as the king was not above the law. 

Such gatherings of the tribe were also where youth could meet each other and connections were made that eventually led to marriages. Thus, the feast of the dead also influenced new life. The ritual offerings must have made an impression on the children of the clan. 

They were probably entertained on the evening of Samhain with stories about gruesome monsters that came over from the other world to the world of the living and about the magic that was present in the burial mounds. Soon, somewhere between Samhain and Yule, they themselves would have to go on an adventure, to visit the dead in their burial mounds and bring back offerings as proof.

We have assembled the outfits of an Old Irish man and woman from the early 5th century AD. The characters in this blog, whom we have named Conchobar and Gráinne, have the status bóaire, meaning free farmer. Conchobar has his own piece of land and, together with his neighbor, owns a pair of oxen, with which they plow their land together. Additionally, Conchobar owns livestock, 6 cows, 15 sheep, and a beehive. 

They lived just before the introduction of Christianity. There are no written sources from this period, but based on basic of later texts, we can reconstruct much about it.

The couple is going to participate in the Samhain ritual, which is held communally within the túath (clan/tribe) and is led by the king of the túath (rí túaithe).

Like other clan members, they have been looking forward to this all month. They have gathered their offerings, such as part of the grain harvest, honey from their honeycombs, butter, or a piece of pork. Higher circles offered more extensively, possibly an entire (white) bull, horse, and mead.

For the composition of Conchobar (man) click here

Like her husband, Gráinne works on the farm, where they share the responsibilities of land management together. Between Imbolc and Samhain, there is a period of intensive work on the land, reflecting the cyclical nature of agrarian life in Old Irish society. However, after Samhain, the quiet, dead winter arrives, a time of rest and reflection.

During the offering ritual, Gráinne plays an important role by offering on behalf of her family to the ancestors. Although we cannot say with certainty whether in Old Irish Celtic paganism, as in Germanic paganism, the woman is mainly seen as the catalyst between the world of mortals and the gods, we can assume that parallels exist. Since both religions are likely branches of Indo-European paganism, we expect that women in Old Irish religious practice also played an essential role in rituals and communication with the divine. Her husband Conchobar, on the other hand, was the patriarch of the family. 

During the Samhain ritual, Gráinne had to make offerings in the correct way. For this, she used a drinking horn, a traditional object derived from cattle. Cattle held a sacred status among the Indo-European peoples, including the Celts. Think of all the epic old Irish stories about cattle raids.

In other Indo-European cultures, such as among the Greeks and Romans, a similar ritual horn was called a rhyton. Drinking horns had a strong ritual significance in these societies and were often used in sacrificial ceremonies. These objects were not always made from animal horns; sometimes the Romans, Germans, and Vikings even crafted drinking horns from materials like glass. This underscores the importance and symbolic power of the drinking horn in religious ceremonies and offerings

During the ritual, Gráinne wears a scarf or headkerchief, which is an important sign that she is addressing the gods. Wearing such head coverings was not uncommon in ancient Rome and among the Greeks; both men and women used scarves and headscarves as part of their religious and cultural practices.

This tradition of covering the head was later adopted by the Abrahamic religions, where it was often associated with chastity and modesty. In Old Irish society, however, wearing a scarf or headkerchief during rituals was not related to the woman's chastity. Instead, it symbolized a deeper spiritual connection and respect for the gods.

The difference between an Early Medieval dress and a long tunic is small. Therefore, the Gaelic Irish referred to both a dress and a tunic as a léine. These garments, unlike later models, did not have bag-shaped sleeves and were simple in design. An example of a fairly simple léine is that of Gráinne, a style that was common among the general population. The luxury and refinement of a léine were directly related to the social status of the wearer: the more luxurious the fabric and finish, the wealthier the person wearing it. The Old Irish word "léine" lives on in modern Gaelic, where the word for T-shirt is T-léine.

Gráinne wears a chaperon. This is a widely used garment that was worn throughout Europe. A 4th-century original, for example, was found on the Orkney Islands in Scotland. 

The most important garment in the Old Irish Gaelic culture was the brat, a large cloak worn over the léine. The brat could be worn in various ways, depending on the situation and the needs of the wearer. When Gráinne worked the land, she tucked the brat under her belt, allowing him to easily remove the cloak from his neck and wear it around his waist in warm weather. This ease of use made the brat a multifunctional garment. From this practice, the Scottish belted plaid later emerged, a precursor to the well-known Scottish kilt. This shows how the clothing of the Old Irish culture shaped the basic for later Celtic attire in Scotland.

Gráinne probably did not wear footwear. But if she had worn footwear, she would have worn turn shoes. 

Gráinne wears a belt equipped with a belt loop. This is tied to the waist, a method much older than belt buckles. On the belt, Gráinne carries various tools, such as a sickle, utility knife, and scissors. These items are for everyday use. 

Because the ritual takes place in the evening, Gráinne carries a lantern for illumination.