Whether you are a seasoned Witch and celebrate Samhain, a magical dabbler that is tapping into the magical side of Halloween, or just here for some Halloween fun, you are totally in the right place! There is so much to learn about the history of Samhain and our current Halloween!
Samhain, or the muggle “Halloween,” dates back to ancient Celtic times as a celebration of the end of the harvest season. You might also hear of Samhain being referred to as “The Witches’ New Year.” During Samhain, the veil between the land of the living and the dead is said to be at its thinnest, thus is a perfect time for spiritual and ancestral work!
Samhain, as it marks the end of the harvest, also marks the end of summer and the beginning of the dark months, more commonly referred to as winter. In ancient times, the dark months were often associated with death. As the veil was thought to be blurred on Samhain, the ancient Celts believed that this was the perfect time for their Druid priests to make predictions about the future, namely nature, as the Celts were forced to rely on the natural world. These predictions brought comfort to what was considered a dark time.
In commemoration of Samhain, Druids built large sacred bonfires in which the peoples assembled to burn animals and crops in the name of the Celtic deities. During this ritual celebration, the Celts often wore animal heads and hides, hence the tradition of costumes on Halloween. After the celebration came to an end, they re-lit their hearth fires from the blessed bonfire to protect themselves from the coming cold months.
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