The True Origins of Halloween - Samhain

Though many associate Halloween with dressing up as dark and scary entities for the purpose of going Trick or Treating, indulging in sweets and spooking oneself and others silly - None of this is the truth of the origins of Halloween. The holiday was not created for such purposes, and neither was it birthed in America.

Halloween originates from an Ancient Celtic Pagan Festival called Samhain (a Gaelic word pronounced “sow win”). The word Samhain originates from a Proto-Celtic word "Samoni" which means "assembly" or "gathering".

It’s important to know that the word “pagan” does not represent anything dark as society and mainstream religions would have us believe. It is a middle-english word that derives from the Latin word “paganus” which quite literally means and translates to “country dweller”, someone who lives in the countryside.

During the invasion of the Roman Empire into Britain the term “pagan” started being used by the Romans to describe anyone who’s faith lay outside of mainstream religions, heinous rumours were then spread about those folk. An astronomical amount of people were persecuted and murdered throughout history for benevolent beliefs that had in fact existed in Albion (Britain) since the beginning of known human inhabitance on this Island. 

The spiritual knowledge and culture of the native “Britons” and Irish was incredibly deep and vast, predating any form of Christianity, all history from Ancient Egypt and so on. They travelled all over the world and integrated with the Ancient Native Indians, whose spiritual knowledge and teachings were very much aligned.

A great deal of written history on the spiritual population of this country, as well as physical architecture and ancient relics have been purposefully destroyed, altered or hidden. However, the oral tradition of passing down history and folklore has kept the truth of Britain’s history alive out there for us to discover underneath all the ruble (As well as Ancient Welsh Manuscripts that make it past the veil of hidden history).

The teachings of ancient spiritual natives centred around things like the earth, nature, the elements, the sun, the moon, the stars, the heavens, the underworld, life, death, consciousness, enlightenment, balance, spirit, ancestors, karma, dimensions, the infinite one creator, all that keeps us healthy mentally, physically and spiritually, the connection of all things, meditation, herbal medicines, healing and a whole lot more.

The aim of the invading Romans into Britain was to destroy all existing spiritual knowledge and unity along with the people who possessed it and in turn replace it with their own “spiritual” doctrine used to create dependance, obedience, control and wealth for the ruling class. The complete destruction of the heart of Britain was done to diminish the power, strength, balance, knowledge, wisdom, love, empathy and independence of each individual in this country. When achieving enough success with their invasion they started rewriting history and spreading even more lies and rumours about the people they had murdered, these rewritings and lies persist in our mainstream society to this day - another purposeful tactic used to keep the current natives of Britain unawake to the history of their ancestors and therefor unawake to their own potentials as individuals and as a collective.

Another horrific act the Romans undertook was the killing of Jesus, total rewriting of his life-story, teachings and beliefs and then creating a "religion", rules and doctrine under his name with an intent to control the populace by repeatedly enforcing the message "he died for your sins". Contrary to modern belief, Jesus was a man who spread the word that we are all one, we are all connected to source, we can tap into dormant abilities/powers and that love is the most important thing in the whole universe. He also took up pilgrimages to learn from Druids and Ancient Pagans, however those stories are for another time.

The mast majority of “holidays” such as Christmas, Easter, New Years, etc, are all rooted in Ancient Spiritual customs of the Celtic people (and most likely derives from even earlier native traditions). These holidays were rewritten to be the totems of later religions and have heavily shifted their focus and purpose.

Samhain is an ancient tradition/festival that lasts from the 31st of October until the 1st of November, it acts as a division between the lighter and darker sides of the year (Summer & Winter) and is a mark of the end of the Celtic year and the beginning of a new. Due to not belonging to the old year or the new, this gave it a unique title of being “suspended in time”. 

During Samhain the veil between worlds/realms are at their thinnest which allows spirits to pass through. Ancient Brits were fully aware of this spiritual happening that would take place each year, so families would honour their ancestors and have traditions to invite them home.

Time was said to stand still in the evening and the natural order of things thrown into chaos as the earthly realm merges with the otherworld. As well as benevolent beings and ancestors, malevolent spirits also freely wander our realm during this time, so folk would dress in masks and costumes that would keep them disguised from the evil spirits and ensure their protection and safety from harm.

Food and bonfires played a huge part in these traditions. People would extinguish the fires in their houses to join a communal bonfire. Food was prepared for the living and the dead, the food prepared for ancestors was then given and shared to people who were less fortunate. Children who were lesser off would also knock on the doors of people who would share their food with them.

The purpose of bonfires was a type of symbology as well as a community gathering of protection. This time of year marks the start of the sun being in complete decline and so the lighting of the Winter Fires was a symbol of man’s attempt to help assist the sun on its journey through the sky, restoring light to the world.

Weary travellers during the night could be sure to encounter spirits of all kinds, good and bad, especially at crossroads etc (ley lines) and would be careful to blend in when moving though the evening. Divination was an incredibly important part of the Celts everyday lives and this craft formed an integral part of the festivities that were held at Tlachtga. Once the great fire at Tlachtga was lit it acted as a signal that all was well and all other fires could now be relit. The lighting of the fires at Tlachtga symbolised the victory of light and the relighting of the household fires symbolised celebration of the feasts. Once this had happened, families could safely invite their benign ancestors back home with no threats posed - mostly the ancestral spirits would be benevolent and gather in warmth and comfort by the fire - however, ancestral spirits who were not fully benign could show another side to themselves and cast misfortunate if offerings were withheld, this is where the modern custom of “trick or treating” comes from. The recent tradition of Trick or Treating feels like a clear mocking of the struggle people endured with unruly spirits back in the day - “give us the right offering otherwise we play a trick on you” - The knocking on the door for sweets element clearly borrows from poor children knocking for food and the scary costumes taken from the old disguises worn as protection, which genuinely makes “Trick or Treating” feel like a triple whammy mock to all of those who struggled. How lovely it would be to return to the ancient traditions of sharing, protecting and caring instead of playing along with this new mocking ritual.

Later, a number of Irish Celts migrated to America and continued their traditions, this is how and why most people today assume Halloween to be American in origin due to the popularity that it garnered over there. Over time and due to copious amounts of religious tug of wars, the traditions were eventually twisted and shifted into what they are today.

Christianity created a holiday called “All Hallows Day” later changed to “All Saints Day” which was also a celebration of the dead at the exact same time of year. Christianity known for demonising any spiritual belief outside of its own, made it a personal mission to demonise all ancient “pagan” beliefs and traditions by interlinking everything with “the devil” - which is probably why “Halloween” is such a twisted and dark representation of the origins and truth of the Samhain traditions. For the Church Institutions to make their Christian celebrations look like the “holy original” and all others a “fake copy to worship the devil” was and still is one of their main social quests.

There is so much more history and lore to discuss when it comes to Samhain, we’ve tried to cover the core basics but invite you to explore and research deeper because it is a truly fascinating topic. It’s important that we don’t assume that just because the ancients had knowledge of the dead, the otherworld, and risked making communication with them - that they were somehow dark occultists who conjured evil - though nefarious cults have and still do exist, these everyday folk were a million miles away from that category.

It’s easy for us in our modern world to judge others, their beliefs and traditions when we have been passed down such twisted versions of history, have modern religions that proclaim the devil in everything outside of themselves and most importantly have never actually met our ancestors who held these beliefs and customs in the first place. Perhaps learning about our ancestors communicating with their ancestors can give us some courage to push past our limitations and do the same.

Britain, once Albion, once Merlin’s Enclosure, is a place of pure magic and wonder, the world’s Heart Chakra. It’s time to give our heritage, our DNA, our origins and our ancestors the recognition and love they truly deserve.

Sources

Articles: https://www.newgrange.com/samhain.htm

Web Pages: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samhain, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Saints%27_Day, https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/samhain

Books: to be added

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