About
Samhain was the Gaelic start of winter and of the new year, one of the four great festivals of medieval Irish literature, when kings held assemblies and the mounds of the otherworld stood open. In later folk custom it became Halloween, a night of guising, bonfires, divination and remembering the dead. It is one of the eight sabbats of the Wheel of the Year, a twentieth-century framework not every tradition uses.
Customs
- Lighting bonfires on hilltops
- Guising, going door to door in costume
- Carving lanterns, originally from turnips
- Divination with apples and nuts
- Setting a place at the table for the dead
Food
- Soul cakes
- Colcannon
- Barmbrack
- Apples and nuts
- Recipe: Soul cakes 45 minutes
A simple ritual
- Set a small table with photographs or keepsakes of loved ones who have died.
- Light a candle in a safe holder or a lantern in the window to guide them.
- Set out a plate of food and a drink for your ancestors.
- Speak their names and share a memory of each.
- Sit quietly and reflect on what you want to carry into the dark half of the year.
- Put out the candle and place the food outside in the morning.
Never leave candles or fires unattended, and keep them away from pets and children.
Who is honoured
- The Morrígan Great Queen of battle and prophecy
- The Dagda The good god, father of all
- Cerridwen Keeper of the cauldron of inspiration