Happy Samhain, the Celtic New Year!

Today, 31 October is Samhain the Celtic New Year celebration, a celebration of harvest, the end of summer and the start of the period of darkness and the origin of our Hallowe’en. A celebration of ancestors, birth and death, a time where the temporal and spiritual world are so near that the spirits can return to the earth and so are feasted, entertained or kept away, depending on where you came from. In Scotland often a place setting is left empty on this night to welcome your ancestors and poems and songs are sung to entertain them, the houses remain darkened however so as not to attract evil spirits or those looking for a body to inhabit and bonfires are lit well away from the house to lure evil spirits away. Nowadays the children in Scotland still sing or say poems to get their goodies, we don’t say trick or treat. 

Fire was central to the traditions of Samhain, the Celts extinguished fires in their homes and gathered to light ritual fires together and feast and then relit their their own fires at home with embers from the ritual fire. A new beginning to a New Year, perhaps here is the origin of the Hallowe’en lantern, people carried the embers from the holy fire in carved out turnips or potatoes. As a child we still carved lanterns out of turnips or potatoes and not pumpkins, the pumpkin was used in America when Irish immigrants brought Hallowe’en to the US. 

My Celtic roots always start to stir at this time of year and my thoughts are with my ''lost ones'', those that have gone before. I find the idea very comforting that they could pop by and enjoy a meal, have a chat (they really don’t want to hear me sing!) and be with me. I'll leave a seat free and drink a toast to those who have gone before ..... as for wearing a mask and eating sweeties, we've been doing that here in Germany since April! Happy Hallowe’en if you celebrate it, or if like me you are a Celt .... Happy Samhain!