10/14/2024
Halloween History part 2Dave as Arawn at a Samhain Bonfire photo by Karel Sebek Samhain History Part 2 Today we resume our observations about Halloween / Samhain / Nos Calan Gaeaf customs. As always, I’ll delve into the folk magick aspects as found in anthropological evidence, meaning art, song, legends, folklore, and customs. We’ll start with “Was this really the end of the year / the Celtic New Year?” So, the evidence: We’ll begin with the song “Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly”. That was not originally a Christmas carol, and it didn’t have much to do with holly. It was called “Nos Galan” which means “night before the new year”. It was sung in the Cymraeg /Welsh language, at the new year – what is now Halloween, before the custom was shifted to conventional calendar new year. The earliest mention I can find for the tune is in the 16th century. The lyrics were reinterpreted in the English version by Thomas Oliphant in the 1860s. You can listen to the original song on You Tube, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5onj-YrRMQ The lyrics, according to Wikipedia: Goreu pleser ar nos galan, Tŷ a thân a theulu diddan, Calon lân a chwrw melyn, Pennill mwyn a llais y delyn. Translation: The best pleasure on new year's eve, Is house and fire and a pleasant family, A pure heart and blonde ale, A gentle song and the voice of the harp Remember to add the fa-la-las at the end of each line! The Celts divided the year into two parts, Summer and Winter. Summertime began at Beltane, and Wintertime commenced at Samhain / Nos Galan Gaeaf – translated, Gaeaf literally means “Winter” in Cymraeg. Samhain created a balance w/ Beltane as the Dark and Light halves of year. Since Beltane was devoted to growth, fertility, sowing seeds, and life, it follows that Samhain honors the harvest and death. Much emphasis was placed on surviving the long, cold winter – the slaughter and harvest ensuring that there was enough food, gathering firewood for heat and herbs for medicine, and insulating and re-thatching the home. As mentioned in the previous article, Samhain / Winter was a time for end-of-the-year activities like paying the rent and making good on one’s debts. This was a part of the code of anrhydedd, honor – a fresh start in a new year with no financial obligations hanging over one’s head. Entities and their legends also have to do with the finality of wintertime. In folklore there is Cailleach Bhéra of Ireland and Scotland, whose name means “cloak”, likely referring to her mantle of snow. Her name is also a metaphor for “old woman” or “hag”. She is said to bring the season of Winter to the land. A rock formation in Ireland is named after her. A similar being is the Mallt y Nos of Cymru /Wales, the spooky “old lady of the night” who accompanies the Death God, Arawn, on his Wild Hunt to round up the lost souls of the dead. She was called Mathilda by the Norse and was said to ride a broomstick. Perhaps she is one precursor of the Witch images? Neither of these chilly ladies have much literature written about them – most of their legends come from folklore. Speaking of the dead, our next question: “Was Samhain really a Festival of the Dead?” For the answer to this enquiry, we must first take into account all of the pre-Celtic passage tombs and barrows, aka fancy gravesites. These were built by a civilization much older than the Celts, during the Mesolithic era. Several of these stone monuments can be found in Ireland, including the Grange stone circle at the Mound of Hostages at Tara, which is discussed on the Heritage Ireland website. The Loughcrew Megalithic Cemetery, Slieva na Calliagh in Irish, (which means Hill of the Witch!) has a similar archeological significance. This 5000-year-old monument has a passage where the rising sun illuminates the inner chamber of the tomb, during the astronomic date of Samhain. The Proto-Celts and Celts made a big deal out of honoring their deceased loved ones as well as their brave warriors. The beloved dead were buried with elaborate grave goods, including jewelry, weapons, vessels of food, and sometimes even horses. The oldest known ceremonial human burial was found in Wales, now called “The Red Lady of Paviland”. Actually not a lady at all, the warrior’s skeleton is covered with red oche powder and placed in the fetal position, simulating rebirth, while numerous grave goods were interred with him. The Celts were also really into decapitation, and made effigies of the heads of their enemies and loved ones, alike... as well as hanging their skulls from the rafters! The Celts / Britons also believed that they could speak with their dead loved ones on three of the Ysbrednos or spirit nights – Beltane eve, Midsummer, and Samhain. There are many instances of “second sight”, prophecy, and divination in Celtic literature. The customs of spirit communication, augury and fire-gazing still existed right up until the 1930s in the British Isles. Participants used stones placed on the hearth, engraved with initials, to determine who would live and who would die during the winter months. Young ladies had rituals for augury, most of which focused on finding a mate. There are recipes for “flying ointment” and other hallucinogens / entheogens used for astral travel and divination. A great deal of Celtic / British literature had to do with spirit communication. Shakespeare himself had several representations of ghosts and spirits who could speak prophesy to living humans: Banquo in MacBeth, Julius Caesar, Hamlet’s dad, and of course the fortune-telling spirit of Henry the Seventh. We wish you the spookiest Samhain, the most blessed Nos Calan Gaeaf, and a delightful Halloween. See below for a couple of events local to Michiganders:
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A.C. Fisher Aldag
Chronicler of Cymric Folklore, Granmother and grouch. Enjoyer of good food. Archives
October 2024
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Common Magick from Llewellyn Worldwide
Witches & Pagans # 38 & # 39 from BBI Llewellyn's Witches' Companion 2022, 2023 & 2034 from Llewellyn Worldwide Llewellyn's Spell-a-Day Almanac, 2025 from Llewellyn Worldwide |
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