28 October 2007

Samhain 31st October.


I’ve always been away from the blog around this time of year and haven’t been able to post Which is sad as it’s my favourite sabbat. So this year I’m happy to be writing this post.
Samhain (pronounced “sow-in” is the beggining of the celtic and wiccan new year and is gaelic for “The Summers End”, it represents the death of the summer sun God Lugh. It is also one of the fire festivals.
It’s believed the borders between the world of the living and the dead are thinner this day of the year so the souls of the dead can enter the land of the living. It is a night to rememebr the souls of loved ones who have pave passed on.
Halloween originates from the ancient Celts' celebrations and is based on their 'Feast of Samhain'. The Catholic church attempted to replace the Pagan festival with All Saints' or All Hallows' day, followed by All Souls' Day, on November 2nd.
The eve became known as: All Saints' Eve, All Hallows' Eve, or Hallowe'en. All Saints' Day is said to be the day when souls walked the Earth. In early Christian tradition souls were released from purgatory on All Hallow's Eve for 48 hours.
I like to burn black and orange candles In the evening and these are traditional colours for the day. I’ll share some recipes for pumpkins ad other Halloween foods over the next few days.

8 comments:

otilius said...

Happy Halloween, indeed, and Happy BYB Sunday, too!

Gidget said...

That is very interesting, I had no idea that it has Celtic origins.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for submitting a post for the carnival. Just checking links. Peace.

Jackie said...

Have a wonderful Samhain.

I have not come across the word before even with ancestors who were Celts.

Anonymous said...

Blessed Samhain to you to - nice to see you back.

SandyCarlson said...

Blessed Samhain, indeed. God bless you on this most magical and wonderful of days!

SandyCarlson said...

God bless you on this most magical of holidays!

Rosemary said...

Glad to see you on our BLOG VILLAGE Fall Fest Carnival, Nancy! And thanks so much for putting the correct pronunciation of Samhain. I've been saying it phonetically all this time. Can you explain why it sounds so much different than it looks??