The Pagan Mysteries of Halloween by Jean Markale

Author:Jean Markale [Jean Markale]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Inner Traditions/Bear & Company
Published: 2011-07-31T04:00:00+00:00

The Profound Meaning of Samhain

The pivotal points of the religious and civil year of the Celts are November 1 and May 1 (or at least from the full moons closest to these two dates). If Samhain marks the decline of summer and the entrance into the “dark months” of winter, the holiday of Beltane is its antithesis. This understanding allows us better to grasp Samhain’s profound meaning, which is to say its utility and operation.

At Beltane, the herds are put out to pasture and the stables cleaned, purifying them not only of any physical miasma but also of the potential residues left by malefic entities who would have unduly housed themselves there during the dark months. This emergence from winter is accompanied by merrymaking and also by fires that are lit in the evening before nightfall. This is the festival of light, as indicated by the name Beltane, “fires of Bel,” in which the term bel, an abbreviation of the Gallic epithet belenos, means “brilliant” or “luminous.” According to the very distinctive calendar of the Celtic Christians of the British Isles, these fires in honor of Belenos are often confused with the Paschal fireg or have been moved to the solstice and merged with the Fires of Saint John.h Furthermore, the birth of vegetation was celebrated at Beltane and the May Tree (or Anglo-Saxon Maypole) was planted; over the last century this ritual has become the exaltation of the good-luck May lily.i And finally, people celebrated the resumption of summer activity with various kinds of festivities and meals copously watered by alcoholic beverages and filled with various games, the majority being of sacred origin.j

Beltane thus presents itself as the opposite pole of Samhain, but it includes similar elements. From what we know of the great Fiana of Ireland, they spent the summer outdoors, living by hunting and fishing, from Beltane to Samhain. But from Samhain to Beltane, they became sedentary and lived with the inhabitants of all the provinces. This was no more nor less than a period of hibernation during which, like a bear in its cave, they slept, regaining in this way their energy, which had been dissipated by the activities of summer and which was put to sleep during the “black months.” Of course, this holiday was the occasion for feasts, which, like Samhain, lasted symbolically for three days and three nights. A lot of drinking went on there, as elsewhere, but the foods, while abundant, did not consist of game or meat. We should not forget that this holiday occurred at the end of winter, and as an old tenth-century quatrain declares: “I tell you true, a distinctive feast—these are the riches of Beltane—beer, cabbage, sweet milk—and milk curdled over a fire.”20

The menu was meager because the herds were providing little milk and less meat. Their health and prosperity had to be restored by sending them out to pasture where they would find fresh and restorative nourishment. We find a trace of these ancient rituals in contemporary Ireland.

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