halloween

The idea of night and day was central to everyday existence in Celtic culture. Bealtaine and Samhain were two of their most important holidays. Their year was split between a dark half and a light half, and the transition from one to the other was celebrated with festivities. Samhain is a term that is often translated to mean “summer’s end,” and it was certainly a festival that took place during the darker half of the year.

Some traditional Halloween customs associated with Halloween include going trick-or-treating in spooky costumes, pumpkin carving, and going door to door for candy. Samhain is a Gaelic term that is pronounced: “SAH-win.” It was a pagan religious celebration to welcome the harvest at the end of summer when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts.

As children and adults around the world take part in the spooky festivities of Halloween on the night of October 31st, All Hallows Eve, few know of its ancient Irish Celtic roots in the Samhain (Samain) festival.

Read more about Celtic Halloween Origins,

Celtic Halloween called Samhain in Gaelic is a traditional Celtic festival marking the end of the harvest season. It also marks the beginning of winter also known as the "darker half" of the year because the days get dramatically shorter. Samhain is traditionally celebrated at sunset on October 31st and lasts until sunrise on November first. This is considered the halfway between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice. This time during Samhain was seen as a transitional time, when the vail between this world and the other side could be crossed without difficulty allowing Aos Sí, or the 'spirits' like the 'fairies' into our world to create mischief. The Irish have many Celtic Halloween Traditions to ward off these spirits.

Celtic Anti-Fairy Measures for Halloween

There are many Irish Halloween traditions in Ireland. One of my favorites is barmbrack. Barmbrack is at the very core of the Irish Halloween traditions. The Halloween Brack, much like Christmas pudding traditionally contained various objects baked into the sweet bread.

On Halloween night children would dress up in scary Halloween costumes and go house to house. Phrases like "Help the Halloween Party" and "Trick or Treat" were the cries to be heard at each door. Halloween beliefs, customs, and costumes migrated with the first wave of Irish and Scottish immigrants that arrived in the United States in the 18th century. These immigrants came from Ireland and Scotland.

The Irish legend of the Dullahan, or English translation "dark man" is unnerving. The Headless Horseman or Dullahan is the Irish foreteller of death. The Dullahan rides a jet-black horse with flames shooting from its eyes, carrying his head under one arm.

A banshee from Old Irish: ban side, “woman of the fairy mound” or “fairy woman”) is a female spirit in Irish mythology who heralds the death of a family member, usually by shrieking or keening.

Believe it or not, Ireland is the country that gave birth to Halloween, and many of the modern-day practices associated with the holiday are derived from the more than two thousand years of history, culture, and tradition that the Irish has cultivated. Every year on October 31st, people celebrate All Hallows Eve, which has its roots in the Celtic festival Samhain (pronounced "Sow-when" like the word "sound" without the d and you should have it!). Samhain was a celebration honoring the dead.

The Halloween Superstition says the Samhain Bonfire is an Irish tradition to encourage dreams of who your future husband or wife is going to be. The idea was to drop a cutting of your hair into the burning embers and then dream of your future loved one. During the festival, in addition to lighting Samhain bonfires, Celts wore costumes made of animal heads and skins.