Buzz
Halloween might predate Christianity by quite a bit. It originated as 'Samhain,' a Celtic pagan festival marking a time when the boundary between the living and the dead became almost indistinguishable.
The way Samhain was observed isn't well-documented, leaving us to rely on folklore and secondhand reports. What we know paints a picture of dark, unsettling rituals, quite unlike the Halloween we recognize today.
10. The Ceremonial Sacrifice of Kings
In Ireland's bogs, ancient corpses have been discovered, astonishingly well-preserved. The bodies are enveloped in a thick layer of black peat, which has kept their flesh from decaying. Even after centuries, their faces remain unchanged, and the hair on their heads is still intact.
Many of these bodies were not simply accidents of time. Archaeologists believe they are the remains of ceremonial sacrifices. Clothing and personal care suggest these individuals belonged to the ruling class, aligning with legends about kings being ritually murdered during Samhain.
In years of hardship, marked by plagues or famines, the people would hold their king accountable. The unsuccessful king would be sacrificed, replaced, and his body cast into the bog.
9. The Awakening of the Dead
On Samhain, it was believed that the gates separating the world of the dead would swing open. Deceased loved ones would wander into the realm of the living, often attempting to return to their former homes.
In some regions, people showed compassion for the dead. They would place food outside their doors for the roaming spirits or even leave their doors ajar, preparing a space for the deceased to rest.
Not all spirits were benign, however. One Irish legend tells of a creature named Aileen, who would emerge from the afterlife and set fire to the town of Tara every Samhain. In some areas, in terror of such spirits, people would lock their doors tightly during Samhain, too frightened to venture outside.
8. Divination
During Samhain, people would summon spirits to reveal their futures. Various peculiar rituals were carried out during the festival, aimed at foretelling whether fortune or hardship lay ahead, many of which were referred to as “spells.”
Some rituals were quite harmless. For instance, girls would secretly sit near a neighbor’s house, their mouths filled with water and a pinch of salt in each hand, eavesdropping on conversations. They believed the first unmarried man’s name they overheard would be the one they would marry.
In one ritual, men would open the barn doors and mimic the act of lowering corn against the wind three times. After the third attempt, a spirit would pass through the barn, assuming the form of the position the men would hold in adulthood. However, boys were advised to remove the hinges from the doors, or else the spirit would remain, tormenting them.
7. Fairies Abducted Humans
During Samhain, fairies would leave their realm and wander among the mortals. While this may sound enchanting, these fairies were no whimsical Tinkerbells. They were monstrous creatures, making this one of the most terrifying aspects of the holiday.
The fairies, led by the King of the Dead, would ride on storm clouds with an army of hellhounds, gathering the newly departed. During Samhain, however, they were less selective. At times, they would drag the living along with the dead and pull them into the afterlife.
On the day of the festival, people would avoid fairy mounds, the hills scattered across the Irish countryside, fearing that if they ventured too close, they would be caught by the fairies and dragged into hell.
6. The Beasts of the Cave of Cats
The most perilous spot during Samhain was Oweynagat, the Cave of the Cats. This was a narrow opening carved into a hill. According to legend, the Fairy Queen had visited there centuries ago, and her maidservant became so enchanted by the place that she asked to remain. Since then, it had been overtaken by malicious spirits.
Medieval accounts are filled with claims that monsters crawled out of the cave. One story spoke of the ghostly figure of a woman who appeared every year, taking nine of the finest animals from each herd. Another tale described strange creatures emerging from the cave, while some spoke of demonic cats unleashed during Samhain to terrorize the town below.
5. People Drank Excessively
A central aspect of Samhain was consuming as much alcohol as possible. The festival marked the final harvest before winter, and large quantities of grain would be gathered before the frost ruined them. With an abundance of alcohol available, and no refrigeration to preserve it, the people had no choice but to drink or let it go to waste.
Drinking heavily was deeply intertwined with Samhain. It became so associated with the festival that every ancient Irish tale involving drunkenness is set during Samhain. Entire legends, such as “The Intoxication of the Ulstermen,” revolve around the festival’s drinking customs, often making it the central plot point or even the entire focus of the story.
4. The Dark Sow
Fire played a significant role in the festival. Across the country, people would ignite fires in their homes during Samhain, though the specifics of the ritual varied by location. In some places, this practice involved darker and more dangerous customs.
In Moray, boys would go from door to door asking for 'peat to burn the witches.' They would then build a massive fire and lie down as close as possible without being burned, letting the smoke engulf them. Their friends would leap over them through the smoke, believing that this act would grant them magical protection.
In certain parts of Wales, people would jump over the fire and race away, imagining that the Black Sow would catch the slowest runner. J.A. MacCulloch suggests that this was a milder version of an ancient ritual. In the past, he claims, they would capture one of the runners, burden them with 'the accumulated evils of the year,' and throw them onto the bonfire as a human sacrifice.
3. Human Sacrifice of Children
In the ancient days, Samhain might have been a time for child sacrifice. Irish folklore tells of a period when the gods demanded sacrifices during the festival. One story mentions that the people had to surrender two-thirds of all they owned at the start of winter, including their corn, their milk, and even their children.
A different account, written by a Christian monk, speaks of a place called Mag Slecht, where an idol to the god Cromm Crauch stood. According to the monk, this altar was used for child sacrifices during Samhain.
“They slaughtered their helpless firstborn with great mourning and danger,” the monk writes, “to spill their blood around Cromm Crauch.”
2. The Tradition of Cross-Dressing
It wasn't only the boundary between the living and the dead that became blurred. Over time, Samhain began to be a time for blurring the lines between genders as well. Both Samhain and its modern counterpart, Halloween, became occasions where men dressed in drag could be seen roaming the streets.
By the mid-19th century, many of those who went door-to-door during Halloween were primarily men dressed as women—referred to as “hags” in Wales. These hags would knock on doors asking for food or shelter.
If a house was particularly untidy, the men in women's clothing would enter and start sweeping, humming “mum-m-m” as they worked, embodying the persona of a disapproving wife.
1. People Dressed Up As The Dead
Costumes were a key feature of Samhain, much like modern-day Halloween. However, rather than dressing as superheroes, participants would dress as the deceased. People would paint their faces black and wear outfits made of straw, believing these disguises would trick the roaming spirits into thinking they were one of them.
Others would don the skins of freshly slaughtered animals. During Samhain, many animals were slaughtered in preparation for winter, and the eerie sounds of pigs dying marked the start of the festivities. To avoid being touched by wandering spirits, people would fashion demonic costumes out of animal skulls and hides.
