The Story of Samhain

Samhain (say it SOW-in) was one of the old Celtic fire festivals of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, and it was really the hinge of the whole year. By the night of October 31, the harvest was in, the cattle had been brought down from the summer pastures, and the dark half of the year was beginning. People lit fires on the hills, settled their debts and arguments, and faced the winter together.

It was also the night when the veil between the living and the dead was said to grow thin. The dead weren't feared, though — they were honored. Places were set for them, food was left out, and ancestors were welcomed home. When Christianity came to the Celtic lands, the Church set her own days of the dead right beside it: All Saints on November 1 and All Souls on November 2. Samhain's eve — All Hallows' Eve — is where we get the word Halloween, and Irish and Scottish families who emigrated carried the customs to America, where they grew into the Halloween we know now.

In the Grove: Samhain is our new year. We light a candle for the ones who came before us, tell a story or two about them, and head into the dark part of the year thankful — and not a bit afraid.