Excerpt from Breeding Devils in Chaos by Sven Davisson
The festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in) in Irish and Scottish Gaelic; Calan Gaeaf in Wales; Kalan Gwav in Cornwall; and All Hallows in Old English, marks the beginning of the darker part of the year. Vetrnætr, “Winter Nights,” in the Norse, marks the start of the winter season through the Festival of Flowers. The harvest has finished, and the cold, darker nights are beginning to come to the fore. This is a time of contemplation when the veils between the worlds are at their thinnest.
In modern practice, the time also marks the transition of the holy year, though the historical underpinnings of this being the pagan “new year” are not so clear cut and quite suspect. It seems almost universally held within modern pagan circles that October 31/November 1 was the end and beginning of the Celtic year. This concept rests on dubious and mostly modern rationality. It likely stems from John Rhys’s 1901 work Celtic Folklore. The idea was then further popularized by John Frazer. Samhain is first on the list of cross-quarter days contained in the “Tochmarc Emire,” one of the stories in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. Though no doubt dating back farther, the oldest extant manuscript of the tale dates to the fifteenth or early sixteenth-centuries. However, the tale has no internal evidence that the ordering holds any particular significance. The order of the list may be no more than coincidence.
This is a period on the threshold between light and dark. It is a time when the dead, spirits, and fairies more easily walk abroad in the land of humankind. It is a time of reflection, introspection, and divination. Once again, we can be with our ancestors and brothers who have passed to the Summerlands. Even at the beginning of the modern era, divining one’s future husband was a common pastime among young girls during this season. We celebrate the goddess of the underworld realms, Hel.
It is uncertain if the ancient peoples had a concept of a beginning and end to the year. I lean toward the thought they viewed the seasons as more a continuous spiral than a closed circle. The seed of the year begins if we can say it does, at sunrise on the Winter Solstice. The importance of this date is borne out in the particular alignment of many sacred Stone Age monuments. The period between All Hallows and Midwinter is a dark, gestational period, when the seed of spirit lies in the womb of the Great Mother. It is a time of contraction, reflection, and calm. The time between All Hallows and the winter solstice is truly interstitial.
In The Stations of the Sun, Ronald Hutton observes that, unlike Beltaine, there is scant obvious historical evidence that Samhain was a ubiquitous festival period across all the Celtic regions. We can, however, tell from the antiquity of superstitions and the commonly held ancient folk customs that the time was viewed as a period of the year where supernatural forces, the dead, and entities from the otherworld were of utmost concern. Folklore and the modern vestiges of ancient custom that lingered into the modern era demonstrate the period was also a time for divination and looking toward the future.
Like Bealtaine, Samhain was historically a time of bonfires (now in England moved to November 5, Guy Fawkes Day). The time has long been a special period of observance and a marker for the end of the harvest/beginning of winter. It is an appropriate balance and counterpart to Spring’s Beltaine celebration.
In Scotland, November 1 begins the time of the Cailleach or Hag Mother. She rules over the stormy winter months until she is replaced at Beltaine by Brìghde. The actual transition between these two seasonal goddesses differs by local climate. In Scotland, the corn dolly made from the last of the harvest is a representation of the Cailleach. She is known for herding deer and is credited with creating Scotland’s mountains and lochs. The famous mountain of Ben Nevis is known as her throne. She is said to wash her plaid in the Gulf of Corryvreckan on the west coast. After three days, the plaid is white, symbolic of the snow covering the land.
In Cornwall, on October 31, local tradition celebrates the Feast of St. Allan, also known as Allantide. Apples, especially those known as Allan apples, feature prominently. Apple markets were held throughout the area. Polished red apples were given as gifts to loved ones. Games have long been associated with the festival. One wonders if the modern tradition of kids bobbing for apples echoes these folk associations. Here again, love divination is an element. Women would throw walnuts into fires to predict the faithfulness of lovers.
November Eve Solitary Rite
Decorate your altar with dried leaves, pine cones, winter vegetables, pomegranates. Stand before the altar with phallic wand in hand, chant:
Eko, eko, Azarak Eko, eko, Zomelak Bazabi lacha bachabe Lamac cahi achababe Karrellyos Lamac lamac Bachalyas cabahagy sabalyos Baryolos Lagoz atha cabyolas Samahac atha famolas Hurrahya!
Addresses the representation of the Goddess or Divine Spirit.
As went enter winter’s icy embrace,
The mother remains in her grace.
Her breath may bring frost, her touch may bring cold,
Yet by her dark presence, secrets unfold.
She walks the night with silent tread,
A crown of stars upon her head.
In her shadow, we confront our fear,
But also gain strength to face the coming year.
Dark goddess of winter, hear my plea,
Grant me wisdom and set my spirit free.
In your realm of shadows and chill,
Teach me to find peace and be still.
Place the wand on the altar and raise the dagger above the altar. Invoke the god:
Dear Lord of the shadows,
God of birth, life, and return.
Open wide thy gates through which all must pass.
Let our dear ones return this night,
To make merry with us once more.
And when our time comes, as it must,
O comforter, consoler, giver of peace and rest,
We will enter thy realms gladly and unafraid.
Rested and refreshed among our dear ones,
We shall be born again by thy grace
and the grace of the Great Mother.
In the same place, at the same time,
May we meet, know, and love them again
And embrace us in the shadows of this night.
Raise a toast to the divine spirits, then close the circle.