Samhain part 2: Death - Seasonal Feature

Halloween is a celebration intimately bound with the notion of spooks, spirits, and the restless dead. Therefore it would seem obvious to suppose that Samhain originally had these same themes. Sir James Frazer certainly thought so and in the Golden Bough (London. Macmillan, 1911-1936. Vol 10:225) he wrote the following: "the night which marks the transition from autumn to winter seems to have been of old the time of year when the souls of the departed were supposed to revisit their old homes in order to warm themselves by the fire and to comfort themselves with the good cheer provided from them in the kitchen or the parlour by their affectionate kinsfolk" Although a massively influential work in its day, some of the material in The Golden Bough does not hold up to closer scrutiny today. Little evidence has been found from primary sources to substantiate Frazer's claim. Leaving many scholars to conclude he confused Samhain rites with those associated with the later Christian feast of All Soul's Day (Nov 2).

The truth is that if Samhain did have rites associated with the dead, we cannot say for certain what form they took. There simply isn't the historical evidence at this time to support any substantive assertions. To be fair to Frazer though, there are other circumstantial factors, and secondary sources that indicate a possible connection between Samhain and rites offered in relation to the dead.

In part one of this feature, I looked a little at how the theme of transition, specifically those of nature's cycles, lay at the heart of this agricultural feast. Those preparing for the onset of winter would have well known that they were facing the riskiest time of year, when many, particularly the old or the weak could be expected to die. Even with the advent of electricity and central heating in more recent times, winter is the season when the elderly and the frail are most vulnerable to death. In the early medieval era this increased winter mortality rate would have been very significant. It wasn't just the death of people that spiked during this period. Animal deaths featured also, especially as many livestock would have been slaughtered, salted and cured to provide provisions for the winter. Already then, the onset of the dark season brings the agency of death into sharper focus. This though is not the same as rites focusing on death. So, is there another factor that might indicate such rites existed during Samhain?

A very important part of the Samhain feast, was that it was a liminal festival. That is, it occurred at the point of transition between two seasons and therefore it stood at a crossroads. A gap in time. These in-between points whether seen as natural features, such as the shoreline - where the land and sea meet, but which is not wholly of either - or times of day such as midnight, were clearly thought magical by the Celts. To them these liminal zones were waypoints for  the faerie folk to enter the everyday world. It is from this liminality that we may perceive the Samhain celebrants accorded it a close affinity with the faeries, shidhe or sith. A fact which folklore and historical sources confirm. 

If one takes a close look at the material related to the faeries, it quickly becomes apparent that the boundaries between the living and the dead, this world and the other, can get very blurred indeed. In fact the folklore sources on the faerie faith in the Celtic Countries, such as those gathered in Scotland by Episcopalian minister Robert Kirk in the 17th Century, can make it difficult to tell at times whether these beings are another race entirely, our own ancient ancestors or even just the spirits of the departed.

This being the case, it doesn't take a massive leap of logic to arrive at the idea that those attending the feast of Samhain would have imagined the spirits of the dead to be present alongside the faeries - both being capable of crossing the weakened boundaries between this world and the otherworld during Samhain. If that is so, might they not have performed rites to appease these spirits or to protect themselves from them? Later at All Soul's Day they certainly did. Prayers for souls in purgatory were performed as part of its rites, and its requiem masses provided insurance against the spirits of the dead. Was this entirely a later Christian invention? Sadly, we cannot say for certain either way. Due to the paucity of primary sources it is unlikely we will ever know conclusively whether Samhain rites sought to honour or appease the dead. We can, however, be clear that for many contemporary pagans, these rites are an integral part of their observances on this day.

In the eightfold Wheel of the Year, held in common by contemporary Wiccans, Druids and other Pagan groups. Samhain is very much a festival of the dead. It is a time to honour the ancestors, personal, tribal, spiritual and even professional. It is a time when offerings of food and drink are left to provide succour to wandering souls as they roam. It is also a time for meditations on the reality of one's own mortality. That last might seem a particularly morbid act, but Paganism is an inherently pragmatic belief system, rooted as it is, in the natural world. Death for contemporary Pagans is simply an aspect of reality. A part of the natural cycle of life, and not something to be avoided, shunned or feared. The Pagan Celts who originally celebrated Samhain, were not so far removed from death either. It is unlikely they would have shared our contemporary awkwardness with it. Buddhists and Hindu Tantrics also believe that meditation on death can be a liberating experience. Indeed it is a fundamental practice in Tibetan Buddhist Vajrayana. 

While we can not say for certain that Samhain always was a festival of the dead, we know that rather like restless spirits, these themes have lingered on the periphery of this celebration until the present day. Now, once a year they become fully manifest. Taking form in the rites of contemporary Pagans, and in the candy fuelled delight of children in ghoulish garb. For those who wish to explore a deeper side to this period of transition, there is always the contemplation of that aspect of life we moderns find so difficult to face, our mortality. 

Samhain Blessings and a Happy Halloween!

Further reading:

The Golden Bough: A study in Magic and Religion by James George Frazer. Published by Oxford Paperbacks, New ed of Abridged ed.

Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night by Nicholas Rogers, published by Oxford University Press. 

The Secret commonwealth of Elves, Fauns & Faeries by Robert Kirk, published by New York Review Books.