GREENWICH, N.Y. — Long before Halloween became a night of costumes and candy, it began as an ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain (pronounced SOW-in). Celebrated more than 2,000 years ago across Ireland, Scotland, and other parts of the Celtic world, Samhain marked a powerful turning point in the year, the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter’s long, uncertain months.
It was a time for feasting, fire, and remembrance, a mix of celebration and superstition that would, centuries later, evolve into what we now call Halloween. What began as a harvest rite rooted in survival and reverence has become a night of fun and fright, but the echoes of Samhain still whisper beneath every glowing jack-o’-lantern and every spooky mask on Halloween night.
What is Samhain?
For the Celts, time itself was divided by the rhythms of nature, and Samhain marked one of the most critical transitions of all. Celebrated at the halfway point between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice, it symbolized the close of the light season and the beginning of the dark. The Celts didn’t see the year as a straight line but as a circle, constantly turning, renewing, and dying away before being reborn. Samhain represented death’s season in that cycle, a necessary pause before spring’s return.
The festival is typically celebrated from October 31 through November 1, a small window when the Celts believed the boundaries separating the world of the living from that of the dead grew thin. During this time, spirits, ancestors, and supernatural beings could cross freely between realms. Some were welcomed, such as honored ancestors returning home for a final feast, while others were feared and needed to be warded off.
Communities gathered on hilltops to light great bonfires, both to honor their gods and to protect their homes and herds from any wandering spirits. People often carried embers from the central fire back to their hearths to relight them, representing continuity from one year to the next.
In addition to its spiritual meaning, Samhain was deeply rooted in agriculture and survival. It marked the time when crops were stored, livestock were culled, and preparations for the harsh winter began. Samhain was both a harvest ritual and a sacred observance, a time to give thanks for what the land had provided and to seek protection for the dark season ahead.
Celebrating the End of the Harvest
For the Celts, Samhain was first and foremost a harvest festival, the last great celebration before winter’s hardships set in. The season of growth had ended, and with it came both gratitude and urgency. Every stalk of grain had to be gathered, every animal accounted for. Fields were stripped bare, and food stores were filled with the season’s final bounty, grains, root vegetables, apples, and preserved meats, all essential to surviving the long months ahead.
Once the work was done, communities came together for a grand feast marking the close of the agricultural year. This was a time of fellowship and reflection, when neighbors shared food, told stories, and honored both the living and the dead. Farmers and herders celebrated their hard work, knowing their survival through winter depended on the success of the harvest.
The Celts believed that during Samhain, the spirits of ancestors returned home seeking warmth and sustenance. From here, the tradition of the “dumb supper” was born, where the celebrant would only eat after inviting their ancestors to join.
Also, bonfires burned brightly across the countryside. People danced and sang around them, tossing bones from slaughtered livestock into the flames as symbolic offerings for protection and renewal. The fires were thought to ward off evil spirits and to cleanse the community before winter began.
Supersitions of Samhain
As darkness deepened across the Celtic lands, superstition and reverence intertwined. During Samhain, when the veil between the living and the dead was thought to thin, the night carried both promise and peril. Friendly spirits and honored ancestors were believed to visit their families, but not all visitors were welcome. Mischievous faeries, restless souls, and malevolent entities were said to wander freely, playing tricks or bringing misfortune to those who crossed their paths.
To protect themselves from these wandering beings, the Celts turned to rituals and disguises. People dressed in animal skins, furs, and masks to trick unwanted spirits. These early costumes weren’t for fun, they were for protection. Some believed that by disguising themselves, they could walk safely among the spirits, unnoticed by those who might wish them harm.
Communities also left offerings of food and drink outside along village paths to appease the roaming dead and ensure their blessings for the coming winter. This practice became one of the earliest versions of what we now recognize as “trick-or-treating.” Instead of children knocking on doors, it was the spirits who received gifts to keep them from playing tricks.
Fires, too, played a role in protection and superstition. People carried embers from the sacred bonfire home in hollowed-out turnips or gourds, believing the light would keep away dark forces. These flickering lanterns, ancestors of today’s jack-o’-lanterns, symbolized the triumph of warmth and life over the creeping cold of winter.
From Samhain to All Hallows’ Eve
As Christianity spread across Celtic regions during the early Middle Ages, the Church sought to integrate rather than erase many long-standing pagan traditions. Recognizing the deep-rooted significance of Samhain, Christian leaders reframed the festival within their own calendar of holy observances. In the 7th century, Pope Boniface IV established All Saints’ Day, originally celebrated in May, to honor Christian martyrs and saints. By the 9th century, Pope Gregory III had moved the feast to November 1, directly aligning it with Samhain.
This change was more than coincidence, it was a strategic blending of old and new. The evening before All Saints’ Day became known as All Hallows’ Eve, a time to remember the holy departed. Yet, the echoes of Samhain’s bonfires, feasts, and spirit lore persisted beneath this Christian veneer. Villagers still lit fires to keep the darkness at bay.
Soon, All Souls’ Day on November 2 was added, creating a three-day observance known as Hallowtide. Together, these days honored both saints and ordinary souls who had passed on. Many of the customs once tied to Samhain, lighting candles for the dead, visiting graveyards, and praying for departed loved ones, found new expression within these Christian rites.
How Samhain Became Halloween
From its humble beginnings as a harvest festival to the costumed celebration we know today, Halloween’s story is one of transformation, much like the seasons it marks. What began among Celtic farmers gathering their final crops and lighting bonfires to honor the balance between life and death has evolved into a night of playful thrills and neighborhood traditions. Yet, the heart of Halloween still beats with the same rhythm that guided those ancient celebrations: gratitude for the harvest, respect for the unseen, and recognition of the turning wheel of time.
In the end, Halloween remains a bridge between worlds: between warm days and cold ones, the living and the dead, the past and the present. From fields to frights, it continues to remind us that even in the darkest season, warmth and wonder can still be found.
-Lila Nolan
