Samhain & All Saints' Day
Samhain (pronounced SOW-in) is an ancient Gaelic festival marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter, traditionally observed from sunset on October 31st to sunset on November 1st. In Christian tradition, All Saints' Day, celebrated on November 1st, is a solemn holy day honoring all saints, both known and unknown. Although originating from different religious frameworks, these festivals have overlapping histories and symbolism—particularly in their focus on the dead, transitions, and the sacred.
Samhain was one of the four major quarter-day festivals in the Celtic calendar (along with Imbolc, Beltane, and Lughnasa) and was considered the Celtic New Year by some medieval sources. It marked a liminal time, a threshold between light and dark, life and death, when the veil between worlds was believed to thin, allowing spirits and supernatural beings to cross into the mortal world (MacKillop, 1998; Ó hÓgáin, 1999).
Practices included:
Extinguishing and relighting fires, symbolizing death and rebirth.
Divination rituals to predict the future.
Feasts for the dead, where food was set aside for ancestors.
Wearing costumes or disguises, possibly to ward off harmful spirits (Danaher, 1972).
Medieval Irish literature also records Samhain as a time of royal gatherings and mythic battles, such as those at Tara, further indicating its cultural importance (Rees & Rees, 1961).
All Saints' Day, also known as All Hallows' Day, is a Christian feast established to honor all saints and martyrs. Its observance on November 1st was fixed by Pope Gregory III (731–741), who dedicated a chapel in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome to all saints on that date. The feast was later extended to the entire Western Church by Pope Gregory IV in the 9th century (Kelly, 1987).
The placement of All Saints’ Day immediately following All Hallows’ Eve (October 31st) and preceding All Souls’ Day (November 2nd) created a three-day Christian observance known as Allhallowtide, focused on remembering the dead and praying for souls in purgatory.
While there is no direct evidence that All Saints' Day was created to replace Samhain, many scholars agree that the Christian church often superimposed its feasts onto existing pagan festivals to ease religious conversion and continuity (Hutton, 1996; Russell, 1991).
Folk practices, such as lighting candles for the dead, visiting graves, and mumming or guising (costumed house-to-house processions), persisted into Christian contexts, especially in Ireland, Scotland, and Britain, and later evolved into Halloween customs in North America.
Samhain and All Saints’ Day both reflect humanity’s enduring concern with death, remembrance, and the passage of time. While rooted in Celtic paganism and Christian theology, respectively, their shared calendar dates and complementary rituals illustrate how religious and cultural traditions adapt and intertwine through history.
Works Cited
Danaher, Kevin. The Year in Ireland: Irish Calendar Customs. Mercier Press, 1972.
Hutton, Ronald. The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain. Oxford University Press, 1996.
Kelly, Joseph F. The Origins of Christmas and the Feasts of the Christian Calendar. Liturgical Press, 1987.
MacKillop, James. Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. Oxford University Press, 1998.
Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí. The Sacred Isle: Belief and Religion in Pre-Christian Ireland. Boydell Press, 1999.
Rees, Alwyn, and Brinley Rees. Celtic Heritage: Ancient Tradition in Ireland and Wales. Thames & Hudson, 1961.
Russell, Jeffrey Burton. The Devil: Perceptions of Evil from Antiquity to Primitive Christianity. Cornell University Press, 1991.
Celebrating Samhain and All Saint’s Day with Me
The Cauldron: Reclaiming Your Inner Witch
Embark on a deep, transformative journey with The Cauldron series, where you'll reconnect with your inner strength, sovereignty, intuition, wisdom, and mystical energies. This immersive experience is crafted to help you awaken and embrace the witch within, guiding you toward a renewed sense of resilience, power, and purpose.
Each session is thoughtfully designed to explore and claim different aspects of the witch archetype, incorporating discussion, sound meditation, and journaling. While all five classes together create an incredible inner journey, attending each one is not required.
October 2nd: In this session, we will forge a deep connection to nature, tap into our innate healing abilities, and connect with the powerful goddesses Brigid and Artemis.
October 9th: In this session, we will take a hard look at power, sovereignty, self-control, and defiance, guided by the goddesses Morrigan, Isis, and Danu.
October 16th: On this night of the Full Moon, we will harness its powerful energy to clear the shadow aspects of the witch archetype, including manipulation, vengefulness, and cruelty.
October 23th: In this session, we will tap into our knowledge, wisdom, and intuition, guided by the goddesses Hecate and Morrigan.
October 30st: On this night before Samhain, we will resolve to fully embrace our inner witch as we move forward. In sacred ceremony, we will set intentions to deepen our connection to nature, stand firm in our sovereignty, commit to ongoing inner work, hone our intuition, and embody wisdom.