Halloween stems from ancient Celtic Irish festival with traditions we still do today
Posted by Jim on October 24, 2024
EXCLUSIVE: Irish influencer Vivienne Sayers said Samhain is “an old festival, and then Christianity took over and turned it into Halloween.”
By Eleanor Tolbert
- 21:59 ET, OCT 23 2024
Jack-o-Lanterns grinning from outside doorways. Bags and buckets full of individually wrapped candies. People wearing costumes from the terrifying to the hilarious.
When you think of Halloween, a specific image comes to mind, but did you know the holiday stems from an ancient Irish festival?
Vivienne Sayers, an Irish influencer living in New York, broke down the roots of Halloween and how it dates back to Samhain. The pagan festival celebrated the end of the harvest season, and some of the original traditions we still see today.
She told the Irish Star that Samhain is Irish for ‘November,’ as it marks the beginning of the month. Oct. 31 is called Oíche Shamhna, or the ‘eve of Samhain,’ as there isn’t a direct translation for Halloween
Sayers said: “What this marks, essentially, is a Celtic festival that marks the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter.”
During Samhain, people would welcome the dead back to the living realm for a short period of time.
“Generally, it was a nice festival. It was nothing to do with scary ghosts or anything like that,” Sayers said. “It was really a time of reflection to look back on the harvest they had just had.”
When Irish immigrants traveled to the US in 19th century, they brought their traditions over with them.
Sayers said many of the games that are played at Halloween events come from Samhain. A game called “bobáilín” was a major part of the festival, which involves bobbing for apples.
Another part of the celebration includes tine chnámh, which means lighting bonfires. Chnámh translates to “bone fire,” which refers to their original purpose of burning animal bones.
One Irish tradition that hasn’t made its way over to the US is Bairín Breac. Sayers said the bread is baked with charms inside, and depending on what is in your slice – whether it’s a gold ring or a cloth – tells your fortune for the future.
“It was an old festival, and then Christianity took over and turned it into Halloween,” she said.
There are four festivals in Ireland that celebrate the four quarters of the year. They are Imbolc, early spring and coinciding with St. Brigid’s Day; Bealtaine, which is the start of summer; Lúnasa, beginning of autumn; and finishes the year off with Samhain.