Samhain

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Samhain [ Saun ] ( neuirisch ), Old Irish : Samuin or Samain [ 'savin' ], together with Imbolc (February 1), Beltane (May 1) and Lughnasadh (August 1) one of the four major Irish-Celtic festivals. Samhain was celebrated starting the night before November 1st and on that day. It used to be seen as the beginning of the Celtic year , like the month of samoni in the Coligny calendar . In Irish legal texts, however, Beltane is mentioned as the beginning of the year. The festival on the eve of November 1st is called Oíche Shamhna in New Irish and possibly represents the origin of the festival, which is called Halloween in English (see there for a discussion of this derivation).

In Wales the festival was called Nos Calan gaeaf (night of the beginning of winter) and was one of the teir nos ysprydnos ("the three ghost nights ").

mythology

As with all four festivals, it was assumed that also at Samhain people have access to the beings of the Other World , especially to the inhabitants of the Síd (elven hills), which are open on that day. It was therefore not advisable to leave his house in order not to run into these representatives of the past. Blood sacrifices were made to the underworld god Cenn Crúach ("the bloody head") at Samhain to implore him and the other chthonic deities for fertility. Tigernmas died while worshiping the Cenn Crúach idol at Samhain and took three quarters of the Irish with them to their death. Samhain had a special connection with the Túatha Dé Danann , because that day was the second battle of Mag Tuired , in which they defeated the Fomori . Therefore at Samhain they can leave the Sídhe, to which they were later exiled by the Milesians , without further ado.

Allegedly since 700 BC The feis Temhra ("Feast of Tara"), one of the most important old Irish gatherings, was celebrated in Samhain in Tara . The big meeting of Ulster in Mag Muirtheimne also took place that day. The presence of every Ulster man was an ordinance of the King under any other death penalty. The Samhain fire was lit on the hill of Tlachtga (Hill of Ward near Athboy , County Meath ), from which the individual families took the hearth fire with them. In the stories Echtrae Nerai (“Nera's Adventure”), Airne Fingein (“Fingein's Night Watch”) and Aislinge Oenguso (“Oengus' dream face”) the connection between the heroes of the sagas and the Other World on the eve of the Samhain festival is reported.

In Roman mythology , too, there were days when the underworld was open ( mundus patet ) and therefore important activities such as military, boat trips and weddings should be avoided. One of those days was November 8th.

All Saints Day

A reference of All Saints 'Day to this pagan festival has occasionally been constructed, but the fact that the November date for All Saints' Day was first introduced in Italy in the 8th century, where Samhain was unknown, speaks against it. In early Christianized Ireland, All Saints Day was first celebrated in spring.

Neo-paganism

Samhain is not only of historical importance, but is especially reinterpreted in neo-paganism . The origins of this festival are often interpreted differently and neo-pagan authors disagree about the purpose of the festival. The date is already unclear. November 1st is referred to as a festival day, but at the same time it is emphasized that the festival is calculated according to the lunar calendar and is mostly assigned to a fixed moon phase (for example the full moon).

Samhain forms the dark pole of the year and thus stands opposite Beltane , the light pole. The theme of death is at the center of the festival. On this day heroes and gods die, epic battles and many important events of mythology take place and make Samhain a festival of the "summary". Here, many contracts with the other world are concluded or dissolved again, so that the supernatural penetrates into this world or the veils between the two worlds are particularly thin. This background makes the Samhain night an "encounter between the living and the dead" and allows conclusions to be drawn about modern Halloween rites. Some authors also assume that customs of the time were transferred to the more recent All Saints Day.

literature

  • Helmut Birkhan : Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. 2nd corrected and enlarged edition. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1997, ISBN 978-3-7001-2609-6 .
  • Helmut Birkhan: Post-ancient Celtic reception. Praesens Verlag, Vienna 2009, ISBN 978-3-7069-0541-1 .
  • Ingeborg Clarus : Celtic Myths. Man and his otherworld. 2nd Edition. Patmos Verlag, Düsseldorf 2003, ISBN 978-3-491-69109-4 .
  • Inge Resch-Rauter: Samuin / Cetsamhain, the Celtic beginning of the year. In: Inge Resch-Rauter: In the footsteps of the druids. Landscape and stones, festive customs and fairy tales as witnesses of the great European past. Vienna 1999, ISBN 978-3-9500-1671-0 , pp. 287-309.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Pronunciation from: Mícheál Ó Siadhail: Textbook of the Irish language . Hamburg, Buske 1985. p. 109.
  2. ↑ Dictionary entry : " Samhain (1) [the month] November, Lá Samhna [= Samhain day] first of November, All Hallows; oíche Shamhna Halloween. (2) lit. Ancient Samhain festival of the 1st of November." From: Gearrfhoclóir Gaeilge-Béarla. To Roinn Oideachais, Oifig Díolta Foilseachán Rialtais, Dublin 1981
  3. ↑ a b c Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 790 ff.
  4. ^ Ingeborg Clarus: Celtic myths. Man and his otherworld. P. 90 f.
  5. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 561 f.
  6. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 508 f.
  7. ^ A b c Francoise Le Roux, Christian-J. Guyonvarc'h: The Druids . Arun, Engerda 1996, ISBN 3-927940-41-0 , p. 313
  8. ↑ a b Jean Markale: The Druids - Society and Gods of the Celts. Goldmann, Munich 1989, ISBN 3-442-11474-8 , pp. 173f.
  9. ↑ Douglas Monroe: Merlyn's Teachings. Bauer Verlag, Freiburg 1996, ISBN 3-7626-0516-5