In the 60s and early 70s in Scotland we went round the neighbourhood houses singing songs and reciting poetry in return for small gifts, we called it guising. We were told then it was a pre-christian activity, and it could invoke old magic, which made it more fun. We were still using lanterns made from turnips, I'd never seen a pumpkin.

that turnip jack-o-lantern is much scarier that anything carved from pumpkin!

I think it in that way: Samhain is Celtic☘️ All Hallow's Eve is Catholic 🇻🇦 And modern "Halloween" is Capitalism💵

The whole month of November is still called Samhain in Irish...

In ancient Greece one of the most important (if not the most important) holidays was the "Eleusenian Mysteries" they were held during the months september-october and it was about the goddess of agriculture and nature called Demeter who descended to the realm of Hades (the dead) in order to find her daughter Persephone who was abducted by Hades the god of the dead The Eleusenian Mysteries persisted well into the Roman era and were even celebrated by the Romans themselves until it was banned by the Christian emperor Theodosius I and slowly declined Now a minor holiday is held only in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki dedicated to a saint named Demitrius on october 26 I thought you should know

FINALLY! Someone offering an historical, comprehensive explanation of All Hallow's Eve!

The most important liminal date in fall where I live is the end of daylight savings. Very disorienting. All the spirits are out and slightly sleep deprived.

I don't care if it is just a random holiday it is still my favourite day of the year.

A soul cake A soul cake Please, good missus, a soul cake An apple, a pear, a plum, or a cherry Any good thing to make us all merry One for Peter, two for Paul, three for Him who made us all....

It's religion for breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper! Amazing channel! Thanks a lot!

Makes me want to make a Dia de Los Muertos video

Thank you for not pumping out distracting music in your background. Great content! Thank you!

To a Norwegian, the parallels to old Yule traditions & ideas/stories are interesting: julebukk, Oskoreia, the belief that the dead and various dangerous spirits were likely to come visiting... people would leave food out for them.

Thank you for this channel! As an artist I've learned a lot!

A few years back I asked a truly hardcore Catholic colleague of mine who had kids if he was going to take them "trick or treating" on Halloween. I was shocked when he said, "We don't celebrate that pagan holiday."

You missed to mention Dia de los Muertos, celebrated in Mexico and maybe in all Latin American countries, where families go to the cemetery and hang out all night at the graves of their departed. It is believed that the departed actually return on this day. There are also many traditions surrounding El Dia de los Muertos, specific types of flowers, decorated skulls made of sugar, creation of very ornate temporary altars. In Mexico, death is not something really to be feared, but a friend that one makes fun of...

Your video is well made, I learnt a lot of new things from it

Been flipping through and I really like you channel thanks!

Hello again, what a great theme and my favourite holiday of the year. Well done on the pronunciation of Samhain, the month of November is called Samhain, not just the holiday, in Gealic, December is curiously called Nollaig, which means Christmas. Both months don't have names separate from the holidays. If the date was to stand true to fairy lore that at the equinoxes, the spirit world is more easily seen, then Halloween would have occurred earlier, probably by a whole month. I have several theories for the date, but in modern elemental folk belief, it marks the start of the dark season properly and those who are prone to depression, S.A.D. cold, sickness, drink too much alcohol to numb the cold....any sort of seasonal negative activity would make one weak and prone, drawing negative spirits in to pull the person down a deeper spiral. These negative spirits have a vampiric effect on the person, draining them, or give them a temporary sense of power to give them the strength to continue a negative behavior. Technically, its time to "ward them off" from the start of the season with scary costumes and lights like a scarecrow for spirits or perhaps like an invisible cloak to be by-passed as the spirits look for someone to possess or attach to, confusing the costumed one as one of their own. Christians also believe in tempting demons or nature spirits so I can see how this mostly pagan holiday survived and evolved into its present form. As for divination, just about every token or prize you win, you put under your pillow and you dream of your future spouse. Bobbing apples, the apple you bite and pull out of the water, put it under your pillow. The barn brack fruit loaf, a ring was baked in the cake, in more complex versions of the tradition, you put a coin and thimble in there too....which ever piece of the cake with a prize baked in it, is yours and to be put under your pillow for a dream about your future. A lock of your hair was to be thrown into the bonfire, and you'll have a dream of your future spouse, (again). The ashes of the bonfire were spread across the field for good luck the next day. Again, as a warding tool, fire having burning/purifying effect. Bonfire in Gealic translates as tine cnamh (tinah can-awv) or bone-fire. Bones have been used for divinatory practices around the world so I wouldn't be surprised if there was a connection. Our family did the barn brack loaf every year until we left home.

Thanks for sharing 🙂

I would have also mentioned the influence from Devil's Night. I think Devil's Night started in New England and spread West from there. Youth's would dawn maskes and reek havoc on their local community. It was a difficult thing to police until a Kansas woman had the idea to replace their antics with community hosted parties. Her strategy worked and Halloween parties actually became encouraged by police throughout the US. The weariness toward Devil's Night is still present in American culture.

I once heard that Halloween also incorporated practices from the festival of Pomona, which is where our custom of bobbing for apples comes from.

Good video! 👍 It was practiced in Ancient Gaul (modern France) too, since it was of Celtic culture, and was called Samonios. If I'm not mistaken we know this from the inscription on Coligny calendar. So arguably it did not start in Ireland since Celts originate from Austria/Central Europe and were in Gaul/France before being in the British Isles. But because of historical events, Irish monks etc we have more traces of how it was practised in Ireland.

In Portugal we have a tradition that's very similar to Souling. Children go around on All Saints Day (which is a national holiday), knocking on doors and asking for "Bread for God" or "Bread in the name of God". In cities, though, it's mostly been changed to asking for "Little Cakes", probably to make it more inclusive.

To be fair; we don't know exact dates for samhain, either. Celtic calendars didn't align well with the Gregorian calendar. We just know that it was the very end of harvest and about halfway between the autumnal equinox and hivernal solstice.

Great video and well done on pronouncing Samhain

Yo this is so good fr, ty

A decently done video - check out the Manx 'Hop Tu Naa' - the oldest continuous holiday on Mann. It is essentially a modern 'Sauin', as it celebrates the old Celtic New Years Eve/Day.

In the Philippines we don't really celebrate Halloween, though kids from more affluent neighborhoods do especially in recent years. Also, it coincides with All Saints Day and All Souls' Day where families go visit their dead relatives in cemeteries and spend a whole day or night there.

Great teaching brother!

Excellent pronunciation of "samhain". "Fionn" however is pronounced f'YUN not FeeYUN As always it's a well researched and interesting video, thanks!

I found your channel an do love it I hava little bit of an obsession with all religious study's I know this is a older video but I would love to see more of these kind of videos maybe one about Yule and Christmas how the Christmas tree came to pass ive read pagans used to tree worship and the pine tree as they thought it was magic or having and eternal life as it didn't die off like other trees in the winter and decorate it with bells so they would know if sprits where near... I'd love some factual information :)

This is why I love receiving facts from educated people!

favorite KZfaq Channel

When I was reading about modern Asatru & ancient Norse Paganism (and if you go far back enough, the distinction from one north euro tribe's paganism to the next wasn't that great, sort of all drawing on the same material) the door-to-door rowdy partying of Yule reminded me of Halloween: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julebukking

The original Samhain also has a very touching aspect when you get to communicate with loved ones who have passed on. I'm really annoyed at how modern secular Americans only like the scary and silly aspects of the holiday and don't care at all about its touching aspect!

Among Catholics, All Souls day was heavily involved in praying for dead relatives in Purgatory. My Italian-American mother took me and my sister to the cemetery to adorn our grandmother's grave and to offer up prayers. My Mexican-American friends have much to say about El Dia del Muerte. Any review of this holiday needs to include something about the pagan concept of Purgatory that has crept into Roman Catholic practices. Samhain was also known as the Night of the Dead to some peoples.

I can listen to this man for hours. He’s also very beautiful to me.

Modern halloween also has similarities to the welsh festival of Noson Calan Gaeaf. Calan Gaeaf is the first day of winter on 1 November, so Noson Calan Gaeaf is the night before on 31 October, noson is welsh for night.

Samhain was, and is also practiced in Scotland. Most Gaelic/Celtic traditions associated with Ireland, were also practiced in Scotland.

I like how in depth you are and well researched I released my book on Amazon seducing your potential I believe you are top in your field TH Friesen

halloween seems like a nice collage of diffrent influences, maybe a holiday of the future

Good video.

SAMHUINN!!! Gaelic orthography is awesome! ^^

The best pronunciation of the year goes to...

There is an aspect of Halloween that doesn't seem to get discussed. The Pleiades zenith on Halloween. The Pleiades are a little star cluster that would look like an ugly blot messing up an otherwise pretty perfectly dark party of there night sky. And on Halloween in the northern hemisphere they are directly overhead at midnight. I don't know if that's just a coincidence, or if maybe that explains why the ancient Celts choose that date.

Thanx. You mentioned "souling". But, there's a similar one called "Mummering" which still takes place in parts of Europe, but also in Philadelphia. On New Year's Day Mummers do similar things to trick-or-treating and has a centuries old tradition. It usually involves alcohol, and dressing up in costumes. People go house to house in neighborhood areas within the city, and there's a group or team from the Mummers on most sections of Philly. The last time I was there, not the main parade, but the local areas, and you could just come into anyone's house and take as many beers as you wanted. There was so much food, and bottled drinks, that one could easily find unopened drinks on the street at any given time. Full on Gluttony. I currently like in South Weymouth (Greater Boston, MA) and around Christmas at Colombian Square they have a sort of mummering or trick-or-treat style event involving a sort of mock scavenger hunt that is VERY Christmas themed. Mummering has many variations including costumes, caroling, playing music, and handing out food, treats, money, and drinks.

Thank you for mentioning Ireland..

The All Saints Day probably has a pagan root too. We have a pagan ceremony in Iran just before our big celebration of spring equinox: a demonish-wearing person followed by children goes door to door asking for treats. Around that time is when people gather and respect the souls of the ones who died in that recent year. The year ends at equinox, and by the coming of spring comes the new year. Souls separate and a new cycle of life begins. Even the name of this month, Fravardin, refers to the respected souls of the dead.

And the song they sang? Trix or treat. Smelleth mine feet. Giveth me something goodth to consumeth

Hallowe'en is relatively new in Germany. All Hallow's Day used to be the day on which people visited the graves of their [beloved] dead und put small red lanterns and/or flowers on the graves. No costumes, no candy, just mourning.

Interestingly, Samhain bonfires are a local tradition in Scotland (either side of the Highland Line), north and central Wales, and the Isle of Man, but surprisingly they are not traditional to Ireland. Historically they were recorded in just two areas of Ireland - In the Protestant districts of NE Ulster (an area heavily settled from Scotland) and in Dublin (but only from the mid-20th century). There are no records of bonfires in 'Celtic' Cornwall or Cumbria So, it would appear there was never a 'Celtic fire festival' at Samhain - just localised traditions.

Jack-o'-lanterns were not only use the word off evil spirits but they were beacons for good spirits. In modern times druids still sacrifice a white goat that has been cared for and loved, then will be roasted as part of the feast. Soul cakes are also made and served with Mead. At least from the ritual I partook in. We would each take a soul cake tell a story of our ancestors or a lost loved one and then eat it and follow it with a toast

In my Alpine home village we have a Hallowe'enesque tradition that is celebrated on (I think) the first Saturday in October (it's definitely something like that). Children dress up as old people, go from house to house banging two sticks together, and get treats from the inhabitants. It's traditional for the inhabitants to ask who the children are, but they mustn't tell, and change their voices to keep the secret. I find the date the most interesting part. It would seem to me this is a truly ancient feature. I know of various Hallowe'en-like traditions in many places, but my own village is the only one I know of with no direct link to All Saints' Day.

Apple-bobbing we know came from Samhain and later was copied into All Hallows Eve-All Saints Day etc. The screaming banshee I believe came from Celtic mythology.

Proto Germanic tribes and pre-christian Scandinavians also celebrated samhain as a time to talk to and honor both deceased loved ones and ancestors.

I hope this blows up or an update?

What was the song the children sang?

What are my thoughts...I love Halloween! 🎃 🌜 🎭

It, the original Samhain, has so much shared cultural significance and ideology with the living tradition of Mahalaya and pitru paksha in India also occurring at a similar time of the year. Also a period to propitiate spirits of the ancestors when they veil between spirits and the living becomes porous.

I'm Irish but a few years ago, I discovered Walpurgisnacht which is an Eastern European/Scandinavian equivalent to Halloween. What I find particularly interesting is that Walpurgisnacht (30th of April) would be understood in the Celtic tradition as Bealtaine and as the beginning of the Summer season, which ended at Samhain. The Walpurgisnacht tradition is very close to the Samhain/Halloween tradition of Witches and occultic occurrences. In fact, the Orchestral piece "A Night on the Bare Mountain" which portrays a witches liturgy culminating in the coming of Satan, is Russian and actually occurs on Walpurgisnacht. There are undoubted parallels between Samhain/Halloween and Walpurgisnacht, which might equally explain why Eastern Christianity had their "All Saints" around Walpurgisnacht.

Interesting, halloween does borrow from many religious traditions but this video gets it right in the first minute, halloween celebrates consumerism above all other religions.

This guy looks awfully familiar: 0:16 😁 I use Halloween as a time to reflect on my fears and how to best deal with them.

How many aspects of modern pagan groups are authentically from ancient (pre-Christian) times? What is the best source for studying the history of witchcraft / Wicca? Thanks!

Sorry but i love ur face w.o the facial hair sasssss

If we don’t know anything about Samhain, including the date, how can we take claims about its relation to Halloween seriously? I haven’t been able to find any proof they are linked.

No mention of it being a Cross-Quarter Day on the Wheel of the Year based on Archeo-Astronomy?

I remember sharing this holiday with my family and my program VPCI. But I think the most important thing about this holiday are the movies like Trick or Treat, Return to Oz and Hocus Pocus. This also includes the movie Harry Potter and the sorcerer's stone. Remember Return to Oz isn't the sequel to The wizard of oz.

6:51 How come you say "fairies of pagan mythology or demons of christian theology"? What's the difference between mythology and theology when talking about the supernatural? (in this case, fairies and demons).

Why is day of the dead in americas on November 2 , very close to these days and similar themes

It's interesting that the pre Columbian Day of the Dead shares some features with Sanhiam.

For some reason I thought there was a pagan precursor to souling or guising where people in costume would dress up and accept offerings basically on behalf of the spirits, but I'm not sure where I got that notion from.

In Ireland to this day we still light huge bonfires on Halloween. Most are made illegally by young people and are often stopped by the guards lol

Bonfires on Halloween where a tradition on Halloween right up to my childhood in the 90s and early 00s they don't do them anymore though

We have a very similar tradition in Scandinavia, called Valborg, altho it is at a diffrent date. Bonfires are lit and the dead were believed to have access to the world of the living (or more of an access, as there are many ghost tales from all around the year). Christian tales tell of the bonfires as being for protection against witches, but wether the fires began as a way to ward off unwanted company or not, I can not say. Interestingly, it is also one of only two pagan tradition still in practice in Scandinavia, that have not been turned into a christian hollyday. The other hollyday, Midsummer, they tried making into celebration of some saint, but the people would not have it. Making a fertelity hollyday of life and joy, with a pole symbolising the penis of heaven impregnating the earth, into a party for some guy for dying a virgin, must have been a step too far.

Among eastern slavs there are similar holiday koliada, it's celebrated day before Christmas.

No conection with Día de muertos?

'soul cakes' in a way or another were/are part of all souls day (november the 2th) in many Italian tradition and also in Mexico (through Spain)

No mention of the mexican holiday of the day of the dead. Also, is there any reason you never quote from The Golden Bough?

Souling and pão por Deus seem to be the same thing. Interesting! A lot of your leanings are very much anglo-saxon centric (such as the Guy Fawkes remark), but it's a good video nonetheless.

what about the druids?

So, I'm REALLY late to this and I have a general rule about not getting too nit-picky about Irish pronunciation, but since you got Samhain spot on (nobody get's samhain spot on, which is a problem when it means not just Halloween but also the entire month of November) and I suspect that you're the kind of person who would rather be told than not - Fionn is pronounced something like "fyuhn" having just one syllable, not pronounced like Fiona. You did a really good job overall though!

Spooky Halloween 🎃

I have nothing more constructive to say other than that was super-interesting; thanks!

"Fionn" is pronounced like "f-yun" or "Finn", just so you know. Also, did the early bonfires of Samhain influence the bonfire nights of Guy Fawkes's night?

In Greece,we don't even celebrate Halloween.We have another holiday that at first had nothing to do but as the years were passing and everyone in the world started being more and more influenced by American and English culture, we started doing the whole dressing thing too.The name for our holiday is Apokreo(Απόκρεω) meaning avoiding to eat meat.

in my google research, during the 5th century, all saint's day was celebrated on may 15, then moved to nov.1 on the 8th century. encyclopedia britannica also states that the scholar who wrote samhain on the 9th century must have yet to receive the memo? also, monks writing about it and giving it a christian twist isn't enough reason to appropriate the celtic festival? knowing also that it was common practice for the catholics to build their churches on top of pagan temples, wouldn't that be enough of a reason to imply the effort?

How does Day of the Dead fit into all of this?

It’s not a ‘random’ holiday. It’s very deliberate.

Guy Fawkes Night influencing Halloween makes some sense. Where I grew up we parade through the streets with burning torches and drums beating and burn an effigy of the Pope, another of Guy Fawkes and then one of some hate figure from the news (different bonfire societies choose different figures but Trump got burned three times this year - twice accompanied by Kim Jong Un). It's a pretty rowdy colourful affair. But in most of the UK it's just celebrated with a bonfire and some fireworks. Mari Lwyd is interesting. I can't figure out how old it is, but it might have influenced Halloween too.

Is there a religion you adhere or at least feel related to?

I think Guy Fawkes night on November 5th took a lot of the Samhain tradition in England as well with the creating of the effigy of Guy Fawkes and the bonfires.

We still do bonfires in Ireland at Halloween.

Sahwin seems similar to the Mexican/Maya fest of the dead

Why did Martin Luther choose this day to post 95 thesis on the door?? Was the date intentional??

At this point, Halloween is such a mish-mash of different traditions, well... who knows?

the celtic evidence for it goes back to in terms of records the Coligny calendar from ancient Gaul and if you wanted to make assumptions you could say that the origins of it stretch back to passage tombs and stone circles designed to interact with the sun and moon during both the solstices and equinoxes such monuments in western Europe are mostly found in northern and western Britain as well as Ireland and Brittany in wales, Cornwall and Brittany they all have there own early parallels to samhain

you left out dia de los muertos!

what I seriously have aninterest in is when did it disappear from England. I have no memory of it as a child in the 60's and my father says what's there now is the american import, You hear a similar thought in a halloween episode of midsomer murders but in 1969 Christie wrote "The halloween party" as a contemporary mystery so when did it disapear and why?

Actually the Church of Rome originally celebrated All Saints Day in the spring, but changed it in the 7th century or by that time. A bon fire and the Wicker man burning were common before Christianity.