The Celtic solar year was called the circle of Baal
(Bealaine/Bliadhain) and was divided into halves. The
first half (waxing half) of the year began at dusk on
winter solstice. Already the longest night and the
shortest day have passed. The second half (waning half) of
the year began at dusk of summer solstice. Already the
shortest night and the longest day have passed. The solar
year was then quartered by the equinoxes (days of balance)
when night and day are of equal length. These four
important solar events were represented by four spokes of
the solar calendar. The time between the solar events was
again subdivided by four calendar events which were
represented by the other four spokes of the solar wheel.
The Celtic day was also divided into two halves. The
first half (dark half) of the day began at dusk and the
second half (light half) of the day began at dawn with high
noon as its point of balance.
A Celtic lunar/solar calendar was found in France at
Coligny near Bourg-en-Bresse. The site was in the border
zone of the Sequani and the Ambarri tribes who both settled
the area around BC 6th century. The calendar was found
with artifacts including a bronze statue believed to have
been part of a temple where the calendar plaque was mounted
for public use. The time that the calendar was in use is
thought to have been between BC 3rd - AD 1st century. The
script and numbers on the calendar are Roman and the
language is Brythonic Celt. Alban Wall, Stonehenge and the
Calendar of Coligny, asserts that it contains no Roman or
Greek elements and, like Stonehenge, is based on a 19-year
moon/sun cycle.
Pliny (AD 1st c), Stonehenge and the Coligny calendar
all present evidence that the Celts began their month on
the 6th day of the moon, which is the waxing half or 1st
quarter, the day of balance.
The Coligny calendar had 16 columns showing 62 lunar
months plus two additional intercalary months, giving it a
19-year cycle. The month was divided into a bright half of
15 days with the 3-day full moon at the center. The dark
half had 14-15 days with the new moon at its center. The
British and Portuguese, among others, still use the
fortnight/15 days as a measurement of moon-time. The first
half of the moon-month had maximum light and the second
half had maximum darkness. The second half of the moon
calendar was called Atenoux or Athnugud (renewal).
Some of the days and months of the Colingy calenday
were marked good (Mat) or bad (Anm). The Celts believed
even into recent time that people born in the night could
see ghosts and phantoms which could not be seen by people
born during the daylight hours.
The Celtic tree calendar as presented by Robert
Graves, The White Goddess, divided the year into 13 months.
The tree year began in December just after the solstice
with the month of Beth, represented by the self-propagating
birch tree that was used to drive out the spirit of the old
year.
The oldest zodiac is the lunar zodiac with 28 houses
or stations in which the moon could be seen. As the moon
goddess lost in importance to her son it was overshadowed
by the solar zodiac. The Saros cycle of the lunar calendar
synchronizes with the sun every 18.03 solar years.
Stonehenge has a lunar aspect and there is an interesting
lunar calendar called Sagres ("sacred") in southern
Portugal at Cabo de São Vincente. North America,
especially in the province of Alberta, has many lunar
calendars called medicine wheels.
The solar zodiac calendar begins at the vernal equinox
which is the day of balance in the waxing half of the sun
year and the beginning of the bright half of the solar
year. The sun and moon both move west to east in
relationship to the movement of the stars.
The solar zodiac calendar is regulated by the
constellation in a band which is 8º on either side of the
elliptic path followed by the earth and its moon as the
planet orbits the sun. The band is divided into 12 equal
sections called signs or houses and starts with the sun's
position at the vernal equinox. The modern-day zodiac was
standardized by Hipparchus in BC 2nd century with Aries at
the vernal equinox. Before this time the starting
constellation was Taurus. The ancients did not use the
zodiac to predict the complicated future events for
individuals; such a concept is relatively modern.
It has been suggested that the Celts used a 13-month
calendar. The constellation Libra, which is the house
before Scorpio, was not used before BC 300 but the
constellation Ophiuchus (Serpent Holder) was in use and
fell between the houses of Scorpio and Sagittarius. The
naming of the constellations had more to do with the
mythology they told than with the physical appearance of
the star configurations.
In late September, the sunset and moonrise coincide
for several days in the northern hemisphere and this is the
time of the full moon called Harvest Moon. The winter moon
rises earliest and sets latest while the sun rises latest
and sets earliest.
Stonehenge is probably best known as a solar calendar
but it was also an excellent lunar calendar. The two
calendars are in synchronicity every 19 years and the
bluestone horseshoe was used to keep track of the cycle.
The end of the 19-year cycle would see the conjunction of
full moon and winter solstice sunset. The moon would rise
over the heelstone as the sun set through the arch of the
Great Trilithon.
The Greeks called the people who built and interpreted
the calendars at Stonehenge Hyperborian (people of the
north). They reported that these people used wheat straw
in their rites to the sun god who visited them every 19
years on the great year. He visited them from the time of
the vernal equinox and played his harp until the Pleiades
rose (in Taurus) before leaving again.
The Celts have used constructions such as Stonehenge,
Aubrey Circle, mountain ridges such as Edderton in
Scotland, the calendar of Coligny and medicine wheels in
America and Iberia to track the stars, sun, moon and other
planets so as to divine the calendar events of the future.
Months
of the Coligny Calendar
first half second half
Giamonios - (Dec) Samonios - (Jun)
Simivisonn - (Jan) Dumannios - (Jul)
Equos - (Feb) Rivros - (Aug)
Elembivios - (Mar) Anagantios - (Sep)
Edrinios - (Apr) Ogronios - (Oct)
Cantlos - (May) Cutios - (Nov)
The
Five Vowels (Stations) of The Moon Goddess
A (Ailm) - New Moon - black - BIRTH (hinge)
O (Onn) - Waxing Crescent
U (Ura) - Waxing Half - red - INITIATION
E (Eadha) - Waxing Gibbous
I (Idho) - Full Moon - white - EMOTION (hinge)
E (Eadha) - Waning Gibbous
U (Ura) - Waning Half - red - REST
O (Onn) - Waning Crescent
A (Ailm) - New Moon - black - DEATH (hinge)
The
Robert Graves 13-Month Tree Calendar
B - Beth
--- Dec 24 - 20 Jan
L - Luis
--- Jan 21 - 17 Feb --- (Imbolic
- Feb 03-04)
N - Nion
--- Feb 18 - 17 Mar
F - Fearn
--- Mar 18 - 14 Apr --- (equinox
- Mar 20-21)
S - Saille --- Apr 15 - 12 May ---
(Beltainn - May 04-05)
H - Uath
--- May 13 - 09 Jun
D - Duir
--- Jun 10 - 07 Jul --- (solstice
- Jun 21-22)
T - Tinne
--- Jul 08 - 04 Aug
C - Coll
--- Aug 05 - 01 Sep --- (Lughnasadh - Aug 07-08)
M - Muir
--- Sep 02 - 29 Sep --- (equinox
- Sep 22-23)
G - Gort
--- Sep 30 - 27 Oct
P - Peith
--- Oct 28 - 24 Nov --- (Samhain
- Nov 06-07)
R - Ruis
--- Nov 25 - 22 Dec --- (solstice
- Dec 21-22)
23 Dec --- (and a
day)
ZODIAC
SUN CALENDAR
Aries
- Mar 21 - 20 Apr - bear / ram
(equinox - Mar
20-21)
Taurus
- Apr 21 - 21 May - bull / elk
(Beltainn -
May 04-05)
Gemini
- May 22 - 21 Jun - Mighty Twins
/ Orion Giant
(solstice -
Jun 21-22)
Cancer
- Jun 22 - 23 Jul - ship / crab
(solstice -
Jun 21-22)
Leo
- Jul 24 - 23 Aug - lion / lynx
(Lughnasadh -
Aug 07-08)
Virgo
- Aug 24 - 23 Sep - virgin /
earth goddess
(equinox - Sep
22-23)
Libra
- Sep 24 - 23 Oct - balance /
bird
(equinox - Sep
22-23)
Scorpio
- Oct 24 - 22 Nov - scorpion /
snake
(Samhain - Nov
06-07)
Sagittarius - Nov 23 - 21 Dec - archer on horseback
(solstice - Dec 21-22)
Capricorn
- Dec 22 - 20 Jan - goat horn /
sea goat
(solstice -
Dec 21-22)
Aquarius
- Jan 21 - 19 Feb - water bearer
/ phoenix
(Imbolic - Feb
03-04)
Pisces
- Feb 20 - 20 Mar - twin fish
(equinox - Mar
20-21)
SUN
CALENDAR - The Harmony of Baal
NAME Winter Solstice
ALTERNATIVE An-fheill-shlinnein (great shoulder-borne
feast-day)
TYPE sun event
PURPOSE death of the old / birth of the new
DATE Giamonios (Dec) 21-22 / (2-day festival)
DEITY Artio / Caer Ibormeith / Dianos / Belenos
SYMBOL D / oak club / bull
RITES bonfire / cider / veneration of nature
REMARKS Winter solstice is the shortest day of year and
follows the longest night. The solstice was a 2-day event
for the Celts at which they mourned the death of the old
sun god and celebrated the birth of the new sun god.
The 2 days of minimum light were helped by lighting
black (old sun) and gold (new sun) candles. A moon goddess
such as Caer Ibormeith (yew) presided over this event.
The first day of this event was concerned with the
death of the sun god of the waning half of the year. He
was associated with the holly tree and the lynx. The day
began on the eve of winter solstice and continued until the
sun's life was extinguished at the end of solstice. The
color of that day was black.
A needfire of elder, the death tree, was lit on the
eve of winter solstice and sacrifices were made throughout
the day as the solemn event took place. Only simple meals
such as round oatcakes were eaten, washed down with a
little water.
The eve of the 1st day of the waxing half of the year
was more hopeful, with the preparation of a feast and
veneration to the Great Mother (moon). Trees were
ornamented and homes were decked out with scarlet berries
from plants such as mistletoe, yew, ivy and holly and
boughs of silver fir in honor of Artio, the deity who helps
with births. The mistletoe was important because it
contained the soul of the oak tree until spring.
As an act of sympathetic magic to help ensure that the
son of The Great Mother would be born strong and friendly,
a great birch or apple needfire was lit. The Celts spent
this night chanting and dancing their way into a frenzy
waiting for the new born sun to show himself. A portion of
the Yule log was saved to start the needfire of the
following year.
When the new sun was born, the feast followed and the
Celts ate and drank cider (or golden ale) in excess, then
gave presents as charms to ensure abundance during the
following year. The sun god of the waxing half of the year
was associated with the bull and the oak tree.
The Coligny Calendar indicates that the Celts divided
the solar year into two halves, with the solstices as the
hinges. The first half started at winter solstice in the
month of Giamonios (December).
In the solar zodiac this was the month of the goat and
in the tree calendar the festival started at the end of the
month of Ruis (elder), tree of death, and ended with B
(birch), the tree of new beginnings. The apple tree was
known as the tree of eternal life.
The god Dianos (Bright Phase) was of paramount
important, being the god of new beginnings. As a god with
two heads looking in opposite directions he was associated
with death and rebirth, doors, brightness and oak.
NAME Imbolic
ALTERNATIVE Imbolic {Imbolg} (Swelling Belly) / Oimelc /
Oimelg
TYPE calendar event
PURPOSE to nourish the newborn sun god
DATE Equos (February) 3-4 / (8-day festival)
SITE Tara
DEITY Brighid / Tea
SYMBOL right-facing swastika-shaped fire wheels
RITES bonfire / mead / chanting / song / instrument
REMARKS In Ireland the festival of Imbolic was in honor
of the fire deity Brighid (the bride) who was the wetnurse
to the sun god. This was the time when the cows began to
lactate, the time of the Water Bearer in the zodiac
calendar and the tree month Luis (Rowan) tree of substance
food of the gods. A needfire of rowan wood was lit, and
firewheels in the shape of right-facing swastikas were
constructed from rush and set ablaze. The Imbolic festival
also marked the beginning of spring season (Earrach).
Sacrifices were offered, food and mead was in
abundance and with the help of music and chants the Celts
danced themselves into a frenzy, inviting the fire goddess
to inhabit someone's body and walk among them.
The Celts prayed that she would nourish the newborn
sun deity and that he would grow strong and friendly. Tea,
a Celtic fertility goddess, was the patron of the feast
(Feis Tara) that was held in honor of Brighid. There was a
prescribed order of presentation of the food served, with
Bride cakes and dishes with rowan berries having special
importance. After the feast followed games of skill, music
and stories by bards, entertainment by poets, horse races,
foot races, and meetings between families, clans and
friends.
Mead was the drink of all the calendar events dealing
with the sun god and any breach of the divine peace was
instantly punishable by death.
NAME Spring Equinox
ALTERNATIVE Co-thad-thrath (co-joining timeperiod) / vernal
equinox (equal night/day) / The Dragon's Head
TYPE sun event / moon festival / earth festival
PURPOSE sun god overthrew darkness / The Great Mother /
awakening of the earth goddesses
DATE Elembivios (March) 20-21 / (3-day festival)
DEITY On-niona
SYMBOL disk divided into light half and dark half
RITES bonfire / mulberry wine / chanting / song /
instruments
REMARKS At the spring equinox, the young son god
overwhelmed darkness and a 3-day festival was held to
honour his mother, to purify the land, to celebration the
emergences of the earth goddesses from their winter sleep
and to begin a new cycle of events. Furze fires were lit
on hilltops in honor of fertility goddesses such as On-
niona.
During this event night and day were in balance, it
was the beginning of the bright half of the year and the
first day of the zodiac calendar with the end of Pisces and
the beginning of Aries. The day was also in the month of
Alder (hottest-burning) in the tree calendar.
The Great Mother (Triple Goddess) visited her admirers
first as the hag, dressed in black and representing
physical death. It was a day of sacrifice, first by the
druids, then by everyone.
During the second day The Great Mother appeared as, a
youth wearing white, signifying intellectual birth. On
this day (spring equinox) everyone visited the mother cave
(unicursal maze) representing the womb of the earth goddess
and asked for the return of the male oak spirit from its
winter abode in the female mistletoe.
On the third day of the festival, the Triple Goddess
appeared as a maiden in the prime of her life and dressed
in scarlet: the color of the spirit, fire and sexual
energy. The young goddess attended a day of feasting,
drinking (mulberry wine), chariot races, games of skill and
story-telling.
All three days of the event were enhanced by dance,
song, music and decoration by any new growth of leaves or
flowers. The Great Mother was the perpetual virgin, mother
of all Celtic deities, mankind and all living things. She
was associated with the moon, fertility and continual
motion.
NAME Beltainn
ALTERNATIVE Bealltain / Beltain (Brilliant Fires) / Beltane
/ Beltene / Belteine / Beltine / Cet-Saman /
Cetshamain
TYPE calendar event
PURPOSE fertility festival / settle disputes
DATE Cantlos (May) 4-5 / (8-day festival)
SITE Uisnech, Ireland / Chartres, France
DEITY Belenos / earth goddesses
SYMBOL sun discs / 8-spoked sunwheels
RITES bonfires / mead / beltane cakes / incense /
chanting / music / dance
REMARKS Beltainn {Beltuinn} marked the beginning of the
summer season (Samhradh). Beltainn had two fires and was a
2-day event with 3 days of festival on either side. Bel
(god) teine (fire) was a fertility festival in which
Belenos the male sun god and the female earth goddess
fertilized nature (life force) and encouraged healthy
livestock, game and foliage. Belenos was associated with
the bull and the oak tree. This was the month of the bull
in the zodiac calendar and the month of Saille (Willow) in
the tree calendar. Willow was also a tree of great
importance to the moon goddess. Hawthorn crowns were made
for the god and goddess.
On the eve of Beltainn all fires were extinguished and
all wheels ceased to turn. At the crack of dawn, the
needfire was lit using two large very dry trunks of oak.
The oak was rubbed together by 81 males working in shifts
of 9 men each. The Beltainn fires were special fires
called Coelcerth (Gaelic), now known as bonfires meaning
"good fires".
Two large circles were drawn on the ground and the
sods were cut out and placed around the edges. The fuel
for the fires was gathered by 9 teams of 9 men each who had
to be free of metal. In the center of each circle they
erected an oak log (phallus). Logs of the 8 remaining
chieftain trees were then arranged like the spokes of the
wheels of the sun god's chariot radiating around the two
oak axles. A tent of the wood was constructed at the hub
with the spokes radiating from it.
The phallus was usually the tallest tree to be found
in the area. It was limbed, barked and made smooth. Ropes
were tied to the top and wound around the trunk. People in
costumes of birds then held onto the ends of the ropes,
jumped into the air and flew around the pole as the ropes
unwound. Residues of this ritual are still visible in
Maypole festivities.
Circular Beltainn cakes (Tcharnicanare) made from
eggs, milk and oatmeal were quartered and put into a
container of calf skin. All the members of the tribe then
filed by and retrieved a quarter of the wheel-cake. The
person who picked the cake with the charcoal-blackened mark
on it was called the cailleach bealtine (Beltain Carline)
and became the sacrifice.
The sacrifice was slain and cut into quarters with two
sections placed on each hub. The hubs were then lit from
the needfire and the festival was on. The members of the
tribe circled the fires in a sunwise direction 3 times.
Next, two young bulls were ritually killed. The cattle
were driven 3 times between the fires of Beltainn with a
rowan stick in order to purify them and to stimulate
fertility.
The festival was associated with spring flowers and
new boughs of leaves from the hawthorn which was sacred to
the moon goddess. People wore bright colors to enhance the
cycle and to help it on. This was a precarious time of
year because winter stores were still the main source of
food, as most new growth would not yet be ready to eat.
Circular cheeses were rolled down the hills in a sunwise
direction and the feast that followed was of mead, boar,
game, sweet milk, milk curdled over the fire and, most
importantly, fresh beef.
During the feast, incense was burned and music was
provided by the bards. The festival included ritual
ecstatic dancing around the phallic stone, ceremonial acts
of bowing and kissing, and leaping over the Beltaine fires.
There were different types of races, entertainment by bards
and poets, friends and family were together and a festive
atmosphere prevailed.
Beltainn Sunwheels (Maltese crosses) made of ash were
set ablaze and thrown or rolled into the fires. That night
the red and white dragons, representing the sun and the
moon, performed sacred rites throughout the night. The
druids beat skin drums and blew horns, and male and female
warriors beat their swords against their shields until the
dragons finally pass out from drinking too much mead. On
the following morning the sun was greeted with "Good
morning and show your eye".
Special cups were carved into stone to catch dew,
which was collected each morning of the festival before
dawn and used for purification rituals. Ivy was also used
for collecting dew. Women made ropes of cow-tail hair and
dragged them through the grass to collect dew to beautify
their faces, then hung them by their cows to ensure a
greater quantity of milk. Branches of the rowan tree were
also placed over doorways and barns.
The Partholean, Nemedian, Danann and Goidel all landed
in Ireland on Beltainn. The Celts of Ireland held their
Great Assembly on Beltainn at Uisnech, the navel of
Ireland. The Gauls also held their Great Assembly on
Beltainn at Chartres which was in the territory of the
Carnuti tribe. This was a time when disputes were settled
and the druid's word was law.
NAME Summer Solstice
ALTERNATIVE Grian Stad (sun stop)
TYPE sun event
PURPOSE death of the old / birth of the new
DATE Samonios (June) 21-22 / (2-day festival)
DEITY Artio / Balor / Belenos / Lugh
SYMBOL T / holly club / lynx
RITES bonfire / mead / blood / battle of the Titans
REMARKS Summer solstice is the day of maximum light and
the beginning of the waning half of the year. This was the
day that the sun god, associated with the oak tree and the
bull, was defeated by his son who was associated with the
lynx and the holly tree. The solar event coincides with
the departure of the Mighty Twins (Gemini) and the arrival
of the ship (Cancer) in the zodiac calendar and is in the
month of Duir (Oak) in the tree calendar. The two great
battles of Magh Tuireadh in Ireland were fought on summer
solstice between chieftains who represented the bull and
Lynx gods.
The oak god was made drunk on heather mead then led to
the sacred site with 12 standing stones and an altar stone.
The sun god was tied in the 5-fold position with willow
thongs to an oak tree that had been trimmed into a T. As
the sun set the sacrifice was then beaten until he passed
out, then blinded, flayed, castrated and impaled with a
mistletoe stake. He was then cut into joints on the altar
stone where his blood was caught in a basin and used to
sprinkle the people of the tribe so they would be vigorous
and fertile.
The flesh of the oak god was then roasted over twin
oak fires that were either lit from a needfire or from a
lightning strike, which was even more sacred. When the
meat was cooked, the 12 males who were left out of the 13
chosen as initiates for the god chewed his flesh as they
danced and chanted in a frenzy around the two fires in a
figure of eight.
The head and genitals of the sacrifice were saved and
the head was cured with smoke or oil and used by the druids
as an oracle as they did with the head of Bran.
Death was considered a precursor to fertility, and the
festival which followed honored female fertility deities
such as Artio (Artemis), a moon goddess who was associated
with bears, bees and the production of honey. The Manx
wore a sprig of Mugwort (Artemisia Vulgaris) on their
person during this day. The celebration which had begun
with the sacred fires and sacrifices was followed by
feasting, drinking, dancing and music. During this
festival, the youth performed ritual displays to impress
the opposite sex. This is the longest day of the year and
the heat of sun grows in intensity.
The Coligny Calendar shows that summer solstice was
considered the beginning of the second half or waning half
of the year and was in the month of Samonios (June).
NAME Lughnasadh
ALTERNATIVE Bron Tro Gain (Trogain's Sorrow) / Lughnasa /
Lughnasad {loo-nas'-ad} (Lugh's Wedding)
TYPE calendar event
PURPOSE thanking the Great Mother / trial marriages
DATE Rivros (August) 7-8 / (15-day festival)
SITE Emain Macha / Croagh Patrick / Wexford
DEITY Carman / Lugh / Tailtiu
SYMBOL T / holly / lynx / 4-spoked wheel
RITES bonfire / mead / first sacrifices / sacred foods
/ ritual combat
REMARKS In Ireland, Lughnasadh was a 3-day festival in
honor of the sun god associated with the lynx and the holly
club. The festival began with a torch procession to the
highest site in the area such as Croagh Patrick, where the
main bonfire in Ireland was held.
The calendar event of Lughnasadh occurs while the sun
is in the house of Leo (lynx) of the zodiac calendar. The
month of Tinne (Holly), the bisexual tree, has just ended
and Coll (hazel) perfection is just beginning in the tree
calendar. The festival also marks the beginning of autumn
(Foghmhar).
A larger than usual needfire was lit and the night was
passed in fasting and keeping a quiet vigil for the first
rays of the sun god. As soon as the sun god appeared,
"First Sacrifices" were made, to show appreciation for the
blessings that the sun god and the earth goddesses had
bestowed on the people.
The festival of the highland cattle herders was an old
festival called Bron Tro Gain and came to Ireland with the
Nemedians or the Firbolg. Bulls were sacrificed and this
was the time when the cattle were taken to their winter
pastures where they were fattened for winter slaughter.
Some cattle were slaughtered in August so that their meat
could be dried and the skins cured in the hot sun.
At Emain Macha in Ulster, Lughnasadh also served as a
wake for the goddess Tailtiu. A re-enactment of the events
that led to her death was held and the races and other
games were her funeral games. At Wexford in the province
of Leinster, the festival was associated with the goddess
Carman.
Lughnasadh was also a commemoration of Lugh himself as
a harvest festival as well as a cattle and horse fair, with
chariot races, mock swordplay, women's races, entertainment
by musicians and poets, and meetings between friends,
family and clans. The feast itself began by eating curd
cheese circles and butter made from the cows' milk of that
morning. Special bread was also made from grain that was
cut, dried, winnowed, ground and baked on a rowan fire that
day.
During the festival of Lughnasadh, deeds of violence,
levying debts, abductions and the divorcing of a husband or
a wife were all prohibited on penalty of death. Trial
marriages of 11 days were consummated on this day.
NAME Autumn Equinox
ALTERNATIVE Co-thad-thrath (co-joining time period) / fall
equinox (equal day/night) / The Dragon's Tail
TYPE sun event
PURPOSE prepare the sun for resurrection
DATE Anagantios (September) 22-23 / (3-day festival)
SYMBOL disk divided into dark half and light half
RITES bonfire / triangle cakes
REMARKS The autumn equinox is another day of balance
between dark and bright, when the nights and days were of
equal length. Bonfires were lit on the morning to lend
strength to the sun god who is losing to the powers of
darkness. In the zodiac calendar this was the end of the
virgin earth goddess (Virgo) and the beginning of the house
of balance (Libra). It is the month of Muir (Blackberry)
in the tree calendar a plant of resurrection.
Furrowed triangle cakes were eaten in honor of the
mother goddess who would guide the spirit of the oak tree
to the mistletoe where it would abide for the winter. This
was the beginning of the dark half of the year, a time when
preparations for winter began.
NAME Samhain
ALTERNATIVE Feis na Samhin (Feast of Samhain) / Samain
{shah-vin} (Night of the Dead) / Sainn / Saman /
Samhainn / Samuin / Savain / Saven / Savin /
TYPE calendar event
PURPOSE remembrance of the dead
DATE Cutios (November) 6-7 / (7-day festival)
SITE Hill of Ward
DEITY Tlachtga
SYMBOL 8-spoked wheel
RITES bonfire / mead / sacred food / donated firewood
/ sacred dances / rites of protection
REMARKS The festival of Samhain noted the triumph of
dark over bright and the beginning of the winter season
(Geimhreadh). It was the time of the long winter nights
when the deities of the underworld had the responsibility
of maintaining order.
The eve of Samhain began by breaking the day's fast
with a feast of goose, chitterlings (boar intestines) and
bread baked from acorn. All fires were extinguished and no
wheels were allowed to turn until the next eve. During
Samhain the door between this world and The Otherworld
opened upon each other, permitting spirits from either side
to roam freely. The hearth was prepared for relatives who
had passed on as a show of respect for the dead and to keep
them happy.
During Samhain night, it was possible for those brave
enough to raid The Otherworld for treasures, but the time
between first cockcrow and daybreak was better spent asleep
in the safety of one's home. Most warriors spent the night
in their forts eating, drinking and boasting of their past
brave deeds in an attempt to keep the souls of dead
warriors at bay.
The following eve the great needfire was lit on the
Hill of Ward in Ireland in honor of Tlachtga, a goddess of
knowledge. The needfire was lit by a druid on a specially
prepared site. A circular trench was dug using the cut-out
turf to make an inner shelf. The wood was rowan and was
donated by the chieftains of Ireland. The Samhain fire was
lit by using a specially-built wheel with 8 spokes and an
axle of sacred wood. The axle was placed on the starter
wood and a long rope was wound once around the axle and
pulled so that the wheel spun in a sunwise direction. The
friction from the wooden axle against the starter wood
created enough heat to start the Samhain fire (Tlachtgha).
The head chieftains of Ireland then brought fire from
the sacred needfire at Tlachtga to their provinces and all
the hearth fires were relit with a torch from the chieftain
fires. The Rites of Protection were performed to any
corners in the home, thresholds, chimneys, windows and any
other openings.
When the druids lit the needfire at Tlachtga which was
12 miles from Tara, a white bull was sacrificed, marking
the end of the grazing season. Selected people swung
burning brooms and fire-balls around their heads during
special sun dances. Filidhs divined using hazelnuts and
apples in association with fire and water.
The feast was held at Tara afterwards. The night was
spent feasting with games, entertainment, and sword dances
performed by 8 warriors. As at all calendar events, both
instrumental and vocal music was important. Poets and
bards remembered the brave deeds of the warriors now living
in The Otherworld and sung their praises and beat their
drums. Mead was the drink of most calendar festivals, and
any breach of the Divine Peace was instantly punishable by
death.
Through the art of dancing, singing and use of
intoxicants, the Celts could achieve ecstatic states which
would allow the gods to walk among their admirers.
After the festival, cattle were slaughtered and salted
away for winter which was very rough in some Celtic areas.
This was also the time for wars and combats. The dark half
of the year was the time of the warriors and each made sure
his or her weapons were ready. The druids prepared their
Aspen rods which they used to measure corpses.
The festival was in the month of Scorpio (serpent) of
the solar zodiac or the old month of Ophiuchus (serpent
holder). It was also the month of Peith (Guelder Rose) or
Ngetal (reed) of
the tree calendar.