☆ Samhain is the Irish word for the month of November. In Scottish Gaelic it is called Samhuinn and in Manx Gaelic it is Sauin. The night of 31 October (Halloween) is called Oíche Shamhna in Irish, Oidhche Shamhna in Scottish Gaelic, and Oie Houney in Manx, all meaning "Samhain night". 1 November, or the whole festival, may be called Lá Samhna in Irish, Là Samhna in Scottish Gaelic, and Laa Houney in Manx, all meaning "Samhain day". In the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages, Samhain is known as the 'calends of winter'. The Brythonic lands of Wales, Cornwall and Brittany held festivals on 31 October similar to the Gaelic one. In Wales it is Calan Gaeaf, in Cornwall it is Allantide or Kalan Gwav and in Brittany it is Kalan Goañv. ☆ In the Anglo-Saxon calendar, winter was measured from the moon of October-November, which, according to the Venerable Bede, was called Winterfylleth, meaning "winter filled" or "winter full". This is likely to derive from the Old Norse vetrnætr "Winter Nights" which marked the beginning of Winter in October. This was an important time of year to make sacrifices, such as the álfablót "elf sacrifice" and dísablót "disir (female spirits) sacrifice". ☆ The festival of Samhain is attested in some of the earliest Old Irish literature, from the 10th century onward. Traditionally, Samhain was a time to take stock of the herds and food supplies. Cattle were brought down to the winter pastures after six months in the higher summer pastures. Sir John Rhys (1840 -- 1915) put forth that it had been the "Celtic New Year". However, the contemporary historian Ronald Hutton says there is no evidence to support this theory. ☆ OathBoundSecrets is a collaboration channel dedicated to distributing free information about modern pagan witchcraft. Like our facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/OathBoundSecrets

• published: 10 Oct 2013
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