In the modern day, the old Celtic observation of Samhain has been conflated to coincide with the Christian holiday of Halloween. That was by design, and intentional merging of formerly very separate holidays in very different religions. When Christianity started invading the hinterlands, it was a conscious decision on their part to co-opt certain "pagan" holidays in order to facilitate the transition of said pagans from their original religions to Christianity.
Other holidays so co-opted include Yule into Christmas, and Ostara into Easter... but those are not the subject of this thread.
Nowadays, the Christian holiday of Halloween is invariably celebrated on 31 October, even by so-called "neo-pagans", who are actually celebrating a Christian holiday and simply re-labeling it as "Samhain". They fell for the trap. But it was not always so.
The old European holy-days were largely based upon agricultural cycles and seasons. There were 4 quarterly celebrations marking agricultural transitions at the winter solstice (shortest day of the year), the spring equinox (equal day and night length leading into longer days and warmer temperatures in the northern hemisphere), the summer solstice (longest day of the year), and the autumnal equinox (equal day-night length leading into shorter days and lower temperatures in the northern hemisphere). In addition to these quarterly holidays, there were a further 4 "cross-quarter" observations marking the half way point between the quarterly celebrations. Samhain of the Celts was one of these cross-quarter observations, half way between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice.
This means that it falls on a different day every year, because agricultural cycles do not follow set calendar cycles, since a year has roughly 365 1/4 days instead of a regular 360 days that is easily divisible. The addition of "leap years" has somewhat mitigated that situation, but not entirely.
Now the Christians moving into the pagan areas and proselytizing therein already had a holiday celebrating "saints", called All Hallows Day, a purely Christian holiday celebrated on 1 November. In order to incorporate pagan observations and co-opt them, they instituted yet another holiday the evening before All hallows Day and called it "All hallows Eve" (much the same concept as Christmas Eve) or "Hallow'een" and related that to the pagan Samhain observation, just to make it easier for pagans to become Christianized.
This year, the autumnal equinox fell on 22 September:
... and the winter solstice (Yule) is on 21 December:
... a span of 90 days. the half way point between the two, 45 days, falls by my calculation at sundown on the evening of 6 November, a week AFTER All Hallows Day, not the night before it, and will end at sundown on 7 November.
This has significant ramifications for actual pagans, as opposed to the neo-pagan variety. Neo-pagans will celebrate their Christian holiday and go merrily along about their business thereafter sublimely unaware that they are paying homage to their conquerors. Actual pagans will know that the hi-jinks associated with Samhain, the thinning of the veil between realms, ghostly visits, and all that, will fall on a different day entirely. Without that knowledge, they would be unprepared for unusual occurrences around that time, and in the old days pagans REALLY wanted to be prepared - it was not a matter of cute kids shaking them down for candy, it was a matter of ghostly visits that could turn ugly if not properly observed by them.
Now you know. Do with it what thou wilt.
.
Other holidays so co-opted include Yule into Christmas, and Ostara into Easter... but those are not the subject of this thread.
Nowadays, the Christian holiday of Halloween is invariably celebrated on 31 October, even by so-called "neo-pagans", who are actually celebrating a Christian holiday and simply re-labeling it as "Samhain". They fell for the trap. But it was not always so.
The old European holy-days were largely based upon agricultural cycles and seasons. There were 4 quarterly celebrations marking agricultural transitions at the winter solstice (shortest day of the year), the spring equinox (equal day and night length leading into longer days and warmer temperatures in the northern hemisphere), the summer solstice (longest day of the year), and the autumnal equinox (equal day-night length leading into shorter days and lower temperatures in the northern hemisphere). In addition to these quarterly holidays, there were a further 4 "cross-quarter" observations marking the half way point between the quarterly celebrations. Samhain of the Celts was one of these cross-quarter observations, half way between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice.
This means that it falls on a different day every year, because agricultural cycles do not follow set calendar cycles, since a year has roughly 365 1/4 days instead of a regular 360 days that is easily divisible. The addition of "leap years" has somewhat mitigated that situation, but not entirely.
Now the Christians moving into the pagan areas and proselytizing therein already had a holiday celebrating "saints", called All Hallows Day, a purely Christian holiday celebrated on 1 November. In order to incorporate pagan observations and co-opt them, they instituted yet another holiday the evening before All hallows Day and called it "All hallows Eve" (much the same concept as Christmas Eve) or "Hallow'een" and related that to the pagan Samhain observation, just to make it easier for pagans to become Christianized.
This year, the autumnal equinox fell on 22 September:
Quote:When Is the Autumnal Equinox? The fall equinox arrives on Thursday, September 22, 2022, at 9:04 P.M. EDT in the Northern Hemisphere. The equinox occurs at the same moment worldwide.
... and the winter solstice (Yule) is on 21 December:
Quote:When Is the First Day of Winter? The first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere is marked by the winter solstice, which occurs on Wednesday, December 21, 2022, at 4:48 P.M. EST. For the northern half of Earth (the Northern Hemisphere), the winter solstice occurs annually on December 21 or 22.
... a span of 90 days. the half way point between the two, 45 days, falls by my calculation at sundown on the evening of 6 November, a week AFTER All Hallows Day, not the night before it, and will end at sundown on 7 November.
This has significant ramifications for actual pagans, as opposed to the neo-pagan variety. Neo-pagans will celebrate their Christian holiday and go merrily along about their business thereafter sublimely unaware that they are paying homage to their conquerors. Actual pagans will know that the hi-jinks associated with Samhain, the thinning of the veil between realms, ghostly visits, and all that, will fall on a different day entirely. Without that knowledge, they would be unprepared for unusual occurrences around that time, and in the old days pagans REALLY wanted to be prepared - it was not a matter of cute kids shaking them down for candy, it was a matter of ghostly visits that could turn ugly if not properly observed by them.
Now you know. Do with it what thou wilt.
.
Diogenes was eating bread and lentils for supper. He was seen by the philosopher Aristippus, who lived comfortably by flattering the king.
Said Aristippus, ‘If you would learn to be subservient to the king you would not have to live on lentils.’ Said Diogenes, ‘Learn to live on lentils and you will not have to be subservient to the king.’
Said Aristippus, ‘If you would learn to be subservient to the king you would not have to live on lentils.’ Said Diogenes, ‘Learn to live on lentils and you will not have to be subservient to the king.’
