S au - wan

First we are going to start with a historical review of Samhain, then about who the Celts were, to finally
show the Samhain festivities today.

Samhain is an ancient Celtic Holiday that marks the beginning of winter, It’s believed to have started in
the 1st century AC. At Samhain, a place was prepared with offerings of food and drink, to ensure the
people survived the winter.

The Celts had four Seasonal Holidays, SAMHAIN the first day of November, IMBOLC was the first of
February , BELTANE in May LUGHNASA the first of Agoust, but Samhain was the most important because
it was considered the Celtic new year

Since 20th century Celtic neopagans have observed Samhain as a religious holiday.

how were these celebrations?

When the end of the harvest came, the Celts met with other tribes to share meals, celebrate the end of
the harvest and do pagan rituals. They did not have dates from the Roman calendar but they were
guided by harvest times and the position of the sun.

This is one of the pagan ritual, they dressed in animal skins with their faces covered to look hidden, they
made rounds, lit bonfires in the middle, and sometimes these bonfires were made with people inside
and then they were lit because their souls were offerings to the gods.

What did the Celts eat on Samhain?

The Celts lived grouped in camps, also called “castra” (castra is a Latin word meaning fortified camp), a
circular wall protected the camp from strong winds they made round houses with thatched roofs –
these are the walls made in the shape of circles, here they are without the roof.

Many Celts were farmers, so they grew their own food, gathered their wild fruits and hunted animals for
food.

This is Galicia in Spain and it is a historical monument and a tourist place, in these places they grew
mushrooms, wild garlic, onions, carrots and fruits such as apples, blackberries, blueberries, hazelnuts,
walnuts and grains for bread

As for meat, some of them were good hunters and brought deer, foxes, beavers, wild boars ( roast boar)
and bears. The fishermen brought salmon and mackerel.

Others had farm domesticated animals and shared their chickens, goats, sheep, pigs, cattle, honey from
bees, eggs from hens and wild birds

Celts today

This is one of the places that we can still find today where the rituals were done, they are part of the
Rathcroghan complex in Ireland. Rathcroghan complex has over two hundred and forty archaeological
sites, sixty of which are classified as national monuments, this include burial mounds and ringforts.
Today they are used as a meeting point by the Celtic communities and are recognized tourist places.

Another iconic place as a celtic meeting point is the stonehedge, it’s important to say that stonehenge
appeared long before the arrival of the celts to britain islands, at least some two thousand years before
but it was used by the Celts as temples for rituals and celebrations.