Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Pagan
Don’t Poop on My Samhain

Don’t Poop on My Samhain

Last updated on: November 1, 2019 at 10:50 am by Jason Mankey

Don’t Poop on My Samhain 2019-11-01T10:50:17-06:00 Jason Mankey

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Social media during a sabbat is usually cool, usually just lots of people saying “Happy Whatever.” This year though, I can’t help but feel lots of people are pooping on my Samhain. “Samhain is NOT October 31” “Halloween mocks Samhain” blah blah blah. Celebrate when you want, how you want and don’t let anyone tell you different.

SAMHAIN IS A SEASON, NOT A DAY

The sabbats were made for us, we weren’t made for the sabbats. The time to celebrate a sabbat is when you can celebrate the sabbat. For most of us that probably means over the weekend. Most of my Samhain celebrations occur on Friday and Saturday regardless of when Oct. 31 or any other day falls on the calendar. The world does not just suddenly turn on a dime because a certain calendar date pops up.

(Even on the solstices things aren’t as cut and dried as you might think. In New York City the latest sunrise of the year is not the Winter Solstice it’s January 4 and 5, and the earliest sunset of the year is December 8! The world is complicated!)

This year I’ve noticed an increase in concerned memes and people informing me that Samhain is on November 7. The date of November 7 is used by some Witches for Samhain because it represents the more precise moment when much of the Northern Hemisphere is between the Fall Equinox and the Winter Solstice. For those who are really keeping score at home this is a fine date to use for Samhain, however . . .

Using such a date suggests the Irish-Celts who originally celebrated Samhain gave a shit about the equinoxes and solstices, when I’m not really sure that they did. There’s some evidence suggesting that they might have celebrated the Summer Solstice, but the equinoxes? Nope, not a bit of evidence. The original four “greater sabbats” were the start of seasons, not days in the middle of seasons.

I’ll go one step further here, the cross-quarter days line up quite nicely with each other when the solstices and equinoxes are removed. Samhain and Beltane are 183 days apart, or half a year, just like they are supposed to be. If you want to move Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane, and Lammas each back a week, be my guest, but those dates work just fine for the rest of us. I’m not wrong for celebrating Samhain on Oct. 31, and you aren’t wrong for celebrating it on Nov. 7 if that’s your preference. .

For those of you who are waving your hands in the back and pointing out that the calendar has changed over the centuries, you are right! Today we use the Gregorian Calendar, which has been the way of it in occupied North American and Great Britain since 1752. Currently the Gregorian Calendar is about 13 days ahead of the Julian Calendar. In other words, November 7 on our calendar is not October 31 but October 25! Not even the change over in calendars magickally puts Oct. 31 on November 7.

And again, Samhain is a season, not a day. The best Samhain ritual I’ve ever been a part of occurred on November 2, and I’ve celebrated Samhain as late as November 11 and as early as October 20. The veil between the worlds was thin during that entire time! It felt like Samhain on any day I’ve celebrated Samhain because Samhain occurs when we celebrate it!

Image from MaxPixel. Public Domain image.

HALLOWEEN VERSUS SAMHAIN

The ancient Irish-Celts who celebrated Samhain did very little that would remind of us Halloween. Despite the terrible memes you might have read this Sahmahin-season, they didn’t dress up in costumes or even celebrate their dead. We know very little about ancient Samhain, and most of what “we think we know” comes from inaccurate books written at the turn of the 20th Century.

Does any of this matter? Not in the least. I associate Samhain with the dead because I feel those energies at the end of October/start of November. The historicity of exactly how Samhain was celebrated in 52 CE is inconsequential to my own rituals and rites.

Much of why Samhain feels so vital and important is because it feels like everyone else around us is celebrating it too! No one is stealing Samhain or making it less meaningful because they are dressing up as a sexy witch or Batman. Christians have been celebrating Halloween for nearly a 1000 years and adding to it too! Jack-o-lanterns may be from Ireland, but that doesn’t mean they were from the Irish-Celts.

Holidays are giant melting pots full of lots of ingredients. It’s true that Halloween might have some pagan roots, but it also has Catholic ones, and Aztec ones, and Protestant ones . . . . and lots of secular shit unrelated to any religion or specific culture. If someone wants to celebrate Halloween they are not less of a Witch for doing so, and most certainly no one is insulting your religion by celebrating Halloween.

And don’t lament the commercialization of Halloween either. Before Halloween was commercialized it wasn’t much of a holiday, it was simply a day to engage in petty vandalism. Costumes, candy, and haunted houses have made it better, not worse. And if you don’t like those things, don’t dress up, don’t pass out candy, and just stay indoors. The only way to trivialize my Witch-holiday is to openly mock Witchcraft and Samhain, and good luck to the idiot that does that.

Sabbats and secular holidays are what we make of them. They don’t necessarily fall on a particular day, and there is no right or wrong way to celebrate any of them. Do what works for you, be respectful of those around you and other cultures, and do what you can when you can.

Alternative Titles for this Article:

Don’t Shit on my Samhain

Hands off My Holiday!

No Holier Than Thou Samhain

When Does the Samhain Bell Toll? Whenever You Want it To!

Uncategorized

Previous Post

October 22, 2019

Five Ways to Make Your Samhain Better

Next Post

November 4, 2019 Dirty Witchcraft Secrets

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Editorializing Gateways to Paganism Guest Posts Holiday Histories Led Zeppelin News and Views Occult Pagan Pagan TV Club Paganism polytheism Ramble On Reviews Ritual Strange Days Uncategorized

Select a Month August 2026 March 2026 February 2026 November 2025 September 2025 August 2025 April 2025 August 2024 April 2024 February 2024 December 2023 October 2023 August 2023 June 2023 May 2023 January 2023 October 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 April 2012 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How many verses are in the shortest chapter in the Bible?

Select your answer to see how you score.

5 7 10 2