Samhain

Samhain

In Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man, Samhain arrives with the first frost. The Winter Hag, the Cailleach, awakens from her summer slumber, and she and the Storm Hags (Cailleachan) dance on the wind and sea. It is one of the holiest times of the year, a time to remember the ancestors and cherish our bonds with the living, that will sustain us through the coming winter months. As a popular festival that could not be fully suppressed, many ancient traditions still survive in the modern customs of Halloween (though sometimes in forms that only vaguely indicate their origins). As Gaelic Polytheists, we preserve the ways of our ancestors; we revive their ways that were almost forgotten but which - as Earth-honouring peoples - have deep meaning and relevance to our lives now. 

Blessed Samhain to you all !

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Produced by : An Chomhairle Ghaol Naofa.

Written and Edited by : Kathryn Price NicDhàna.

Quotes from "Ceol Na Gaoithe ~ Song of the Gale" by Lasairfhíona Ní Chonaola.

Verse from "Anbthine mór ar muig Lir"(circa 8th Century, C.E.) adapted with a great deal of poetic license by Kathryn NicDhàna, but preserving the traditional "rocking metre" of the original.

Music : Mary Jane Lamond, "Cailleach Liath Ratharsaigh"and Saor Patrol, "Black Bull". 

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