Samhain: What Halloween Was REALLY Like 2,500 Years Ago

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  • Опубліковано 18 січ 2025

КОМЕНТАРІ • 83

  • @MysteriousNocturnum
    @MysteriousNocturnum 2 місяці тому +24

    Bro, I've probably watched at least a hundred of these "about Halloween" videos, hell I've even made one on my old channel. This is straight up the best one. I really enjoyed this. You're killing it bud. Keep it rolling.

    • @MystOfMythology
      @MystOfMythology  2 місяці тому +4

      A high compliment. Thank you.

    • @MysteriousNocturnum
      @MysteriousNocturnum 2 місяці тому +3

      @MystOfMythology well earned bro, I love the content.

    • @vcvcc6187
      @vcvcc6187 2 місяці тому

      Its made up history there are no written accounts of any of this

  • @tomcarter9505
    @tomcarter9505 2 місяці тому +7

    This is one of those that I will save and watch often, particularly at Halloween.
    Thanks for giving us this.

    • @MystOfMythology
      @MystOfMythology  2 місяці тому +1

      I couldn’t receive a greater compliment. Thank you Tom!

  • @THE-X-Force
    @THE-X-Force 2 місяці тому +23

    Who amongst us hasn't grabbed a willow branch and set out for a night of simple corpse hunting, only to find ourselves in the woods with our armor repeatedly falling off. These things happen.

  • @TempleofBrendaSong
    @TempleofBrendaSong 2 місяці тому +10

    Blessed Samhain to you fellow pagans. Blessed be.

  • @christopheraliaga-kelly6254
    @christopheraliaga-kelly6254 2 місяці тому +6

    In Edinburgh, where I live, there was the "Hallowmas Fair" where people gathered on Calton Hill and held a cattle-fair, until boys kept frightening them over the edge!
    By Law, all citizens had to gather below Calton Hill and walk along the limits of the Burgh Muir, led by musicians. If they didn't turn up, in any weather, they were liable for hefty fines!
    There was "The Faery Boy of Leith", who, every Thursday went to play the drum for the faery folk in the 'Great Halls that only he and they could see the gates to in the side of Calton Hill.
    Incidentally, Samhuin was also known as 'the Death of the Year!'

    • @MystOfMythology
      @MystOfMythology  2 місяці тому

      That is a great addition Christopher. I'm thinking of taking the Mrs up to Edinburgh soon as she's never been, and may pay a visit to Calton hill 👀

  • @mikeburkhart8336
    @mikeburkhart8336 2 місяці тому +6

    Back when I was a kid,Trick or Treating was actually banned in my home town because of the urban legend of kids finding razor blades and pins in their candy (Which never actually happened) so we had a big Halloween celebration at school instead,with us wearing costumes, having a HUGE bowl of Halloween candy in the classroom,and all the students parading around the school building. It was so much fun!

    • @MystOfMythology
      @MystOfMythology  2 місяці тому +1

      That sounds epic!
      Maybe it was just my area, but there wasn’t much Halloween celebrations when I was growing up. My brother and cousins would always LOVE dressing up. I think we were one of the few that did trick or treat.

    • @BillyD.BeerBellyBuddah.
      @BillyD.BeerBellyBuddah. 2 місяці тому +2

      that was cool. the trick or treat term started the nasty stuff happening.... but in Ireland my time growing up it was knock on door.. saying was help the Halloween party, and I'm old so fruit and nuts,, but sweets if given was so much a treat, as that house must be well to do, lol,

    • @MystOfMythology
      @MystOfMythology  2 місяці тому +4

      The sad truth is that now sweets are cheaper than fruit and nuts.

  • @office-zombie-UK
    @office-zombie-UK 2 місяці тому +7

    Another great video 🙌

  • @nonablouin2606
    @nonablouin2606 2 місяці тому +6

    Yay new story and it's about my favorite holiday 😻😁

  • @asullivan4047
    @asullivan4047 2 місяці тому

    Interesting/informative/entertaining. Excellent still-motion drawings enabling viewers to better understand what the orator is describing😉. Engaged in (3) Trunk or Treat festivities weekend of ( 10-25-24 ) Melbourne Fl🐊. Quality time spent with the children🤗.

  • @margeebechyne8642
    @margeebechyne8642 2 місяці тому +12

    I started listening with interest in how you would pronounce Samhain. I have a theory about the Gaelic. With all the invasions they endured: , Romans, Anglos, Saxons, Normans, etc., it has always seemed to me that the Gaelic said, "Fine, we'll use your Bloody alphabet . . . but to HELL with your phonics!!!" Very interesting it was three days long, going over the days the Church called All Hallow's (or Holy) Eve, All Saints Day and All Souls Day. Thank you for another excellent presentation!!

    • @MystOfMythology
      @MystOfMythology  2 місяці тому +2

      Thank you Margee!

    • @LeighB-f5c
      @LeighB-f5c 2 місяці тому +1

      Thank you for getting the pronunciation right! I learned that it was Sow-In due to a random meeting on a plane with a language professor.

    • @RichWoods23
      @RichWoods23 2 місяці тому

      Gaelic-speaking people were never invaded by the Romans. The Romans didn't try to take Hibernia, and the Gaelic-speaking Scotti tribe didn't migrate to southern Scotland from northern Ireland until after the fall of Rome. The Celtic language spoken on the island of Britain was Brythonic, the precursor of Welsh.

    • @brucecollins641
      @brucecollins641 2 місяці тому

      @@RichWoods23 the " gaelic speaking scotti tribe never migrated to scotland because it's gallic in scotland long before it reached ireland....the scotti is a myth. aslo. a later nickname for the scots..

    • @RichWoods23
      @RichWoods23 2 місяці тому

      @@brucecollins641 Would you like to provide a source for that claim?

  • @johnmesser3278
    @johnmesser3278 2 місяці тому

    I Love this Channel!
    Well done!😊

  • @rain1676
    @rain1676 2 місяці тому

    I really enjoy your videos. You have a happy Halloween

    • @MystOfMythology
      @MystOfMythology  2 місяці тому

      Thank you, I’m so glad you liked it. If you want some really scary stuff. Make sure you’re tuned in for Halloween day!

  • @leobacelli3459
    @leobacelli3459 2 місяці тому +2

    I remember this supernatural being he also goes by the name, trick-or-treat Sam. He has a strict set of rules rules of four which is an unlucky number especially if it’s the month of devil’s night I’ve heard of him even if it is in the movie from 2007 all of you better listen to this cause this part is also known as the great autumn spirit you better follow his rules like in the movie from 2007 there are very to those who don’t obey them and trust me I’ve seen it and I can’t see it even if I tried

  • @doloresikbaker2371
    @doloresikbaker2371 2 місяці тому

    THANK YOU! FOR THIS EXPLANATION OF HOLLOWEEN.!

  • @BillyD.BeerBellyBuddah.
    @BillyD.BeerBellyBuddah. 2 місяці тому +2

    my ancestors be happy with this version and most celts be ok too .

  • @Jesus-is-love4ever
    @Jesus-is-love4ever 2 місяці тому

    I feel like I’ve heard of that festival before I don’t remember where though

  • @Thewolverine0865
    @Thewolverine0865 2 місяці тому

    Thank you.

  • @Rebecca-d7b
    @Rebecca-d7b 2 місяці тому +2

    What about the burning of the wicker man

    • @MystOfMythology
      @MystOfMythology  2 місяці тому +3

      It’s now thought that the Wicker Man is a Greco-Roman invention about the Druids. Basically it was propaganda made to make Druids look like monsters. There is some evidence of human sacrifice, but it was very rare, and normally their enemies (which was the thing to do at the time).

  • @africanqueent
    @africanqueent 2 місяці тому +3

    I accepted all religions
    However, im tired of seeing Christian forcing their religion on the world . I have been studying different religions and practices for a few months, and Christianity is mixed into everything ....for example when they enslaved africans . Africans had to mix Christianity into hoodoo to hide their spirtual pratices .
    If something is the "right" way of life. Why does it have to be forced into people? If no one is getting hurt . Ppl should be able to have their own beliefs .

  • @NikolaiManning
    @NikolaiManning 2 місяці тому +4

    I know it is a little hard to pronounce if you are just looking at the letters, but samhain is pronounced sow-when. Nevermind. You got it right. I typed the first part before the video started.

  • @alexispaterson814
    @alexispaterson814 2 місяці тому

    It used be to turnips that was carved into lanterns before it was Americanised We called it guising and wore home made costumes not trick or treating wearing shop bought fancy dress

  • @LibraMiku271
    @LibraMiku271 2 місяці тому +1

    Well that explains a lot.
    An ancient Celtic tradition to be babyfied by Christianity to make it more enjoyable though arguably speaking... both sides deal with spiritual beings. Except Samhain is both. And the fact that in Mexico there are two days: the day of the innocence (children who died young) to the day of the dead.
    The irony really

    • @MystOfMythology
      @MystOfMythology  2 місяці тому

      I'm trying to brush up on my Celtic mythology and it's like " Moses, ehum, cough, I mean - Mac Lugh survived the flood."

    • @LibraMiku271
      @LibraMiku271 2 місяці тому

      @@MystOfMythology yeah I won't dive into religion. Gets political in a way, but it's good to know these things

  • @theurbanwitchpodcast
    @theurbanwitchpodcast 2 місяці тому

    The moral of Neras story? Don’t ever follow orders, from alive or dead! 😂

  • @kavikv.d.hexenholtz3474
    @kavikv.d.hexenholtz3474 2 місяці тому

    Sounds like a lot of this comes from Fraser's work.
    To say Halloween’s connections to ancient Samhain, or anything “ancient” for that matter, are, at best, extremely tenuous, would be grossly overstating the facts. Virtually all of the customs associated with the modern secular celebration of Halloween developed only in the past 500 years and have no connections to ancient pagan religious practices.
    In short, Halloween just does not have the “pagan precedent” so many people seem to desperately want it to.
    Even the concept of ‘Trick or Treat’ is a relatively new phenomenon, originating from right here in the USA from about the 1920’s or so, and represents a mix of cultures, capitalism, and accommodation.
    What is definitively known about Samhain would fit on about a page and a half of paper. What gets passed around the Internet as “history” and “fact” is mostly speculation and utter nonsense (some of it comes from earlier books published in the 1800's and even as far back as the early 1700's which has since been recognized for the pure speculation and fantasy that they are). The primary source of what is known comes from the books of the Ulster Cycle. By most historical accounts, Samhain proper was preceded by three days, and followed by three days. In some accounts it’s only a three-day celebration (not a seven day). Samhain seems to have been a time to prepare for winter, to welcome in the dark half of the year, cull the herds and celebrate the final harvest of the year. One particular activity that these old Gaelic texts seem to suggest was very popular at Samhain was…. horse racing. In addition, there were many ‘warrior-type’ athletic competitions and well….a lot of drinking. That sounds a lot like many European holidays today from October-January. The texts also speak of it as a time to pay tithings, gather taxes, and the holding of a judicial assembly (much like the Manx ‘Tynwald Day’). There is zero evidence that it was a religious observance, that the Celts ever donned costumes of animal pelts to ward off evil spirits, that it entailed any ritual, that it was a celebration of the dead, or that it opened the Celtic year.
    Most things asserted to be associated with Samhain are either pure wishful thinking or absolute nonsense.
    To be completely fair, the Celts, like other cultures, practiced divination and the change of seasons (amongst other things) was seen as a liminal time in which the boundaries between the spirit world and the material world were seen as overlapping (this includes the change of one day to the next, the change of high tide to low, the crossroads on a path/road, etc., etc.), however, this was part of the broader Celtic religious framework and not something specific to any one specific holiday. Indeed, Samhain’s polar opposite celebration, Bealteine, was seen as just as powerful, if not a more powerful, time of year with respect to this overlapping.
    Let’s take a closer look at the assertion that Christian All Saints Day/All Souls Day replaced Gaelic Samhain.
    To state it briefly, the date of 1. November for All Saint's Day was practiced in continental Europe long before the date was formerly fixed by the Church to November 1st, and long before said change got to what is now the UK & Ireland; which was centuries after the time of Druids and Samhain proper.
    In addition, most people are not aware that Samhain itself is a movable feast day; the exact date varies from year to year depending on when the autumnal equinox and winter solstice fall. In short, it’s not always 31. October. Samhain is associated with the culmination of the the Pleiades - that is, when they reach their highest point in the night sky (this year, it's November 17th). In the modern Gaelic languages, Samhain is the name for the entire month of November.
    To assert that the establishment of All Saint’s Day (and All Souls Day on 2.NOV) was the early church’s attempt to “Christianize Samhain” just does not stand to reason. Think about this logically for a moment, why would the church change a major feast day affecting _all_ of Western Christendom just to accommodate a small group of Christians who lived on, what would be considered at that time, some remote group of islands in the middle of nowhere, centuries after Druids and the observance of Samhain?
    One scholar has even suggested that November 1st may have been chosen simply so that the many pilgrims who traveled to Rome to commemorate the saints “could be fed more easily after the harvest than in the spring (when it was originally celebrated and food to feed throngs of people would have been more scarce).”
    All three holidays, Halloween, All Saint’s Day, and Samhain share a common date and perhaps a “feeling”, but that’s really about it. Indeed, so much of Halloween “feels” Pagan that attempts to connect those things to ancient Samhain simply “feels right”.
    To be completely fair, the traditions of modern Halloween (save for trick-or-treat and costuming) were brought over to North American by the Irish and Scottish so one can certainly argue a “Celtic origin” for Halloween.
    The Jack-o-Lantern is actually not all that old. Without going into all the lengthy details, the carving of root vegetables (turnips, moots, etc., but pumpkins in N. America) dates to around the 1700’s - it’s just not historically attested any earlier than that.
    The story that most people associate with the Jack-o-Lantern is the Irish folktale of “Stingy Jack”. It is just one of many stories told about the “origin” of the Jack-o-Lantern. Unfortunately, may people take the story to be historical fact rather than just the fanciful tale that it is.
    The story itself dates to about the early 1800’s and is first published around the mid 1800’s.

    • @MystOfMythology
      @MystOfMythology  2 місяці тому

      Thank you for sharing your insights-there’s definitely a lot to unpack when it comes to Halloween's history and its blend of cultural influences. While I agree that much of what we recognize as Halloween today is a mix of relatively recent traditions, my video aimed to highlight Samhain's role in contributing to Halloween’s creation, even if the specific practices have evolved or emerged more recently.
      The video does include a nod to the blending of ancient beliefs with later traditions, and I think we’re on the same page that Samhain wasn’t celebrated identically to Halloween. That said, Samhain’s themes-like marking seasonal change and honouring the dead-do seem to have shaped the spirit of modern celebrations in subtle ways.
      I’m always open to learning more and love when viewers like you share well-researched takes on these topics, especially when dealing with traditions that have roots in both fact and folklore. Thanks again for watching and for such a thoughtful comment!

    • @macylouwho1187
      @macylouwho1187 2 місяці тому

      Who really gives a crap what happened clear back when and no one can say with any degree of certainty what actually happened? Even you admit that. What “can” be said for sure is that Christianity has ALWAYS shoved itself down every crevice of the public by any means necessary not excluding murder to get its way and its hold over the entire world when and as it can manage it. They have cut a bloody path through history and they now pretty much write the laws for my country which was made ENTIRELY for the purpose of freedom and that included religious freedom. (Yeah right, now that is a complete joke). Christianity always has and always will run the show by any means necessary. Lie/cheat/steal/maim-whatever it takes to control everyone else. It’s literally STILL doing it to this day, and stomping out any protests in its vicious path. Most Christians that I know wouldn’t know how to act like Christ did towards people if someone slapped them upside the head with a “”How to act like Christ for Dummies!” guidebook. They sure as hell don’t follow the Bible in more cases than not-instead using it to cherry pick from any part that allows them to hate and control rather than love anyone different from themselves. They make a mockery out of a religion literally named after what sounded like a good man if he ever did actually live. It’s almost funny if it wasn’t so sad and pathetic. And the irreparable damage that it does to the world with wars and fighting over control. Some of our founding fathers were not even Christian, hence why religious freedom was so important to the foundation of religious freedom here. Everyone who originally founded my country agreed to disagree like gentleman. Now? Yeah right 😂. Stuff got cut throat real fast.

  • @Mabon-sz9nz
    @Mabon-sz9nz 2 місяці тому

    The festival is called "Samhain" not Sumhaim...... also the fairy spirits are spelled "sidhe" not si

    • @office-zombie-UK
      @office-zombie-UK 2 місяці тому +1

      Sidhe is the older form of Si both are correct. And where did he call it Sumhaim?

    • @MystOfMythology
      @MystOfMythology  2 місяці тому +1

      Ahh I’ve spotted the error, the intro screen has “S𝐮mhain”. That is a typo. But I do agree that sìdhe and sì are both consider acceptable names for these beings.

  • @nellidivina5280
    @nellidivina5280 2 місяці тому +1

    What's a she? I never heard of that mythical creature

    • @MystOfMythology
      @MystOfMythology  2 місяці тому +3

      The sí, or Aos sí, were the supernatural race that once ruled over Ireland, and were comparable to something like fairies or elves.

    • @findsharon
      @findsharon 2 місяці тому +1

      Have you heard "screaming like a banshee"? It's probably where that came from.

    • @MystOfMythology
      @MystOfMythology  2 місяці тому +2

      You are correct @findsharon, and if you stick around on this channel, you'll get ALL the details 😉

    • @TempleofBrendaSong
      @TempleofBrendaSong 2 місяці тому +1

      Blessed Samhain to my fellow pagans. Blessed be.

  • @CtGodsHo-me
    @CtGodsHo-me 2 місяці тому +2

    That’s our Witches favorite sacred day it’s the Day hell opens up for the Coven Favorite Goddess Persephone to return home to her true Love in hopes of the upcoming year of Fruition

  • @vcvcc6187
    @vcvcc6187 2 місяці тому +1

    This is all fanfiction with no real history or writings to back anything up

    • @MystOfMythology
      @MystOfMythology  2 місяці тому +6

      Thanks for your comment! While some of what we know about Samhain comes from folklore, there is historical evidence supporting the festival's significance in ancient Celtic culture. Archaeological sites like the Mound of the Hostages in Ireland show alignments with the rising sun on Samhain, suggesting it was an important time for the ancient Celts. Additionally, early Irish texts, such as the 'Dindshenchas,' refer to Samhain as a key time for gatherings and rituals.

    • @vcvcc6187
      @vcvcc6187 2 місяці тому +1

      @@MystOfMythology Rather, **MOST** of what you said (not know) comes from folklore: meaning it isn't knowledge but pure speculation. AKA fanfiction.... LOL
      Yeah it was a special time of rest because it was after a harvest... That doesn't mean it was a religious festival day.... It's not some "original Halloween". Christians were the first in reality and this myth of Samhain was made up AFTER. It's used to this day to say Halloween has "pagan origins" where there is no evidence for this

    • @crypturilia4568
      @crypturilia4568 2 місяці тому

      @@vcvcc6187What part did you Not understand it’s a historical festival in ancient Celtic tradition . It is Not pure speculation as you like to say it! It is a connection between Samhain and Halloween, there is a clear historical link between the two. Please look it up .

    • @johnmesser3278
      @johnmesser3278 2 місяці тому

      Witch!😂

    • @vcvcc6187
      @vcvcc6187 2 місяці тому

      @@johnmesser3278 STOP THE LARP