Samhain - the Feast of Life?

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles today,
Tomorrow will be dying
-- 'To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time' Robert Herrick (1648)

Samhain is often associated with the dead, and particularly with our ancestors whom we remember on this day. It is sometimes referred to as the Witches Sabbat, and is considered to be a time of spirit magic, when the 'veil between the worlds' is at its thinnest. In Irish Gaelic, the day is referred to as File na Marbh - the Feast of the Dead. Feasting has become one of the traditions of Samhain, yet feasting is symbolic of life, of the sustenance which is necessary for the continuation of the living.

The cycle of death and rebirth is equally important on Samhain as it is in the fertility associations with Beltane. Fascination and fear of death is overshadowed in most forms of Paganism with the movement of the soul through death and rebirth, as well as the celebration of life, lived to its fullest. We play games involving food at Samhain. We also feed the dead.

Traditionally, 'soul cakes' are left in graveyards as food for the dead. These are a form of honey cake, for which there are various family recipes, which are intended to sustain our loved ones in the afterlife. The old traditions for including the dead in our feasting require that an empty place is set at the head of the table for those spirits which may wish to attend our feast.

The feast itself has its origins in practicality. Samhain comes at the time of harvest, when stores of food are preserved in whatever ways are possible and the abundance of fresh foods are celebrated for their life preserving necessity. In times not so long ago, livestock could be difficult to be kept fed over the Winter, so much of the herds would be killed in agricultural societies and the meat added to the feast, some of it preserved for leaner times. The act of making sacrifice to the ancestors plays an important role in the traditional harvest slaughter, yet the practical nature of the act is at the heart of the formation of this tradition at this time of the year.

The specific foods associated with the feast at Samhain have always varied regionally according to what was grown, and in modern times this variety has extended to vegetarianism and personal preferences so that the feast, while still a tradition, has become individualised. One family I know is vegetarian throughout the rest of the year, yet eats meat as part of their Samhain feast. While most of our ancestors would have been eating roasted meat and boiled vegetables, the only traditional foods which are entirely common to past traditions as well as present are apples and hazel nuts.

Apples are the most universally accepted food which is associated with Samhain. They are believed to sustain the soul in the journey to the otherworld, sometimes called the Summerland. The tradition of apple bobbing survives in many Samhain celebrations today and can be great fun. Anyone who has had much experience of the game will know that the most effective way to 'catch' the elusive apple is to plunge one's face right into the water and pin the apple to the bottom of the bowl while getting a good bite into it, which one might look at symbolically as a courageous plunge into the abyss of a potential drowning death in order to consume one's goal.

Children once went from door to door singing the 'souling song' and asking for handouts of money, a tradition which eventually led to the modern American version of 'trick or treating.' The words of the song have some Christian connotations;


Souling Song

A soul, a soul, a soul cake
Please, good missus, a soul cake
An apple, a pear, a plum or a cherry
Any good thing to make us all merry
One for Peter, two for Paul
Three for Him who made us all

God Bless the master of this house, the missus also
And all the little children who around your table grow
Likewise your men and maidens, your cattle and your store
And all that dwells within your gates
We wish you ten times more

The lanes are very dirty and my shoes are very thin
I've got a little pocket I can put a penny in
If you haven't got a penny, a ha' penny will do
If you haven't got a ha' penny, then God bless you

(Quoted from Witcha, by Nathaniel J. Harris)

This mixture of Pagan and Christian words and symbols is fairly common among many of the festival traditions in England, which is the result of the older traditions being absorbed into modern Christianity. The traditions themselves, and especially that of feasting in honour of the dead, is decidedly Pagan.

Other traditions associated with Samhain such as costuming, which is effectively a form of shapeshifting magic, also reflect the Pagan origins of this festival. Some variations of food games survive today, such as the Scottish tradition of hiding money (once sixpences) in mashed potato or games which involve tying the hands back and trying to catch treacle scones, tied to a string, with one's mouth much like the apple bobbing game.

Dancing and revelry around a bonfire at this time of year illustrates the love of life that is behind this festival. We balance the recognition of our dead ancestors with a genuine celebration of our own ability to live in this moment of time, free to enjoy the pleasures that life can bring. Anton Channing points out in The Kaos Hieroglyphica (When Illuminated press, 2002) that time is a resource and that this is sometimes forgotten in the modern rush to accumulate more material resources. The time that we have to enjoy life is precious. It is in confronting death that we can appreciate this, and to 'eat ,drink and be merry' in a spirit of festivity which transcends fear and revulsion.

The feast is at the heart of this celebration. We eat to feed our life force and to confirm our enjoyment of all that life can bring while we are here to enjoy it. We look mortality in the face and defy its limitations, even as we offer our respects to our dead loved ones and the ancestors who once feasted as we do, in the bounty of the harvest at Samhain.