Alright, so Samhain is not October 31st. It’s not Halloween. It’s not All Hallow’s Eve. It’s not the day before November starts. It IS a cross-quarter day meaning it is the day exactly between the Fall Equinox (September 22nd in 2012) and the Winter Solstice (December 21st in 2012). That means that Samhain in 2012 will be on the night of November 5th, 2012 by my back of the envelope calculations.
Now, why is this important? Well, why do you celebrate Samhain? I don’t think it’s because it’s someone’s birthday (e.g. the fake reason for Christmas), it’s not remembering an event (e.g. fake Easter), and it’s definitely not in memory of a person (e.g. MLK day). It’s because it’s supposed to be the day of the year that the veil is thinnest. Why in the world would you celebrate that on the wrong day? It’s not going to be the same date every year for the same reason the solstices aren’t the same date every year. Sigh.
Now, the only other day that I could consider being a good day to celebrate it is on the dark moon nearest the cross-quarter date because the dark moon helps to get through the veil to the other side, so it’s probably a pretty thin line as well.
So true! I’m wondering if the Celts originally “celebrated” Samhain as a crossquarter day as well. I guess that would be a no brainer though. Any details?
Actually, it’s also not just a single day and was traditionally celebrated for up to a couple weeks (it is after all the Irish name for the month of November). There is also no evidence that it was thought of as a “cross-quarter” day, as the Celts did not find the equinoxes and solstices to be all that significant. The cross-quarter thing is likely modern invention so the specific night that it falls on is of no particular significance. In other words November 1st is just as valid as the 5th or any other day. If you really wanted to be picky about it you would time it to the actual harvests in your locality. Off we go to the farmers market!
oh yeah – this year I learned that about Imbolc &… guess forgot til now ^^; thank you for letting us know~!
This is very interesting. I’m not sure what date I’ll be celebrating on this year, or what in fact my celebrations will consist of, but you’ve definitely given me something to think about. My thanks.
Samhain is when the Sun is in 15 degrees Scorpio!
so Samhain is really nov 7th http://www.starcenter.com/calendar.htm