Do people still really believe in "Samhain, Lord of the Dead"?

Question

Hello, all:

In several answers to different questions about Halloween, I've seen references to how the Celts worshipped "Samhain, Lord of the Dead."

I'm amazed that lie is still being spread. THERE WAS NO GOD CALLED SAMHAIN, LORD OF THE DEAD. The autumn festival is called Samhain (pronounced SOW-in), and the name means "summer's end".

Here's a link with genuine historical information:

http://www.religioustolerance.org/hallo_sa.htm

Why do people persist in clinging to information that is just plain wrong? And fellow Wiccans and Pagans, does it annoy you too when you see the same old tired misinformation being trotted out year after year? Do you try to educate people? Or do you simply not bother?

Answer 1

Samhain, Lord of the Dead is a fundamentalist Christian falsehood about Paganism; an attempt to make it look evil. It's another lie in the name of Christ; nothing more. Just goes to show that lies are OK for some as long as it's in the name of Christ.

Chick Tracts is especially good at this sort of thing. Then there is David Meyer, who tells us that when Witches part, they say "May the Force Be With You". That's quite a shock to me as the only time I ever heard it was in Star Wars. He says that we greet each other with "Blessed Be". We say that, or write it, but it's certainly not our usual greeting.

It seems to be popular in Christianity to have been a former High Priest / Priestess and such. Christians take it on faith that these people tell the truth. Some actually build "ministries" and make a great deal of money speaking at churches and revivals and such. Being a good speaker and having a good story is all it really takes.

Lies beget lies. Liars beget liars.

If we are to take Christians seriously, they need to "test all things". Don't take people at their word. Call BS when necessary. Value the truth.

Answer 2

The reason why it still pops up from time to time is that it has been published, so people keep refering to books which cite it as evidence. As one of the earliest texts to specifically describe the orgins of the word Samhain was horribly flawed, but many choose to believe that the earlier the source the better, there are people who still believe that it is from the Sanskrit terms for god and death. Higgins, the author argued that the Celts were recent immigrants from India (which we know from genetics and archeology to not be true) and tried to draw connections betweens words in Hindi and Gaelic, claiming a common Sanskrit origin.

The difficulties in comprehending the mh letter combination as a single consonant by many english speakers adds to this, as English speakers naturally try to differentiate the first 3 and last four letters of the word and then, as Sam is a recognizabel name, tend to attribute it to a person.

I do have a fairly decent explanation of the 'mh' at http://samhain.crpagans.org/about.html

Also, while the ties to the ancient Celts via the Coligny calendar can be argued, Halloween most definitely has its roots in Irish tradition. The commercialization is recent, but Jack-o-lanterns and leaving offerings of food outside (which would often be stolen by animals or the hungry), are from Samhain tradition. Samhain was originally a shorter period than the month of November (3 days if you agree with the Coligny origin theory), a reference specifically to the ending of one season and beginning of another. However, it was adapted to be used to describe the month of November, just as Lughnasadh/Lunasa (sorry, it's not letting me put the accent mark on the latter) used to be a 2-3 week harvest period, but is now a calendar month.

Answer 3

I usually try to educate people. I have to admit R&S had kind of jaded me on that goal. For example, there's only so many times _in a week_ I can tell people that Constantine didn't write the Bible and that Samhain and Halloween have very little to do with each other historically. People here clearly aren't looking for answers before they ask their questions, and it gets very, very frustrating.

Wiccans and Pagans complain often enough that we aren't taken seriously and don't seem to understand how bad we look as a whole when we make such ignorant comments as "Samhain Lord of the Dead." And then I get snide remarks like "well, we're not all history experts like you." This ISN'T expert knowledge! There is exactly as much evidence supporting Samhain Lord of the Dead as there is supporting the idea that Dumbledore is a real person. This isn't about being a genius. It's about taking responsibility for what comes out of our mouths (or out of our computers).

Answer 4

To be honest? Of course, it annoys me! The blatant ignorance of some people is exhausting, really. Humans are such DUMB animals, anyway. *sigh*

On a serious note, Yes, I educate on a daily basis. You'd think Seattle would have a few more Pagans and Wiccans, but I get asked about my penticle daily. Being pretty much homeless, I should expect that. 90% of all homeless people are Christian and don't really know what Paganism or Wicca really is. Therefore, they're shocked when I tell them about the Yule tree or Oester and her bunny friend.

I've never really heard of "Samhain, Lord of the Dead", though. That's a new one in my experience. It doesn't really suprise me, however. Ever since the time of the Catholic Church's rise to power and take-over of Europe, "Christians" have been trying to find the evil that simply doesn't exist in "Pagan" tradition and is completely fabricated.

Answer 5

I have heard of this, but not for a long time. It doesn't really annoy me, just amuses me a bit, and I generally respond gently and politely with accurate information. Actually, the first place I remember seeing reference to Samhain as the "Celtic Lord of the Dead," was in the Ghost Buster's cartoon in the '80's. So it was a common misconception back then. I don't know that it's malicious necessarily, probably just bad information getting repeated over and over.

Recently, it seems that Fundamentalist Christians are trying best they can to get their facts straight about us. I hear this especially on the Bible Answer Man radio show -- Hank's attitude was something along the lines of, "if we're going to witness to them, we'd be better off if we understood what they believe and why they believe it." So there's been more of an attempt at dialog, rather than just flatly accusing us of worshiping Satan and sacrificing bunnies. While trying to convert a Pagan to Christianity is pretty much a lost cause, I still see this shift in their attitude and approach a welcome improvement.

Answer 6

I've recently stopped calling myself a pagan and now acknowledge I am an atheist, and this sort of thing is much of the reason. I think a good many pagans of various stripes use myth and metaphor creatively, and don't really concern themselves all that much with the history of the names they use. So when someone refers to Samhain, Lord of the Dead, I doubt they are talking about an entity they believe literally exists, but have done some creative work with their Samhain ritual. No reason that should offend you.

But when I realized that calling myself a pagan or a witch was creating an inaccurate image of what I believe in people's minds, including especially people who refer to themselves as Wiccan (which apparently are what I used to call Gardnarian witches), I started referring to myself as atheist. That's mainly because I have not done a ritual since my high priest committed suicide. I use gods and goddesses as myth and metaphor, rather than taking them more seriously. I haven't done a spell or a charm since Steve died, either, although I kept a candle burning in front of the box containing his ashes for a year after his death.

Answer 7

You are, of course, absolutely right. Yes, I explain to my friends, and anybody who asks, what the festival is really about and what it means to me.
Samhain is just the name that's been hijacked from the Irish. It does mean summers end, it is also the name some give to November.

I guess my attitude is like that of a lot of the Jewish people that I was brought up with.
If people show a genuine interest and respect, I am only to happy to answer their queries.

I don't feel it is for me to preach to people about what I believe. Though that doesn't stop me getting annoyed at all the trick or treating and fancy dress parties that have suddenly erupted.

Still, there are many who "celebrate" Christmas without a thought to what it means to a Christian.
There will always be those to lazy or disrepectful to understand others beliefs or feelings.

The internet provides a lot of freedom to give information, unfortunately a lot of it is not well researched or coloured by personal bias.

May the end of the year bring good closure and open the way to a fruitful new year for you.

Answer 8

I've never heard that before.

I've always known Samhain as being the Celtic name for All Hallows, and the Gaelic word for 'November'.

I hate the way people believe Pagans and Wiccans demonised Halloween. It wasn't Halloween {as we know it these days}, until the last hundred or so years, when the Americans started trick-or-treating, and exported it back to the UK.

When I see mis-information, I do try to educate people as best I can, but even so, some people just don't want to listen.

Answer 9

People persist in clinging to false information because they are ignorant, lazy or just don't know any better. Yes, it not only annoys me--it infuriates me--to see the same misinformation and stereotypes year after year.

I try to educate as many people as possible. As a teacher for the past 20 years (who happens to be both Native American and Wiccan), between Columbus Day, Halloween and Thanksgiving, I keep busy educating the educators. . . I have done everything from removing offensive decorations from classroom doors to writing and distributing alternative lesson plan ideas.

(I know you are talking about Halloween, but I get just as worked up over the misinformation about Columbus and Thanksgiving as I do over the misinformation about witches/Halloween.)

Answer 10

I've read this before and i was very shocked to find this out too. As for your question I couldn't say. I celebrate Samhain because I honor my ansestors that night and I'm Egyptian Wiccan and in my tradition Asar (Osiris) is Lord of the Dead.