The Samhain Festival 2003 - Féile na Samhna 2003

When I was asked to write an article about the Samhain Festival, which I am organising here in Dingle, Ireland, I wondered what angle I would use to ensure that I would connect with the readers of writersonline. It suddenly dawned on me that I could give a voice to the ghosts of the past by describing the festival events themselves. Because the Irish peasants were illiterate, the spirits could use my writing to describe past events through me…and especially at Halloween. After all, even though my ancestors couldn't write themselves, they left me with a rich narrative culture, through storytelling, music, poetry and song.

The Samhain festival runs from the 30th October to the 2nd November. It brings together an eclectic mix of arts, culture and traditions from home and from around the world. One can experience and enjoy liturgies, workshops, walks, lectures, music.

The theme of Samhain this year is the celebration of death and rebirth. Samhain is also called púca night and oíche na sprideanna [spirit night] because of the belief that both the fairies and the ghosts of the dead are active at this time of year and especially on the Eve of All Souls Day.

Pádraig Ó Héalaí, senior lecturer of Celtic Studies, at University College Galway will give a talk on The Meaning of Death in Irish Folklore. He will speak about the old traditions and superstitions or piséogs, which are rooted in our culture. This example is an extract from Carleton's Country, 21:

"All Soul's Eve is sacred to the memory of the departed. After the floor has been swept and a good fire put down on the hearth, the family retires early, leaving the door unlatched and a bowl of spring water on the table, so that any relative who had died may find a place prepared for him at his own fireside. On that one night in the year the souls of the dead are loosed and have liberty to visit their former homes. A table is laid with a place for each of the dead, and a poker and tongs placed in the shape of a cross on the hearthstone."

There were many tricks carried out by young men and women to divine marriage prospects at Samhain. A young girl would fast which was intended to induce thirst, so that she might dream of her future husband offering her a drink of water.

If an apple was peeled in one long strip and the peel allowed to fall on the ground, it would form the initials of the future husband and if the apple was eaten before a mirror, his face was seen looking over the young woman's shoulder.

Lady Wilde tells of a tragic sequel to this, in Ancient Legends of Ireland, 110:

"And a lady narrates that on the 1st of November her servant rushed into the room and fainted on the floor. On recovering, she said that she had played a trick that same night in the name of the devil before the looking-glass; but what she had seen she dared not speak of, though the remembrance of it would never leave her brain, and she knew the shock would kill her. They tried to laugh her out of her fears, but the next night she was found quite dead, with her features horribly contorted, lying on the floor before the looking-glass, which was shivered in pieces.

Dia de los Muertos, one of Mexico's most traditional events takes place every year at the same time as the Samhain festival. Honouring the dead, it is not a sad festival. It is used by the natives as a time to remember and rejoice and dates back to the days of the Aztecs.

A lecturer in art/art history in Mexico [1969-1977], Paul O'Reilly was also the Director of the Institute In Mexican Culture at the University of The Americas, Puebla, Mexico [1971-1976]. Paul is going to build a Mexican altar in Díseart chapel here in Dingle, and it will be on display throughout the Halloween weekend.

The Day of the Dead altar consists of numerous examples of Mexican folk and popular art; all represent in one way or another the theme of death as that is understood in Mexican culture. Their arrangement can vary as long as it basically resembles an altar of the kind that is set against a wall, facing outwards with surfaces raised at the back at different heights; that is, a table surface with raised areas, the highest like a tabernacle set in the centre. This set-up is covered with black cloth that falls from the top down to the floor; the space is best kept in a somewhat darkened state.

On these various levels the artworks are placed in an arrangement that includes candleholders, incense burners, small votive candles, and a wide variety of fruits and breads. The candles and incense burn continuously, so the space takes on a Mexican church-like character. A real family altar would also display photographs of the departed family members. Paul will be available to answer questions and chat about his work throughout the festival.

Mons. Pádraig Ó Fiannachta will lead a pilgrimage to Cill Mháiréad, the Famine Graveyard, which is situated behind Dingle hospital. The hospital was known as the soup-kitchen in the 1840's, as soup was the only sustenance for Irish peasants at that time, when the potato crop failed. People died in droves and were buried at that site, mostly in mass graves, with no indication as to who they were. Many of their off-spring emigrated and if they ever did come back to find their roots, would find if impossible to allocate any of their kin.

Other events of the festival include a liturgical vocal ensemble singing chant, lectures including the Buddhist approach to Death and Dying, a walk to Cill Maolcéadair, which is a complex site and a very interesting one, with the whole development of Early Christianity before and after the Normans. There is also a concert with Joe Burke, whose sheer musical brilliance has earned him an immortal place in the history of Irish music and folklore.

Information can be had about Samhain Festival - Féile na Samhna 2003 by emailing me, Maria, at info@diseart.ie. You can also check out Díseart website at www.diseart.ie [Celtic Festivals Section] or contact me by phone on +353[0]66 9152476.