Samhain :D

I had no idea that astrologically it falls on the 7th now! How do you calculate such a thing? What exactly occurs astrologically that caused the Celts to name October 31st Samhain (therefore a thin veil)? Now you have my curiousity peaked.

I understand what you said about Scorpio but I hope you understand my question is a little different than what you already explained. Samhain/Halloween has always been my favorite time of year, and I've read quite a lot about it, but never read the Nov 7th thing.

Hi,

Here is a link to a good historical explanation of Samhain: http://www.chalicecentre.net/samhain.htm

Although the site talks about the November 1st through November 5th date for Samhain it is a little more complicated than that. The dates are determined on the observation of the planetary movements of heavenly bodies which is how the ancient peoples knew when to harvest their crops, plant and prepare for seasonal changes. In accordance with the season changes people gave thanks to the gods for all that they had which is seen in the celebration of the Sabats. Here are two sites that show the astrological dates speaking:

http://www.spicawayoflight.com/amor-e-luz

http://spheresoflight.com.au/index.php?page=sabbat (Northern Hemisphere dates)

The confusion about the date changing comes with the calendar changes that occurred with the Roman Empire entering into the Celtic world. Originally the calendar was lunar and the dates stayed more stationary. In other words there were 13 months that followed the moon cycles and each month had the same number of days. When the Romans invaded they brought with them the Gregorian calendar which was a solar calendar. The Gregorian calendar had unequal days in the months and a month that added one day every 4th year (February 29th). In other words if we still followed a lunar calendar the date for Samhain would most likely stay constant maybe for thousands of years. But because we follow a Gregorian calendar the dates will change over time.

To add a bit more confusion the celebration of these Sabats is different depending on if you are in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere. So to explain in the US (Southern Hemisphere) our Sabats calendar is pushed 6 months ahead of the British celebration of the Sabats, which means that when the US is celebrating Samhain on November 7-8th the Brittons are celebrating Beltane.

I hope I did not confuse the subject further.
Blessings