Re: USAGE: "I want crazy two years ago"

Keith already addressed the spelling...

--- Michael Adams <abrigon@...> wrote:

> Well yes and no. October 31 is just a codification
> of the older
> Samhein (Savin) festival, which was Lunar, and did
> not always
> fit well the Solar calender of the Christians..
<snip out of place>

> Savin was I remember the new moon closest to ... not
> sure .. But
> it was close to what we now called Holloween. All
> Saints Day (1
> Nov)  or All Hallows Eve (31 Oct)..
That oversimplifies the matter more than a bit. The
Gaulish Coligney calendar was lunisolar, and so there
could be a lot variation from year to year on where a
date fell, from as early as September to as late as
December (and possible more - I don't remember how
wide the variation is off the top of my head).

Samhain, which was probably derived from an originally
panCeltic observation, was a particularly Irish
version, and as best as we can tell, the one adopted
by the Catholic church in creating All Hallow's Eve /
Halloween. Since it was an Irish thing, and not a
Gaulish one, saying it was lunar is mixing a bunch of
history in a blender.

Some folklore I've heard places Samhain at the first
frost - which I doubt is truly the case. Most likely,
it was simply halfway between the solstice and equinox
(hence the name cross-quarter).

Sounds like you got some bad neopagan scholarship...


> When missionaries came to Ireland and Britain they
> was often
> told to convert older festivals into a Christian
> one.. Or a
> pagan place a Christian one. Such as I believe
> Canterbury or
> Winchester became Christian sites.. or Brigit an
> Irish (British
> as well?) became a Saint vs a Goddess/power.
My favorite example of this is August 1, in Peru,
which bears astonishing similarities to Lunasa /
Lughnasadh, which could easily be considered the
Celtic Mother's Day (or foster - or step-mother).
Lughnasadh, "Lugh's Commemoration" was help in honor
of his fostermother Tailltiu, and celebrated with
sports events.

In Peru, it's in honor of mothers as well, and various
sports events are held... Amazing! :)

Aidan

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