SAMHAIN
“Summer’s end” tis called by the Celts and rightly so,
   For the days shorten and the nights lengthen,
 A harbinger for the coming Winter’s cold. It is a
   Celebration for their New Year, which begins the next
   Day… We know its descendant today as O’Hallow’s Eve.
 Masks and costumes made from animal heads and skins
   Were donned by the Ancients on this holy night
   As they danced around
 Huge sacred bonfires, told each others’ fortunes and
   Sacrificed the best of their herds and crops to their deities.
   Samhain, they believed, is also the one night of the year
   When the Lord of the Dead released the souls who’d died
   The year past to walk
 Amongst the living. The Ancient Celts believed the
   Boundaries between the living and the dead were
   The most tenuous on this night. Their costumes were
   Meant to fool the spirits bent on harmful mischief. After
 It was over, the people went home to light their own
   Hearth fires with torches lit by the bonfire they attended.
   Their home fires were lit in the hopes of
   Protection throughout the
 New year. From this ancient pagan tradition come
   The colors for our own modern holiday as well:
   Orange and black. Orange to symbolize the coming
   Advent of Yule, when the Sun god is reborn. Black to
   Represent the time of darkness after his death.
               O! the lure of Samhain!
               O! to celebrate it in place
               Of our modern Halloween!

October 16, 2007
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This poem has been a year in coming. I’m glad tonight I found the inspiration.