Starting Off the New Year Right!
Many people choose to present Celtic engagement rings at a time that has traditional meaning for the Celts. Samhain, which essentially means “summer’s end” and marks the beginning of the new year for the Celts, is a great time to get engaged with Celtic jewelry.
Samhain is tied up in the modern holiday Halloween, but it is really so much more than that. Celtic tradition says that during Samhain (which actually was celebrated over a period of several days), the barrier between our world and the spirit world became thin, and as a result the dead could cross back over for a short time as spirits or ghosts. Dressing up in costumes was a way of impersonating the dead, and was supposed to help keep the spirits happy.
Samhain was also a practical tradition. Since the holiday marked the division between fall and winter, it was also when the people started getting ready for the hard winter ahead of them. This was the final harvest, when the last of the food was brought in and the people were able to take stock of what they had to get them through the winter. This was also when they slaughtered livestock for the winter, since feeding the animals would be more difficult from here on out, and the cold weather meant that the meat would keep.
The more romantic traditions surrounding Samhain include divination. Apples and nuts, both of which were harvested during this time, were used to tell the future. Examples of things the people might want to know included what would happen in the coming year, who they might marry, and how many kids they would have. Bobbing for apples, which is now a common Halloween party game, referred to myths explaining how the dead became immortal.
Despite the similarities to modern-day Halloween celebrations, Samhain was much more than just an old-fashioned Halloween. This tradition marked the division between the dark half of the year (winter and early spring), and the light half of the year (summer and fall). It also celebrated the end of an old year, and the beginning of a new one.
If you have been shopping for Celtic engagement rings and plan to use Celtic jewelry to celebrate your union with your loved one, what better time to do so than with the start of the new year? In a way, this symbolizes a new life for the both of you. Or you could work it into a mock-divination ritual where you determine that your name is the name of your significant other’s future spouse — and produce the ring as proof.
However you celebrate Samhain, we hope you have a blessed start to the new year!
