EUROPE
BY AMY HACKNEY BLACKWELL
Th e people of Europe celebrated festivals that marked the
seasons dividing the year. Th ere were eight main points of
celebration. Th e summer and winter solstices (the longest and
shortest days of the year, respectively) and the spring and au-
tumn equinoxes (the days in the spring and fall when night
and day are the same length) marked the year’s turning points
and were occasions for feasts and parties. Th e other four
were festivals that did not fall on solstices or equinoxes and
thus were usually scheduled for the full moon between these
events. Th e Celtic calendar used both solar and lunar cycles,
so dates for such festivals varied from year to year. Ancient
Europeans divided the year into two halves, the dark win-
ter half and the bright summer half. Th e festivals known as
Samhain and Beltane in Ireland (but celebrated under other
names throughout ancient Europe) marked the dividing lines
between these two halves of the year.
Th e Celtic year began at the end of autumn and the be-
ginning of winter, around October 31, when Celts celebrated
the fi nal harvest. Th is festival was known as Samhain in Ire-
land. On this date the spirits of the dead were said to walk
the earth to visit their old homes. Gods were also believed
to roam about the dwellings of the living, intent on doing
harm. People lit large bonfi res to honor the dead and protect
themselves from evil spirits wandering the land. Young men
lit torches and ran around the boundaries of their farms to
protect their families and property from evil spirits. Fami-
lies put out the fi res in their homes and used fl ames from
the communal bonfi res to rekindle their hearths; they tried
to keep these same fi res lit for the entire year. Because the
line between the living and the dead was blurred at this time,
Druids believed that Samhain was the best possible time to
predict the future.
Tribes gathered at this festival to hold political discus-
sions, horse races, and markets, and to exchange spouses.
Animal sacrifi ces were common, as people killed and ate
animals fattened during the summer. In some areas of Gaul
(modern-day France) and Germany people dressed in animal
costumes and paraded about. In Roman Gaul this harvest
festival blended with the Roman festival Feralia. People cele-
brated Feralia by leaving food on the graves of their ancestors
and decorating their homes with apples. Th is autumn festival
gradually transformed into the modern festival Halloween.
Ancient Germanic and Norse peoples celebrated a win-
ter solstice festival called Jól, or Yule. Historians believe
this name may have come from the Anglo-Saxon word for
“yellow,” possibly derived from sun shining off the snow or
perhaps from the festival’s purpose of bringing back the sun
from the depths of the cold, dark northern winter. Th e festi-
val occurred on or around December 21, the shortest day of
the year. Th e signifi cance of the winter solstice has consider-
able antiquity, as seen in the construction of the megalithic
tomb at Newgrange around 3000 b.c.e., where the sunrise
on December 21 shines directly down the entrance passage
into the burial chamber. People celebrated with feasts, espe-
cially with roast pig, which may have been a sacrifi ce to the
god Freyr. Th ey decorated their homes with branches of holly
and mistletoe and burned special oak logs in the fi res; they
kept these traditions aft er converting to Christianity in the
medieval period. Th e ancient Germans also honored sacred
trees at this time by sacrifi cing and killing male animals and
slaves and hanging them from the tree branches. Th is prac-
tice may have infl uenced the custom of decorating trees for
Christmas.
Imbolc was the ancient festival marking the end of win-
ter. It was traditionally celebrated on the full moon halfway
between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, which fell
around February 1. Th is was the date on which people began
to milk their ewes (female sheep), which gave birth around
this time. Days began to grow visibly longer at this time, and
people marked the coming of spring by lighting large num-
bers of candles and lamps. Th e Mound of the Hostages in
Tara, Ireland, appears to have been constructed to identify
the date of Imbolc; it is aligned to catch the rising sun that
morning. Irish people continued to observe Imbolc aft er con-
verting to Christianity, transforming the festival into Saint
Bridget’s Day.
Th e fi rst day of spring fell on the spring equinox, around
March 21. Celtic people traditionally sowed their crops on
this date. Ancient Germans believed that their fertility god-
dess Ostara mated with the sun god on the spring equinox;
her son Jól, or Yule, was born on the winter solstice. Ancient
Europeans celebrated the return of spring around May 1, on
the full moon between the spring equinox and the summer
solstice. In Ireland this festival was called Beltane. At this
point people celebrated the return of life to the soil and the
beginning of the planting season. People lit enormous bon-
fi res out of sacred wood and drove their animals past them
to protect them through the summer. Th ey decorated their
houses with branches of hawthorn, the tree of hope and pro-
tection. Th is festival was particularly popular with young
lovers, who gathered fl owers, danced around maypoles, and
spent the night in the forest cavorting with one another.
Leaping over fi res was believed to bring luck to all who did it,
from pregnant women hoping for smooth deliveries to travel-
ers embarking on journeys. Th is tradition was preserved in
Germany as the May Day festival.
Th e summer solstice, or midsummer, fel l around June 21.
Th is was the longest day of the year, with a very short night;
in the far north the sky hardly darkened at all on midsum-
mer. Stonehenge in England is aligned precisely to catch the
light of the rising sun on Midsummer’s Day. Th is was an oc-
casion for giant bonfi res, dancing, games, and outdoor feasts.
In some areas people walked their domestic animals around
the bonfi res to bless them.
Th e harvest festival, called Lughnasa in Ireland, fell on
the full moon between the summer solstice and autumn
equinox, usually around August 1. It was named aft er thefestivals: Europe 467