With Samhain approaching in just about a week (wow, already?), many pagans and witches are already well into their preparations for the holiday. I always find that I am scrambling rather last-minute to get my preparations in order, as I get wrapped up in so many other things going on in the fall season. This year, however, I got an early start by getting my ancestor altar set up.
Even though the name ‘Samhain’ is of Celtic origin, thought to mean “summer’s end”, the theme of death, dying, the dead, etc has similar ties with ancient Egypt. The Calendar of Philocalus, also known as Chronography of 354, was published in 354 A.D., and was written by a wealthy Roman man by the name of Valentinus. To make a long story short, it’s basically one of the earliest references to some of the older celebrated holidays in the greater Mediterranean world at that time (Greece, Rome, Egypt, etc), including one of the earliest references to the celebration of Christmas.
Anyway, one of the listed holidays is called Isia, a reference to Isis (or Aset, as she’s thought to be known in Ancient Egyptian). One of the biggest and most famous stories in Ancient Egypt is the story of Osiris’ death and rebirth, and the role that Anubis, Isis, Seth, Thoth, and Nephthys played in that.
To make yet another long story short (keep in mind, this is the VERY short version without all of the details leading up to this), Seth, known for being an angry and vengeful god, killed his brother Osiris, cut up his body into several pieces, and scattered them across the lands of Egypt. Eventually, Isis would seek the help of her sister, Nephthys, to find the pieces, then Anubis, who would invent the process of embalming to preserve Osiris’ body, and then Thoth to teach her the magic needed to resurrect her husband. However, before this process, it was around this time of the year, referenced being October 28th to November 2nd, that she would seek him out (along with the aid of the other deities), with his resurrection thought to be celebrated on November 3rd, a date which Valentinus would name ‘Hilaria’ in his Chronography. This reminds me of Samhain being known as the ‘pagan new year’ (a sort of resurrection/rebirth).
So what does this all mean? It means that there is a strong connection in Ancient Egypt to the them of death and rebirth around the same time as Samhain. Most of the deities I’ve mentioned are associated with the dying, death, and rebirth process in some way. Isis seeks to reunite the spirit of her husband, Osiris, with his body. Thoth teaches Isis the magic needed for resurrection. Nephthys assists her during her grieving process.
Anubis, being the Master Embalmer, aids in the process. He is also the deity that presides over the weighing of the heart ceremony, which I briefly mentioned in my Finding Anubis post. Other associations link him with being the guardian of the dead, guide of souls, and chieftain of mediums.
Unfortunately, there is little surviving evidence of how ancient Egyptians celebrated their holidays, but we can make little connections here and there that show us that this time of year, close to the end of October and early November, is strongly associated with the spirits of the dead and the theme of death.
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References:
“Chronography of 354.” Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronography_of_354. 12 Dec 2017.
Hill, J. “Isis.” Ancient Egypt Online. https://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/isis.html. 2008.
“Hilaria | Greco-Roman Festival.” Encyclopedia Britannica. 2018.
Illes, Judika. “Anubis.” Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods, & Goddesses. 2010.
Pearse, Roger, & Mommsen, Theodore. “The Chronography of 354.” Tertullian. http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/chronography_of_354_06_calendar.htm.
“Samhain.” Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/samhain. 18 Oct 2018.
Charlie Larson, M.A. 
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