September 29
Pagan basis for Michaelmas: The Christian festival of Michaelmas was plagiarized, as are all major Christian fetes. This holiday was originally observed in December, but when Christmas was placed on the twenty-fifth of the month, Michaelmas was moved to coincide closely with the Pagan Fall Equinox celebration- or to replace it as time would have it.
Winternights, ,Samhain.
The beginning of the winter season for the Northern folk. Remembrances of the dead and the one's ancestors were made during this feast. Winternights was a ceremony of wild abandon; much like the Carnival season in the Mediterranean countries, and it marked the end of the summer season of commerce and travel and the beginning of the winter season of hunting. Much divination was done during Winternights to foretell the fates of those entering the coming year. It was said that if one sat on a barrow- mound (grave) all night long on Winternights, one would have full divinatory, shamanic (galdr and seith), and bardic (skaldr) powers...that is.. if one retained one's sanity!
Winternights marked the beginning of the Wild Hunt, which would continue until Walpurgisnacht. This festival corresponds to the Celtic Samhain, although the darker aspect of the festival are not as pronounced among the Norse people .(The Norse festival of darkness was Walpurgis, a full 6 months away).
Samhain means "End of summer", and it is the third and final Harvest. The dark winter half of the years commences on this Sabbat.
It is generally celebrated on October 31 st, but some traditions prefer November 1 st.
It is one of the two "spirit nights" each year, the other being Beltane.
It is a magical interval when the mundane laws of time and space temporarily suspend, and the Thin Veil between the worlds is lifted.
Communicating with ancestors and departed loved ones is easy at this time.
Originally the "Feast of the dead" was celebrated in Celtic countries (called by Scots and Celts Old Hallowmas) by leaving food offerings on altars and doorsteps for the "wandering dead".
Single candles are lit and left in windows to help guide the spirits of ancestors and loved ones home.
Extra chairs were set to the table and around the heart of it, for the unseen guest. Apples were buried along roadside and paths for spirits who were lost or had no descendants to provide for them. Turnips were hallowed out and carved to look like protective spirits, for this was a night of magic and chaos. Traveling after dark was not advise.
People dressed in white (like ghosts), wore disguises made of straw, or dressed as the opposite gender in order to fool the Nature spirits.
Bonfires were built (originally called bone-fires, for after feasting, the bones were thrown in the fire as offerings for healthy and plentiful livestock in the New Year) and stones were marked with peoples names.
Then they were thrown into the fire, to be retrieved in the morning.
The condition of the retrieved stone foretold of that person's fortune in the coming year. Heart fires were also lit from the village bonfire to ensure unity, and the ashes were spread over the harvested fields to protect and bless the land.