Samhain Stars

By Bridget Lester

The Celts and their shamanistic priests, the Druids, were awed by the spectacle of the changing seasons. Their religious practices were built upon harnessing the energy bound up in the duality of light and dark, the ceaseless battle between birth and death. They saw this struggle repeated in every aspect of creation. They were fascinated, intrigued, inspired, and humbled by it. They venerated this manifestation of life-in-death and death-in-life as the Great Mystery. When we gather at Samhain, the Celtic New Year, to honor those who have gone before, to tell tales of their deeds, to thank them for all they have given us, we are participating in a religious pageant thousands of years old.

One of the best sources of information we have concerning the customs and religious practices of the Celts and the Druids was Julius Caesar. Even in the midst of slashing his way across northern Europe, he recorded in some detail his observations of the native peoples whose lands he conquered. Caesar noted that the Druids were learned astronomers who discussed at great length the nature of the universe and the movements of the heavens. The Samhain celebration is a treasure of Druidic astronomical knowledge.

Samhain is traditionally the time of culling, the time when the Great Hunter comes into his own. As vegetation dies, the tribal people would come to depend more and more upon the bounty that the hunters could provide. In the months which followed, the great teaching that life is sustained by death became a daily reality of survival.

The solar heroes of Celtic legends had their counterparts in the nighttime sky. The hero Llew, who later became identified with Arthur, was seen in the constellation Bootes. It rises in the east at the vernal equinox and sets in the west at Lammas. The god of the Druids sometimes called Odin, Woden, and even earlier, Bran, was identified with the constellation Orion.

In late October and early November, the time of Samhain and the final harvest, Orion is observed to be straight overhead at this time. This was certainly auspicious to the Druids. To the Celts, midnight was a time when the barrier between the worlds was unstable, and if one possessed the correct knowledge, he could travel between the worlds at will.

What could that knowledge possibly be? Not only could the knower travel between the worlds,  he or she would also be able to control the winds, divine the future, unravel any secret, and have the power of persuasion and immortality. This knowledge was likened to red or golden apples, and in many legends, the apples were said to be on top of the world tree, guarded by a dragon or, sometimes, the fairies or the gods.

In addition to Orion, called the Giant by the simple folk, the Druids kept regular watch and recorded the positions of two other constellations during Samhain: Auriga and Taurus.

Auriga contains the bright golden star Capella which the Druids regarded as sacred. Like the Egyptians, the Druids appear to have regarded Taurus not as a bull, but as the Great Goddess in the guise of the White Cow. Taurus lies along the ecliptic, the apparent path across the heavens that the sun, the moon, and the planets travel. When the moon traverses Taurus, it will often occult (or hide) the red star Aldeberan. This was considered a potent omen.

All three constellations, straight overhead on Samhain night, contain a red or gold star, which will immediately draw the eye of the observer. While it is possible that the Druids revered these stars, Capella in Auriga, Aldeberan in Taurus, and Betelgeuse in Orion for their beauty alone, it is unlikely that was the case.  All Celtic peoples loved to hide “truths�?in riddles or puzzles, which could only be solved by a complete understanding of the natural world around them. These three stars together are one of the most important of the Druidic astronomical puzzles.

How would you solve the puzzle?  What long lost door to knowledge would these stars open for you?

Let’s start with Orion the Hunter. Samhain is the time of the hunter. The red star Betelgeuse is found on his right shoulder, on his sword arm.  His strength is used to protect and to provide for the people. This lesson must never be forgotten if the people are to survive the coming trial of winter. The Hunter overhead each night repeats the lesson to any who look for it.

What about Taurus? Taurus is found next to Orion. It is the V-shaped group of stars we see about a hand-span to the right of Orion’s left shoulder. The star Aldeberan is the eye of Taurus. Aldeberan is an Arabic word, which means “the follower�?because the star follows the Pleiades. Some archeoastronomy texts have stated that the Druids believed the Pleiades star cluster pointed to where their original homelands lay. The Pleiades in European and Mediterranean  cultures were always considered to be part of the same constellation as Taurus. In fact, in Egyptian myth, the Pleiades were said to sit on the shoulder of Hathor to assist in deciding the fate of mankind. If, like the Egyptians, the Druids regarded this constellation as the Great Goddess, could they not also be saying that they were originally from a land where the Great Goddess ruled supreme?

Finally, we come to Auriga and the golden star of Capella. Auriga is located just above Taurus and to the right of Orion. It is a group of five bright stars that can be joined to make a pentagram. Before the Greeks renamed the constellations, the ancient people saw in this grouping of stars the shield of the goddess Athena. In Celtic lands it was customary for the mothers to provide arms for the protectors of the tribes. Traditionally, a mother would arm her son, just as in Greek myth Athena gives her shield to her adopted son Auriga. The Celtic Goddess of the smith was Brigit, the Bright One. Brigit, as was true of Athena, was one of the goddesses associated with wisdom.

Three stars, two red and one golden. Three apples, two red and one golden.  Apples were sacred to the Druids because when cut through the center, the seeds are arranged in a star pattern and the stars were sacred to the Goddess. One red star tells you where you came from. One red star tells you your duty. One golden star tells you how to accomplish your mission.

Samhain, the season of culling, the time of partings, the time of death, holds the keys to understanding the mysteries of life. To find them, just look up at when the barrier between the worlds is unstable and can be crossed at will by the Wise Ones.