Samhain and the Origins of Halloween (As Well As All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day)

Halloween ! A festival whose roots are often said to be in the gaelic feast of Samhain (pronounce sow-in, or be mocked!), be it by horror movies or a lot of people on the internet -- which as we know are the most trustworthy sources of knowledge! But is it true ? Isn't Halloween simply the eve of All Saints Day ? In this video (our first in english!), Camille, Antoine and Lays (well, Antoine's voice) are trying to figure out if what we can gather from medieval litterature and modern folklore can help us discern the christian from the pagan and scholarly myth from history. If you want to hear another one of our videos with even worse english, here on Crash Course Mythology https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igrsfx0sLpI SUMMARY 00:00 0. Introduction 02:33 1. Halloween & Samhain in fiction 11:11 2. Review of specialized dictionaries on the subject 12:23 3. Human Sacrifices among the Celts, texts and reality. 16:30 4. Historical traces of Samhain 17:47 5. The Reconstruction of a Celtic Holiday 22:00 6. All Saints Day & All Souls Day 25:10 7. Samhain as an ominous date in medieval litterature and modern folklore 30:21 8. The Modern Halloween 31:00 a) Soul Cakes & Trick-or-Treating 35:00 b) Disguises & Mischief 36:50 c) History of the Jack'O'Lantern 38:08 9. From an irish feast in the US to an american feast in Europe 39:35 10. Conclusion Addendum to the video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUX1bTiB6oc The script of this episode, with our bibliography and links to the sources and works cited when they are available online : ? http://bit.ly/2e98Y95 [Google Docs] ? http://bit.ly/2eSorMy [Web version] MOVIES (AND TV SHOWS) CITED ? The Wicker Man (1973) ? Halloween (1978 - ) franchise ? The Real Ghostbusters, "When Halloween Was Forever" (1986) ? The Halloween Tree (1993) ? Supernatural (30 oct 2008) “It’s The Great Pumpkin Sam Winchester” (4x7) YOUTUBE REVIEWS CITED ? Ain't it scary reviews (2 oct 2013) The Halloween Tree (3'24) https://youtu.be/WpIs_HSbGnw?t=3m24s ? Familiar Faces: Top 13 Weirdest Halloween Specials Part 2, 25 oct 2013 https://youtu.be/L3NZRr_fh7g?t=6m58s ? Cartoon Palooza Review-The Halloween Tree, (c. 4’36) 24 oct 2015. https://youtu.be/pC_0rMNw-7c?t=4m36s ? Doug Walker "Nostalgia Critic" (Top 11 Halloween Guilty Pleasures, 28 oct 2015, 13'37-15') https://youtu.be/d1eHXGpqBEs?t=13m37s MUSIC ? Sting, "Soul Cake", 2009. ? Kristen Lawrence, "Souling Song (Samhain Version)", 2009. ? Walk Off The Earth, Jingle Bell Rock https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_23xi9ck10 ? Reed Blue, "sounds piano" http://freemusicarchive.org/music/reed_blue/ambient_works_vol01/sounds_piano The Cast and Crew of C'est Pas Sourcé on Twitter (keep in mind that we're frenchies) : ? Antoine : http://twitter.com/AntoniusMajor ? Camille : http://twitter.com/khamcps ? Lays : http://twitter.com/LYMFHSR On Facebook : ? https://www.facebook.com/CestPasSource/