To all the cannabis farmers who are hauling in the Croptober harvest, Head Magazine celebrates your hard work and welcomes you to our virtual Halloween bonfire. You, the cultivators, embody the spirit of world history’s ultimate harvest festival: Samhain.
To all the canna-philes out there – farmers, consumers, advocates and all others – we hope you enjoy this Halloweed homage to the cannabis growers and harvesters. Without them, we wouldn’t have access to the miracle that is cannabis, along with its many byproducts.
Samhain as Halloween’s Ancestor
Modern-day Halloween has three primary ancestral holidays: Celtic Samhain and Roman Pomona and Lemuria. Over time, the Roman Catholic Church consolidated these and rebranded them as celebrations of All Saints Day. By some accounts, All Saints Day was moved from May 13 (Pomona’s date) to Nov. 1 (Lemuria and Samhain’s date) by Pope Gregory III (A.D. 731-741) in the eighth century. And before long, the night before All Saints Day – known as All Hallows Eve and later shortened to Hallowe’en – became its own semi-holiday, just like Christmas Eve did.
For answers to all your Halloween FAQs, check out “A Deep Dive Into the Origin of Halloween: It’s Not What You Think.” Photo of Neopagans in Ireland celebrating Samhain /CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
However, Nov. 1 didn’t apply to Samhain indigenously; nor did Oct. 31, for that matter. “November” and “October” come from the Roman republican calendar, which came into use by Rome’s founder, Romulus, in the early 700s B.C. At that point in history, the Celts who established Samhain had been living in Ireland and the British Isles for at least 1,000 years and processed the passing of time in their own way.
Rather than dividing the year into 10 lunar months like the Romans, Greeks and Babylonians did, the Celts divided it into two halves: light (the equivalent of summer) and dark (the equivalent of winter). The end of the light half ushered in the Celtic new year on Samhain (“summer’s end” in Gaelic), which began at sundown when the harvest ended. This was roughly halfway between the fall equinox and the winter solstice, celebrated on whichever night had a new (dark) moon.
When the Celts adopted the Roman calendar, November (technically, Mensis Novembris from the Latin for “ninth month”) was closest to and became known as Samhain. For that reason, the Gaelic translation of “Halloween” is “Oíche Shamhna,” or “November Eve.”
Pronounce “Samhain,” “Oíche Shamhna” and many more Gaelic phrases for Halloween by playing the soundbites in “Irish Language Phrases for Oíche Shamhna (Halloween).” Photo of Halloween Parade in Dublin (Presented by MACNAS) Photo by William Murphy CC BY-SA 2.0.
Samhain and Croptober
In Ireland and the British Isles, the Celts would harvest wheat, barley, oats, rye, millet, corn and legumes (peas, beans, nuts, etc.). Given the cold climate with extreme weather patterns and highly steep terrain, this was incredibly difficult to accomplish. Fields had to be cultivated by digging by hand or using cattle to plough, after which all crops were sown by hand and raked or harrowed to cover the seed.
After all of that hard work, something as unforeseeable as strong winds could destroy crops or flatten them to the point where it became harder to grow them. So, it was a huge achievement when you had a bountiful harvest; this alone was a reason to celebrate. That reason was amplified when the last harvest of the year was enough to get you through the dark half (winter) to the light half (summer) of the year.
If you could harvest grains and legumes from land this harsh, you had a reason to celebrate./Photo CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Similarly, part of the joy of Croptober is the abundance of cannabis that suddenly becomes available to consumers. Between 80% and 85% of cannabis plants are ready to be harvested during the traditional October cycle. Outdoor cultivators cut, dry, cure and trim their cannabis crops. Then, they test it, manufacture byproducts from it (if applicable) and package it, and then there’s a tremendous influx for dispensaries and retailers.
Why October though?
Encore Labs provides four reasons – five if you count how cool “Croptober” sounds – in “The History of Croptober.” First, outdoor cannabis plants have reached their peak in terms of cannabinoid production, aroma and flavor in October. Second, the flowers are at their prime in October, having bloomed late in the summer and produced resin-rich buds. Third, depending on the climate you’re in, October is often the last month before frost arrives and the growing season ends. Fourth, October is often the last month with days long enough to give the plants an ideal amount of light and darkness (i.e., photoperiod).
For outdoor growers, Halloweed season is the most wonderful time of the year! Photo by Cannafornia/ pexels.com/
For the Growers: The Finishing Touches on Croptober
A Keepsake to Mark the Transition
Before harvesting their crops, the Celts would let the fires in their hearths at home go out, only to relight them with a flame carried from the village’s Samhain bonfire.
What could you bring into your house from your Croptober harvest each year to honor the growing season you just finished and express hope for the next growing season? Maybe you could pluck one flower or leaf from the first plant harvested and put it somewhere for safekeeping.
Hospitality for the Departed
On Oíche Shamhna (Halloween), the Celts would provide hospitality from their bounty for their dead ancestors. Before sitting down to eat, those in attendance would invite their ancestors to join them, sometimes even setting a place where a spirit might sit to dine.
How could you share your harvest with lost loved ones as a way to honor their memory – or to invite their soul to stop by? (Passing to the invisible man on your left counts, yes.)
On Oíche Shamhna (Halloween), the Celts would provide hospitality from their bounty for their dead ancestors.
Don’t Walk – Run!
If you’re reading this in any October or November, it’s time to get moving and get down to a dispensary or retailer (depending on local laws and your physician’s input) for some cannabis. This is the time to celebrate a great harvest. This is cannabis’s Samhain in the modern era. Go toke-or-treating while you may!
Kathleen Hearons is a writer, editor, linguist and voice over actor from Los Angeles. She specializes in creative writing and research-intensive analysis and reporting.
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