What Celtic deities are associated with Samhain (Halloween)?

🍂 The Samhain Gods and Queens — A Simple Story About the Turning of the Year 

Long ago in Ireland, people believed the year had two halves — a light half (spring and summer) and a dark half (fall and winter). At Samhain (say it SOW-in), the year flipped from light to dark. The world changed. The gates between the living and dead opened. And powerful gods and queens shaped what would happen next.

🕳️ Crom Cruach — The Dark God at the Door

Crom (say it Krum; aliases: Crom Cruach or Cenn/Cron/Crom Dubh) is the guardian of the Otherworld portal.  He is a god of harvests, sacrifice, and change. People believed he guarded the portals between this world and the next. If he was pleased with offerings — like burned animals or broken items — he might release the sun-god Lugh from the Otherworld, bringing warmth and crops. 

But if Crom was angry, he trapped Lugh, and the land would turn cold and lifeless, the next year's harvest would be poor, and the people would suffer from famine.  He demands seasonal offerings, especially first fruits or sacrifice, in exchange for good harvests or release of light (Lugh).  

If unappeased, he traps Lugh (the sun/light/harvest god) in the Otherworld (Síd), causing winter, blight, or famine.  Seen as a dark, crouching, squatting figure, he may represent the chthonic (underworld, note: Goidelic Irish Celts unlike Gallic Celts did not separate the afterlife into a place for reward or punishment [likely from Hellenistic Greeks or Roman Christians] so did not have an underworld, but did have an Otherworld) gatekeeper—not evil, but balancing the bargain of fertility and death.

He crouched in the dark at Killycluggin, near fires and broken offerings, showing he was honored (or feared) for controlling the seasons.

☀️ Lugh — The Light That Must Be Freed

Lugh (say it LOO) is a bright god of light (sunshine), harvest, and skill. He helped plants grow and brought summer’s gifts. But at Samhain, he vanished — pulled into the Otherworld by Crom or through the Sidhe (say it SHEE, the spirit world).  Crom holds Lugh captive during the dark half of the year (post-Samhain). With proper rites or “pleasing,” Crom releases Lugh, bringing spring and summer, light, and harvest.  This myth echoes Celtic seasonal kingship: the dark god and light god cycle—Lugh vs. Crom.

When people gave offerings, Lugh could be released, bringing the return of spring later in the year.

👣 The Cailleach — The Old Woman of Ice and Stone

The Cailleach (say it KAL-yukh) was a giant old woman who ruled winter. She made mountains by dropping rocks from her apron and froze the land while Lugh was gone. She brought snow, storms, and stillness.

She switched places with Lugh every year: she ruled the dark, and he ruled the light.

⚔️ 👑 The Morrígan and Macha — The Death-Sisters of War, Fate, and Sovereignty:  The Land and the Curse

The Morrígan (say it MOR-rih-gun) was a goddess of war, death, and fate. She flew over battlefields as a crow, choosing who would die. She ruled the dead at Samhain. The Morrígan may serve or speak for Crom in some myths—testing kings, withholding victory, or foretelling death.  She marks the dying, especially in battle, and may act as enforcer of Crom’s judgment if a king fails to uphold sacred order. Like Crom, she emerges at Samhain, from a síd (fairy mound), linked to death, prophecy, and the shifting of seasonal power.

Macha (say it MAKH-uh) was like her shadow or sister — a goddess of kingship, curses, and justice. She could run faster than horses and once cursed a kingdom’s men for hurting her.  Macha, sometimes conflated with the Morrígan, represents the sovereignty of the land itself—fertility, horses, childbirth, and rightful kingship.  When injustice is done (especially by kings), Macha withdraws blessing, often resulting in famine, weakness, or infertility of the land. In this cycle, Macha reflects the state of the land in response to Crom's bargain:

• If Crom is pleased, Macha is fertile, harvests flourish.

• If Crom is denied, Macha withholds—cursing the land or the king.

Both goddesses watched the world’s edge at Samhain. When the dead crossed over, they decided which souls stayed and which returned.

🪦 Donn — The Keeper of the Dead

Donn (say it DUN) was the first man to die in Irish myth. Donn is the final receiver of the soul—lord of Tech Duinn, the island in the western sea where all must pass after death.  He became the god of the dead, ruling a house on an island far to the west — where the souls of the dead traveled at Samhain. Donn does not bargain like Crom—he receives, unchanging, inevitable.  Some say he was a form of Crom, or even Medb’s lover in old stories.  

Thus, Crom and Donn may represent two thresholds:

•  Crom = conditional gatekeeper of life, season, and harvest (who can be appeased or bargained with)

• Donn = absolute gatekeeper of death and ancestry (who receives all in the end)

At Samhain, people lit fires and gave offerings to help their loved ones safely reach Donn’s house beyond the western sea.

🔥 Tlachtga — The Fire Woman of the Hill

Tlachtga (say it CLAKH-tuh) was a priestess or goddess of fire and magic. On her sacred hill, people built great Samhain bonfires to burn away evil, honor the dead, and signal the change of seasons. Her fires may have copied older rituals from Crom’s place at Killycluggin.

She lit the first flame of the dark half of the year.

👑 Queen Medb — The Human Who Became a Legend & a Goddess

Medb (say it MAYV) was a queen and warrior who ruled from Rathcroghan, near the cave Oweynagat (say it OH-en-na-gat), the “Gate of the Cats.” This cave was said to be a portal to the Otherworld that opened at Samhain, letting spirits and monsters come through.

Some say Medb became a goddess after death, ruling over warriors and guiding souls — a human echo of Macha or the Morrígan.

🌀 How They All Fit Together at Samhain

• Crom:  Demanded offerings; ruled the portals; trapped Lugh 

• Lugh:  Vanished into the Sidhe; brought light when released 

• Cailleach:  Ruled winter; froze the land

• Morrígan & Macha: Guided souls; chose death; protected sacred power 

• Donn: Received the souls of the dead in the west

• Tlachtga:  Lit sacred fires to honor the spirits and mark change

• Queen Medb:  Guarded the cave to the Otherworld; became a spirit-queen

🔄 The Great Cycle of Life, Death, and Seasons

Together, these beings told the story of the year’s cycle:

• Lugh and the Cailleach take turns.

• Crom opens and closes the gates.

• Donn and the Morrígan guide the dead.

• Tlachtga lights the fires.

• Medb and Macha walk the border between life and death.

And every Samhain, the people gathered, lit fires, gave offerings, and told stories — to stay in balance with the world.