THE SAMHAIN SOCIETY

HISTORY

Thanet—its name echoing from the Greek Thanatos, god of death—is no ordinary isle. This land, shaped by tides and time, was once an island and has always been a liminal threshold, a place between worlds. Ancient Bronze Age burial mounds graced these lands and the island was a location to transport the dead.

Thanet also finds etymological links to “Tanatus “ from Celtic roots: teine (fire) + arth (height), making Thanet the Bright Island. A beacon might’ve once stood on Telegraph Hill, one of the island’s highest points or perhaps several lined the coast. 

Thanet was born to be the home of Samhain and what better ground to honour this liminal time when the veil is at its thinnest! 

Each year on October 31st, we will gather making Margate the go to place for Samhain. By firelight and moonlight, in ritual and reverence, we honour the ancestors, commune with spirits, and celebrate death as part of life.