Halloween

Many people celebrate Halloween these days as a purely secular festival. The majority simply follow the American trick or treat model with its witches hats, black cats and pumpkins. Halloween has been made into just another marketing exercise with suitable merchandise in the shops. However its roots go far back into the mists of our pagan past and was celebrated as a religious ritual. Halloween or All Hallows Even is the modern name of a festival marking the end of harvest in the Northern Hemisphere. It falls about halfway between the Autumn Equinox and the Winter Solstice. Many cultures have celebrated the ingathering of the harvest with rituals to their deities. The gathered harvest prepared them for the harsh winter ahead; it marked a hiatus, with the fallow fields awaiting the iron grip of winter and the darkest time of the year. It was thus also seen as time when the veil of the physical thinned allowing access to the otherworld of spirits. October 31st is Halloween in the Northern Hemisphere (April 30th in the Southern Hemisphere) and November 1st is called All Hallows Day. To hallow is to make holy or to consecrate, so people would consecrate their harvest to their gods to ensure the people would survive the winter. The other reason it is called All Hallows is the Christian Church moved All Saints Day from May 13th to November 1st in the ninth century thus subsuming its pagan connotations. This was a common tactic by the Church when they could not stamp out a pagan practice they incorporated it, often embellishing it with a Christian myth. While missionaries identified their holy days with those observed by the Celts, they branded the earlier religion's supernatural deities as evil, and associated them with the devil. Gregory the First issued a now famous edict to his missionaries concerning the native beliefs and customs of the peoples he hoped to convert. Rather than try to obliterate native peoples' customs and beliefs, the pope instructed his missionaries to use them: if a group of people worshipped a tree, rather than cut it down, he advised them to consecrate it to Christ and allow its continued worship. Church holy days were purposely set to coincide with native holy days. Christmas, for instance, was assigned the arbitrary date of December 25th because it corresponded with the mid-winter celebration of many peoples. Likewise, St. John's Day was set on the summer solstice. To pastoral and agriculture societies this was an important time of year. Harvested crops were stored, excess livestock slaughtered as only small number could be fed over the winter, and general preparations made for the anticipated hard times ahead. Demons and devils were not part of the Celtic system, but the fairies could be hostile. The evil connotations attached to Halloween were an accretion of the Christian Church. To the Celts this was a time when you could communicate with your loved ones who had passed on. Bonfires and candles were lit to aid the departed on their journey not to keep them away They would leave out a dumb supper for wandering spirits who happened to drop by. Food was also left out for the fairies to gain their blessing for the coming year. This custom was still followed in some parts of the UK until recent times.. There was a belief that chaos reigned on this night and engaged in mischievous activities before the gloom of winter settled. In Ireland on this night all hearth fires were extinguished and then rekindled from a need fire. Modern Druids, witches and Created by Irene YermanE:\Halloween1.doc 1

Wiccans still celebrate this festival in a religious or spiritual way. A festival honouring the Roman goddess of fruit, Pomona, as well as the Feralia, a festival for the dead, was incorporated by the Romans with the Celtic celebration of Samhain (Halloween). Pomonas symbol was the apple, possible the origin of the game of bobbing for apples. Scottish Gaelic as Oidhche Shamhna the End of Summer, Irish as Oche Shamhna, literally "Samhain Night". Christianity created a whole world of evil demons that people had to protect themselves from such as the unquiet dead who returned on Halloween. In Gaelic Scotland and in later times houses needed to be protected from the unwanted otherworld visitors, such as phantoms and evil spirits so lanterns (Scottish samhnag) and candles were lit hold back the dark. This led to the custom of carving large vegetable into grotesque faces (Jack o Lantern). Often the hollowed out turnip or pumpkin would hold a lit candle. Samhainn or Samhuinn is used for the harvest feast, and an t-Samhain is used for the entire month of November. Halloween, a fire festival was seen as the night during which the curtain between the worlds was rent so spirits and the souls of the dead wandered about on earth until dawn. This was also a time when the faeries roamed about (Sidhe or Sith in modern Gaelic). Fear of spirits and demons led people to dress in costumes and masks so they wouldnt be recognised. This possibly into the modern trick-or-treating where children visit their neighbours to get fruit, nuts, and sweets. Originally these were collected to share at the Halloween feast. This was also a time for divination, in Ireland, a Barmbrack or fruit bread was baked and like the Christmas pudding contained items that indicated the future for the eater. For example, a ring would indicate marriage, a rag, poverty. Customs derive from ancient divination practices. Most were used by young people looking for a marriage partner. As Samhainn being a harvest festival, many customs were connected with fertility. Customs such as placing two nuts together in the fire to see if they moved towards each other or flew apart as they heated up, would presage the future of the lovers. Apples were peeled and the peel tossed over the shoulder to reveal the initial of the future partner. Games were played, like bobbing for apples, in a container of water. An apple hung on a string had to be eaten without touching it. In the Southern Hemisphere we are at the end of spring so it really doesnt make sense to celebrate Halloween which is a festival of the encroaching winter darkness. Due to American media influences many Australian families are starting to partake of the fun. There have been rises reported in the sale of Halloween paraphernalia. The mass produced Halloween market in the U.S is largely a post war phenomena. It is the sixth most profitable holiday over there. All items were once made at home and are now part of the marketing frenzy. Halloween costume parties are very popular. The New Age movement has spawned a new interest in festivals like Halloween. Our society is in many ways a spiritual desert and people are seeking something more from life than material possessions. Ritual draws people so many are turning back to the old religions (or New Age versions of them) seeking to draw closer to nature and live with the seasons a very green movement! The Christian Churches really dont have a relevance to many spiritual seekers. The Pagan movement is growing, encompassing

many diverse beliefs such as Druidry, witchcraft and etc. The common thread among these groups is that we create our own karma and that we are part of nature not separate from it. We should use Natures bounty not abuse it.

Selected Bibliography
N.S. Gill, Ancient History Guide 2008 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd http://www.sacred-texts.com/bos/bos013.htm CultWatch Response, Inc., http://www.lynnkent.com/. OfSpirit.com Y Dynion Mwyn - Welsh Tradition in America

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