Halloween
{A compilation and combination of material from
Wikipedia by Tom Poelker}
Halloween or
Hallowe'en (a contraction of its
original title "All
Hallows'
Evening"),
also known as
All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly
holiday
observed
around the world on October 31, the eve of the
Western
Christian
feast of
All
Hallows. According to some scholars, All Hallows' Eve was
originally influenced by western European
harvest
festivals and
festivals
of the dead with possible
pagan
roots, particularly the
Celtic
Samhain. Others
maintain that it originated independently of Samhain, and has
Christian roots. Over time, the night of October 31 came to be
called All Hallows' Eve (or All Hallows' Even). Samhain influenced
All Hollows' Eve and vice-versa, and the two eventually morphed into
the
secular
holiday known as
Halloween.
All Saints and its Eve
The Western Christian holiday of
All Saints' Day falls on 1
November, followed by
All
Souls' Day on 2 November. They were a time for honoring the
saints and praying
for the recently departed who had yet to reach Heaven.
The origin of the festival of All Saints celebrated in the West
dates to 13 May 609 or 610, when
Pope
Boniface IV consecrated the
Pantheon
at Rome to the Blessed Virgin and all the martyrs; the feast of
the
dedicatio Sanctae Mariae ad Martyres has been celebrated
at Rome ever since. There is evidence that from the fifth through the
seventh centuries there existed in certain places and at sporadic
intervals a feast date on 13 May to celebrate the holy martyrs. The
origin of All Saints' Day cannot be traced with certainty, and it has
been observed on various days in different places. However, there are
some who maintain the belief that it has origins in the
pagan
observation of 13 May, the
Feast
of the Lemures, in which the malevolent and restless spirits of
the dead were propitiated. Liturgiologists base the idea that this
Lemuria festival was the origin of that of All Saints on their
identical dates and on the similar theme of "all the dead".
The feast of All Saints, on its current date, is traced to the
foundation by
Pope
Gregory III (731–741) of an oratory in St. Peter's for the
relics "of the holy apostles and of all saints, martyrs and
confessors, of all the just made perfect who are at rest throughout
the world", with the day moved to 1 November and the 13 May
feast suppressed.
In
835,
Louis the
Pious switched it to 1 November in the
Carolingian
Empire, at the behest of
Pope
Gregory IV.
[46]
However, from the testimony of
Pseudo-Bede,
it is known that churches in what are now
England
and
Germany were
already celebrating All Saints on 1 November at the beginning of the
8th century. Thus, Louis merely made official the custom of
celebrating it on 1 November. James Frazer suggests that 1 November
was chosen because it was the date of the Celtic festival of the dead
(Samhain) – the Celts had influenced their English neighbors, and
English missionaries had influenced the Germans. However, Ronald
Hutton points out that, according to
Óengus
of Tallaght (d. ca. 824), the 7th/8th century church in Ireland
celebrated All Saints on 20 April. He suggests that the 1 November
date was a Germanic rather than a Celtic idea. The octave [Eight
days of celebration including and following a feast.] was added by
Pope Sixtus IV
(1471–1484).
By the end of the 12th century they had become
holy
days of obligation across Europe and involved such traditions as
ringing bells for the
souls
in
purgatory.
"Souling", the custom of baking and sharing
soul
cakes for "all crysten
christened
souls", has been suggested as the origin of trick-or-treating.
Groups of poor people, often children, would go door-to-door on All
Saints/All Souls collecting soul cakes, originally as a means of
praying for souls in purgatory. Similar practices for the souls of
the dead were found as far south as Italy.
Shakespeare
mentions the practice in his comedy
The
Two Gentlemen of Verona (1593), when Speed accuses his master
of "puling [whimpering or whining] like a beggar at Hallowmas."
The custom of wearing costumes has been linked to All Saints/All
Souls by Prince Sorie Conteh, who wrote: "It was traditionally
believed that the souls of the departed wandered the earth until All
Saints' Day, and All Hallows' Eve provided one last chance for the
dead to gain vengeance on their enemies before moving to the
next
world. In order to avoid being recognized by any soul that might
be seeking such vengeance, people would don masks or costumes to
disguise their identities". In
Halloween: From Pagan Ritual
to Party Night, Nicholas Rogers explained Halloween
jack-o'-lanterns as originally being representations of souls in
purgatory. In Brittany children would set candles in skulls in
graveyards
In Britain, these customs came under
attack during the
Reformation
as
Protestants
berated purgatory as a "
popish"
doctrine incompatible with the notion of
predestination.
This, coupled with the rising popularity of
Guy
Fawkes Night (5 November) from 1605 onward, led to Halloween's
popularity waning in Britain, with the noteworthy exception of
Scotland. There and in Ireland, they had been celebrating Samhain and
Halloween since at least the early
Middle
Ages, and the Scottish
kirk
took a more pragmatic approach to Halloween, seeing it as important
to the life cycle and
rites
of passage of communities and thus ensuring its survival in the
country.
The festival of All Saints was retained after the
Reformation
in the calendar of the
Anglican
Church and in many
Lutheran
churches. In the Lutheran churches, such as the
Church
of Sweden, it assumes a role of general commemoration of the
dead. In the
Swedish
calendar, the observance takes place on the Saturday between 31
October and 6 November. In many Lutheran Churches, it is moved to the
first Sunday of November. In the
Church
of England it may be celebrated either on 1 November or on the
Sunday between 30 October and 5 November. It is also celebrated by
other
Protestants
of the English tradition, such as the
United
Church of Canada, the
Methodist
churches, and the
Wesleyan
Church.
Protestants generally regard all true Christian believers as
saints and if they observe All Saints Day at all they use it to
remember all Christians both past and present. In the
United
Methodist Church, All Saints' Day is celebrated on the first
Sunday in November. It is held, not only to remember Saints, but also
to remember all those who have died who were members of the local
church congregation. In some congregations, a candle is lit by the
Acolyte as each
person's name is called out by the
clergy.
Prayers and responsive readings may accompany the event. Often, the
names of those who have died in the past year are affixed to a
memorial plaque.
In many Lutheran churches, All Saints' Day and
Reformation
Day are observed concurrently on the Sunday before or after those
dates, given Reformation Day is observed in Protestant Churches on 31
October. Typically,
Martin
Luther's "
A
Mighty Fortress is Our God" is sung during the service.
Besides discussing Luther's role in the Protestant Reformation, some
recognition of the prominent early leaders of the Reformed tradition,
such as John Calvin and John Knox, occurs. The observance of
Reformation Day may be immediately followed by a reading of those
members of the local congregation who have died in the past year in
observance of All Saints' Day. Otherwise, the recognition of deceased
church members occurs at another designated portion of the service.
November First
and Samhain
When All Saints was moved to 1 November, it fell on the
Celtic
holiday of
Samhain,
[
(säÆwin)
a
Gaelic
festival marking the end of the
harvest
season and the beginning of
winter
or the 'darker half' of the year. Most commonly it is held on 31
October–1 November, or halfway between the
autumn
equinox and the
winter
solstice. Along with
Imbolc,
Beltane and
Lughnasadh it
makes up the four Gaelic seasonal festivals. ] which had a theme
similar to the Roman festival of
Lemuria,
but which was also a harvest festival. The Irish, having celebrated
Samhain in the past, did not celebrate All Hallows Day on this 1
November date, as extant historical documents attest that the
celebration in Ireland took place in the spring: "...the
Felire
of
Oengus
and the
Martyrology
of Tallaght prove that the early medieval churches [in
Ireland] celebrated the feast of All Saints on April 20."
Samhain is mentioned in some of the
earliest
Irish literature. Many important events in
Irish
mythology happen or begin on Samhain. It was the time when cattle
were brought back down from the summer pastures and when livestock
were slaughtered for the winter. In much of the Gaelic world,
bonfires were lit
and there were rituals involving them, as at Beltane. People and
their livestock would often walk between two bonfires as a cleansing
ritual, and the bones of slaughtered livestock were cast into its
flames. Samhain (like Beltane) was seen as a time when the 'door' to
the
Otherworld
opened enough for the souls of the dead, and other beings, to come
into our world. Feasts were had, at which the souls of dead kin were
beckoned to attend and a place set at the table for them. It has thus
been likened to a
festival
of the dead. People also took steps to protect themselves from
harmful spirits, which is thought to have led to the custom of
guising.
Divination was
also done at Samhain.
Samain or
Samuin was the
name of the
feis or festival marking the beginning of winter
in
Gaelic
Ireland. It is attested in some of the earliest
Old
Irish literature, from the 10th century onward. It was one of
four Gaelic seasonal festivals: Samhain (~1 November),
Imbolc
(~1 February),
Beltane
(~1 May) and
Lughnasadh
(~1 August). Samhain and Beltane, at the witherward side of the year
from each other, are thought to have been the most important.
Sir
James
George Frazer wrote in
The
Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion that 1 May and 1
November are of little importance to European crop-growers, but of
great importance to herdsmen. It is at the beginning of summer that
cattle is driven to the upland summer pastures and the beginning of
winter that they are led back, which was also the time to choose
which animals would need to be slaughtered for the people to survive
the winter. This custom is still observed by many who farm and raise
livestock because it is when meat will keep since the freeze has come
and also since summer grass is gone and free foraging is no longer
possible.
Thus, Frazer suggests that halving the year at 1 May and 1 November
dates from a time when the Celts were mainly a pastoral people,
dependent on their herds. In medieval Ireland the festival marked the
end of the season for trade and warfare and was an ideal date for
tribal gatherings. These gatherings are a popular setting for early
Irish tales.
Samhain (like
Beltane)
was a time when the 'door' to the
Otherworld
opened enough for fairies and the dead to communicate with us; but
while Beltane was a summer festival for the living, Samhain "was
essentially a festival for the dead".
The
Boyhood Deeds of Fionn says that the
sídhe
(fairy mounds or portals to the fairy world) "were always open
at Samhain". Like Beltane,
Lughnasadh
and
Imbolc, Samhain
also involved great feasts. Mythology suggests that drinking alcohol
was part of the feast, and it is noteworthy that every tale that
features drunkenness is said to take place at Samhain.
In Scotland, these bonfires were called
samhnagan, and they were usually made from flammable materials
like ferns, tar-barrels, and anything else that would burn. In the
late 18th century, John Ramsay of
Ochtertyre
wrote that, in that part of Scotland, a ring of stones was laid round
the fire to represent each person. Everyone then ran round it with a
torch, "exulting".
In the morning, the stones were examined and if any was mislaid it
was said that the person for whom it was set would not live out the
year. A similar practise was observed in north Wales and in
Brittany.
James Frazer says that this may come from "an older custom of
actually burning them" (i.e.
human
sacrifice).
In
Moray,
boys asked for bonfire fuel from each house in the village. When the
fire was lit, "one after another of the youths laid himself down
on the ground as near to the fire as possible so as not to be burned,
and in such a position as to let the smoke roll over him. The others
ran through the smoke and jumped over him". It is likely that
the smoke was thought to have protective powers.
In 19th century northeast Scotland,
people carried a torch of fir wood around their fields to protect
them. On
South
Uist, people did likewise with burning turf. Sometimes, two
bonfires would be built side by side, and the people—sometimes with
their livestock—would walk between them as a ritual of
purification. The
bones
of slaughtered cattle were said to have been cast upon bonfires. In
the pre-Christian Gaelic world, cattle were the main unit of currency
and the center of agricultural and pastoral life.
In some parts, people doused their
hearth fires on Samhain night. Each family then solemnly lit its
hearth from the communal bonfire, thus bonding the families of the
village together. In the 17th century, Geoffrey Keating wrote that
the druids of ancient Ireland would gather on
Tlachta
on Samhain night to kindle a sacred fire. From this, every bonfire in
the land was lit, and from thence every home in the land relit their
hearth, which had been doused that night. However, his source is
unknown, and Ronald Hutton supposes that Keating had mistaken a
Beltane custom for a Samhain one
]
As
noted earlier, beings and souls from the Otherworld were said to come
into our world at Samhain. It is still the custom in some areas to
set a place at the Samhain feast for the souls of dead kinfolk and to
tell tales of one's forebears. However, the souls of thankful kin
could return to bestow blessings just as easily as that of a murdered
person could return to wreak revenge. Fairies were thought to steal
humans on Samhain and fairy mounds were to be avoided. People took
steps to allay or ward-off these harmful spirits and fairies. They
stayed near to home or, if forced to walk in the darkness, turned
their clothing inside-out or carried iron or salt to keep the fairies
at bay. Offerings of food were left at the door for the fairies to
ensure their favor in the coming year.
Turnip
lanterns, sometimes with faces carved into them, were common at
Samhain in the 19th century in parts of Ireland and the Scottish
Highlands. The purpose of these lanterns may have been threefold.
They may have been used to light one's way while outside on Samhain
night; to represent the spirits and otherworldly beings; and/or to
protect oneself and one's home from them. Bettina Arnold writes that
they were sometimes set on windowsills to keep them out of one's home
However, others suggest that they originated with All Saints/All
Souls and that they represented Christian souls in
purgatory.
Wearing costumes and masks (or '
guising')
may have been another way to befuddle, ward-off or represent the
harmful spirits and fairies. Guising or
mumming
was common at winter festivals in general, but was "particularly
appropriate to a night upon which supernatural beings were said to be
abroad". Before the 20th century, guising at Samhain was done in
parts of Ireland, Mann, the Scottish Highlands and islands, and
Wales. In Ireland, costumes were sometimes worn by those who went
about before nightfall collecting for a Samhain feast. On Samhain in
parts of southern Ireland during the 19th century there was a
Láir
Bhán (white
mare)
procession. Someone covered in a white sheet and carrying a decorated
horse skull (representing the
Láir Bhán) would lead a group
of youths, blowing on cow horns, from house to house. At each, they
recited verses and those inside were expected to donate food and
other gifts. The greater the donation, the greater the blessings that
would be bestowed on them by the 'Muck Olla'. This is akin to the
Mari Lwyd
(grey mare) procession in Wales. Some have linked this custom with
pagan goddesses of sovereignty, who were often
associated
with white horses. In Scotland, young men would dress in white
with masked, veiled or blackened faces. This was common in the 16th
century in the Scottish countryside and persisted into the 20th.
Hutton writes: "When imitating malignant spirits it was a very
short step from guising to playing pranks". Playing pranks at
Samhain is recorded in the Scottish Highlands as far back as 1736 and
was also common in Ireland, which led to Samhain being nicknamed
"Mischief Night" in some parts. Guising and pranks at All
Saints isn't thought to have reached England until the 20th century,
though mumming had been done at other festivals. At the time of mass
transatlantic Irish and Scottish immigration, which popularized
Halloween in North America, Halloween in Ireland and Scotland had a
strong tradition of guising and pranks.
Trick-or-treating
may have come from the custom of going door-to-door collecting food
for Samhain feasts, fuel for Samhain bonfires and/or offerings for
the spirits and fairies. Alternatively, it may have come from the
English All Saints/All Souls custom of collecting
soul
cakes.
Divination
has likely been a part of the festival since ancient times, and it
has survived in some rural areas. The most common uses were to find
out the identity of one's future spouse, the location of one's future
home, and how many children one might have. Seasonal foods such as
apples and nuts were often eaten in these rituals. Apples were
peeled, the peel tossed over the shoulder, and its shape examined to
see if it formed the first letter of the future spouse's name. Nuts
were roasted on the hearth and their behavior interpreted - if the
nuts stayed together, so would the couple. Egg whites were dropped in
water, and the shapes foretold the number of future children.
Children would also chase crows and divine some of these things from
the number of birds or the direction they flew.
A Samhain custom thought to be a survival of a pagan ritual was
observed on
Iona
until the late 18th century and on
Lewis
until the early 19th. On 31 October, the locals would go down to the
shore. One man would wade into the water up to his waist, where he
would pour out a cup of ale and ask '
Seonaidh'
(anglicized as 'Shoney')—likely an old pagan god—to bestow
blessings on them.
