The Fantasy and Folklore of All Hallows
By Jack Santino (from http://www.loc.gov/folklife/halloween.html)
Halloween
Origins in ancient, pre-Christian Celtic Festival of the Dead
Celtic peoples (all over Europe) – 4 main holidays
1. New Year ~ November 1st (on our calendar) =
Beginning of winter
For Pastoral people = when cattle/sheep had to be moved to closer pastures and all livestock had to be secured for the winter months. Crops were harvested and stored. The date marked both an ending and a beginning in an eternal cycle.
Festival was “Samhain”
(pronounced Sah-ween)
=biggest, most significant holiday of Celtic year
Celts believed at Samhain ghosts
of the dead were able to mingle with the living, because they traveled into the
otherworld
People gathered to sacrifice animals, fruits, and vegetables, light bonfires in
honor of the dead, to aid them on their journey, and to keep them away from the
living
On that day all manner of beings were abroad: ghosts, fairies, and demons—all part of the dark and dread
Samhain became our Halloween when Christian missionaries attempted to change the religious practices of the Celtic people
First millennium ad (pre St. Patrick & St. Columcille) Celts practiced religion through priestly caste – Druids (also = poets, scientists, scholars)
Christians transformed holiday
601 A.D. Pope Gregory 1st
issues edict on native beliefs & customs
Instructed missionaries to use traditions: 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
Brilliant missionary concept in missionary work
Church holy days purposely set to coincide with native holy days
Christmas – assigned arbitrary date Dec 25th because it corresponded with mid-winter celebration of many peoples
Likewise, St. John's Day = the summer solstice.
Samhain, w/emphasis on supernatural, more pagan
Druids considered worshippers of devil gods/spirits Celtic underworld identified with the Christian Hell
à Diminish beliefs in traditional gods (seen as malicious); followers branded witches, hunted
Christian feast “All Saints”
assigned November 1st Honored every Christian saint
Substitute for Samhain (to replace it)
Never fully replaced but traditional Celtic deities diminished in status, becoming fairies or leprechauns of more recent traditions
Samhain never fully died out –
powerful symbolism
of traveling dead too strong (basic to human psyche)
Energy of Samhain necessary, so
church tried again to supplant it with a Christian feast day in the 9th century
= November 2nd as All Souls Day
When living prayed for souls of dead
But traditional beliefs/customs lived, in new guises
All Saints Day = All Hallows (=sanctified or holy) continued the ancient Celtic traditions
Evening prior to day was most intense
All Hallows Eve sees wandering dead, but supernatural beings now thought to be evil folk People still left gifts of food and drink
à Hallow Evening à Hallowe'en (Celtic, pre-Christian New Year's Day)
Supernatural creatures assoc w/All Hallows
Ireland fairies wander (songs sung to appease)
England cakes made for the wandering souls, and people went "a' soulin'" for these "soul cakes"
Halloween=time of magicàday
of divination
Magical beliefs: “If you hold a mirror on Halloween and walk backwards down the
stairs to the basement, the face that appears in the mirror will be their next
lover”
Present Halloween traditions are from ancient Celtic Day of the Dead (America had similar holiday)
Halloween mysterious customs
Wearing of costumes and roaming from door to
door demanding treats – from Celtic period
It was thought souls of dead were out and around, along with fairies, witches,
and demons. Offerings of food and drink were left out to placate them. As the
centuries wore on, people began dressing like these dreadful creatures,
performing antics in exchange for food and drink. This practice is called
mumming, from which the practice of trick-or-treating evolved. To this day,
witches, ghosts, and skeleton figures of the dead are among the favorite
disguises. Halloween also retains some features that harken back to the original
harvest holiday of Samhain, such as the customs of bobbing for apples and
carving vegetables, as well as the fruits, nuts, and spices cider associated
with the day
Halloween becoming again an adult holiday or masquerade, like mardi Gras
Men and women in every disguise imaginable are taking to the streets of big American cities and parading past grinningly carved, candlelit jack o'lanterns, re-enacting customs with a lengthy pedigree. Their masked antics challenge, mock, tease, and appease the dread forces of the night, of the soul, and of the otherworld that becomes our world on this night of reversible possibilities, inverted roles, and transcendency. In so doing, they are reaffirming death and its place as a part of life in an exhilarating celebration of a holy and magic evening