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The Origins of Halloween
In recent years, there have been a number of pamphlets put out by various
Christian organizations dealing with the origins of modern day Halloween
customs. Being a Witch myself, and a student of the ancient Celts, from
whom we get this holiday, I have found these pamphlets woefully inaccurate
and poorly researched. In an effort to correct some of this erroneous
information, I have spent several months researching the religious life of
the ancient Celtic peoples and the survivals of that religious life in
modern day times. Listed below are some of the most commonly asked
questions concerning the origins and customs of Halloween. Following the
questions is a lengthy bibliography where the curious reader can go to
learn more about this holiday than space in this small pamphlet permits.
1. Where does Halloween come from?
Our modern celebration of Halloween is a descendent of the ancient
Celtic fire festival called "Samhain". The word is pronounced "sow-
in", with "sow" rhyming with cow.
2. What does "Samhain" mean?
The Irish English dictionary published by the Irish Texts Society
defines the word as follows: "Samhain, All Hallowtide, the feast of
the dead in Pagan and Christian times, signalizing the close of
harvest and the initiation of the winter season, lasting till May,
during which troops (esp. the Fiann) were quartered. Faeries were
imagined as particularly active at this season. From it the half year
is reckoned. also called Feile Moingfinne (Snow Goddess).(1) The
Scottish Gaelis Dictionary defines it as "Hallowtide. The Feast of All
Soula. Sam + Fuin = end of summer."(2) Contrary to the information
published by many organizations, there is no archaeological or
literary evidence to indicate that Samhain was a deity. The Celtic
Gods of the dead were Gwynn ap Nudd for the British, and Arawn for the
Welsh. The Irish did not have a "lord of death" as such.
3. Why was the end of summer of significance to the Celts?
The Celts were a pastoral people as opposed to an agricultural people.
The end of summer was significant to them because it meant the time of
year when the structure of their lives changed radically. The cattle
were brought down from the summer pastures in the hills and the people
were gathered into the houses for the long winter nights of story-
telling and handicrafts.
4. What does it have to do with a festival of the dead?
The Celts believed that when people died, they went to a land of
eternal youth and happiness called Tir nan Og. They did not have the
concept of heaven and hell that the Christian church later brought
into the land. The dead were sometimes believed to be dwelling with
the Fairy Folk, who lived in the numerous mounds or sidhe (pron.
"shee") that dotted the Irish and Scottish countryside. Samhain was
the new year to the Celts. In the Celtic belief system, turning
points, such as the time between one day and the next, the meeting of
sea and shore, or the turning of one year into the next were seen as
magickal times. The turning of the year was the most potent of these
times. This was the time when the "veil between the worlds" was at its
thinnest, and the living could communicate with their beloved dead in
Tir nan Og.
5. What about the aspects of "evil" that we associate with the night today?
The Celts did not have demons and devils in their belief system. The
fairies, however, were often considered hostile and dangerous to
humans because they were seen as being resentful of men taking over
their lands. On this night, they would sometimes trick humans into
becoming lost in the fairy mounds, where they would be trapped
forever. After the coming of the Christians to the Celtic lands,
certain of the folk saw the fairies as those angels who had sided
neither with Gor or with Lucifer in their dispute, and thus, were
condemned to walk the earth until judgment day.(3) In addition to the
fairies, many humans were abroad on this night, causing mischief.
since this night belonged neither to one year or the other, Celtic
folk believed that chaos reigned and the people would engage in
"horseplay and practical jokes".(4) This served also as a final outlet
for high spirits before the gloom of winter set in.
6. What about "trick or treat"?
During the course of these hijinks, many of the people would imitate
the fairies and go from house to house begging for treats. Failure to
supply the treats would usually result in practical jokes being
visited on the owner of the house. Since the fairies were abroad on
this night, an offering of food or milk was frequently left for them
on the steps of the house, so the homeowner could gain the blessings
of the "good folk" for the coming year. Many of the households would
also leave out a "dumb supper" for the spirits of the departed.(5) The
folks who were abroad in the night imitating the fairies would some-
times carry turnips carved to represent faces. This is the origin of
our modern Jack-o-lantern.
7. Was this also a religious festival?
Yes. Celtic religion was very closely tied to the Earth. Their great
legends are concerned with momentous happenings which took place
around the time of Samhain. many of the great battles and legends of
kings and heroes center on this night. Many of the legends concern the
promotion of fertility of the earth and the insurance of the contin-
uance of the lives of the people through the dark winter season.
8. How was the religious festival observed?
Unfortunately, we know very little about that. W.G. Wood-Martin, in
his book, "Traces of the Elder Faiths of Ireland" states, "There is
comparitively little trace of the religion of the Druids now discov-
erable , save in the folklore of the peasantry, and the references
relative to it that occur in ancient and authentic Irish manuscripts
are, as far as present appearances go, meagre and insufficient to
support anything like a sound theory for full development of the
ancient religion."(6) The Druids were the priests of the Celtic
peoples. They passed on their teachings by oral tradition instead of
committing them to writing, so when they perished, most of their
religious teachings were lost. We DO know that this festival was
characterized as one of the four great "Fire Festivals" of the Celts.
Legends tell us that on this night, all the hearth fires in Ireland
were extinguished, and then re-lit from the central fire of the Druids
at Tlachtga, 12 miles from the royal hill of Tara. This fire was
kindled from "need fire" which had been generated by the friction of
rubbing two sticks together as opposed to more conventional methods
common in those days.(7) The extinguishing of the fires symbolized the
"dark half" of the year, and the re-kindling from the Druidic fires
was symbolic of the returning life hoped for, and brought about
through the ministrations of the priesthood.
9. What about sacrifices?
Animals were certainly killed at this time of year. This was the time
to "cull" from the herds those animals which were not desired for
breeding purposes for the next year. Most certainly, some of these
would have been done in a ritualistic manner for the use of the
priesthood.
10. Were humans sacrificed?
Scholars are sharply divided on this account, with about half
believing that it took place and half doubting its veracity. Caesar
and Tacitus ceratinly tell tales of the human sacrifices of the Celts,
but Nora Chadwick points out in her book" The Celts" that"it is not
without interest that the Romans themselves had abolished human
sacrifices not long before Caesar's time, and references to the
practice among various barbarian peoples have certain overtones of
self-righteousness. There is little direct archaeological evidence
relevant to Celtic sacrifice."(8) Indeed, there is little reference to
this practice in Celtic literature either. The only surviving story
echoes the story of the Minotaur in Greek legend. The Fomorians, a
race of evil giants said to inhabit portions of Ireland before the
coming of the Tuatha de Danaan, or "people of the Goddess Danu",
demanded the sacrifice of 2/3 of the corn, milk, and first born chil-
dren of the Fir Bolg, or human inhabitants of Ireland. The De Danaan
ended this practice in the second battle of Moy Tura, which
incidentally took place on Samhain.
11. What other practices were associated with this season?
Folk tradition tells us of many divination practices associated with
Samhain. Among the most common were divinations dealing with marriage,
weather, and the coming fortunes for the year. These were performed
via such methods as ducking for apples, and apple peeling. Ducking for
apples was a marriage divination. The first person to bite an apple
would be the first to marry in the coming year. Apple peeling was a
divination to see how long your life would be. The longer the umbroken
apple peel, the longer your life was destined to be.(9) In Scotland,
people would place stones in the ashes of the hearth before retiring
for the night. Anyone whose stone had been disturbed during the night
was said to be destined to die during the coming year.
12. How did these ancient Celtic practices come to America?
When the potato crop in Ireland failed, many of the Irish people,
modern day descendents of the Celts, immigrated to America, bringing
with them their folk practices, which are the remnants of the Celtic
festival observances.
13. We in America view this as a harvest festival. Did the Celts also
view it as such?
Yes. The Celts had 3 harvests: Aug 1, or Lammas, was the first
harvest, when the first fruits were offered to the Gods in thanks. The
Fall Equinox was the "true harvest". This was when the bulk of the
crops would be brought in. Samhain was the final harvest of the year.
Anything left on the vines or in the fields after this date was
considered blasted by the fairies, or "pu'ka", and unfit for human
consumption.
14. Does anyone today celebrate Samhain as a religious observance?
Yes. many followers of various pagan religions, such as Druids and
Wiccans observe this day as a religious festival. They view it as a
memorial day for their dead friends, similar to the national holiday
of Memorial Day in May. It is still a night to practice various forms
of divination concerning future events. Also, it is considered a time
to wrap up old projects, take stock of ones life, and initiate new
projects for the coming year. As the winter season is approaching, it
is a good time to do studying on research projects and also a goot
time to begin hand work such as sewing, leather working, woodworking,
etc. for Yule gifts later in the year.
15. Does this involve human or animal sacrifice?
Absolutely NOT! Hollywood to the contrary, blood sacrifice is not
practiced by modern day followers of Wicca or Druidism. There may be
some people who THINK they are practicing Wicca by performing blood
sacrifices, but this is NOT condoned by reputable practitioners of the
modern day NeoPagan religions.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
FOOTNOTES:
(1) Rev. Patrick Dineen, "An Irish English Dictionary" (Dublin, 1927),
p. 937
(2) Malcolm MacLennan, "A Pronouncing and Etymological
Dictionary of the Gaelic Language" (Aberdeen, 1979), p. 279
(3) W.G. Wood-Martin,"Traces of the Elder Faiths of Ireland" (Port
Washington, 1902), p. 5.
(4) Kevin Danaher,"The Year in Ireland", (Cork,1972), p. 214
(5) Alwyn & Brinley Rees,"Celtic Heritage" (New York,1961), p. 90
(6) Wood-Martin, p. 249
(7) Rees & Rees, p. 90
(8) Nora Chadwick, "The Celts" (Harmondsworth,1982), p. 151
(9) Madeleine Pelner Cosman, "Medieval Holidays and Festivals,"
(New York, 1981), p. 81
-------------------------------------------------------------------
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Bord, Janet & Colin, "The Secret Country", London: Paladin Books, 1978
Chadwick, Nora, "The Celts", Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1982
Coglan, Ronan, "A Dictionary of Irish Myth and Legend", Dublin,1979
Cosman, Madeleine Pelner, "Medieval Holidays and Festivals",
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1981
Danaher, Kevin, "The Year in Ireland", Cork: The Mercier Press, 1972
Dineen, Rev. Patrick S.,M.A, "An Irish English Dictionary", Dublin:
The Irish texts Society, 1927
MacCana, Proinsias, "Celtic Mythology", London: The Hamlyn Publishing
Group Limited, 1970
MacLennan, Malcolm, "A Pronouncing and Etymological Dictionary of the
Gaelic Language", Aberdeen: Acair and Aberdeen University Press, 1979
MacNeill, Maire', "The Festival of Lughnasa", Dublin: Comhairle
Bhealoideas Eireann,1982
Powell, T.G., E., "The Celts", New York: Thanes & Hudson,1980
Rees, Alwyn and Brinley, "Celtic Heritage, Ancient Traditions in Ireland
and Wales", New York: Thanes & Hudson, 1961
Sharkey, John, "Celtic Mysteries", New York: Thanes and Hudson, 1975
Spence, Lewis, "British Fairy Origins", Wellingborough: Aquarian Press,
1946
Squire, Charles, "Celtic Myth & Legend, Poetry & Romance", New York:
Newcastle Publishing Co, Inc. 1975
Toulson, Shirley, "The Winter Solstice", London: Jill Norman & Hobhouse,
Ltd, 1981
Wood-Martin, W.G., "Traces of the Elder Faiths of Ireland, Vols I & II,
Port Washington: Kennikat Press, 1902 (c)
copywrite 1988, Rowan Moonstone P O Box 21058 OKC. OK 73120 Permission
is granted for use by pagan groups and on pagan BBS systems.All others
must contact the author prior to use.