Between the Worlds: The Origins of Halloween

Halloween is a holiday familiar to all Americans.  Children disguised as ghosts and goblins (and superheroes and princesses) roam the streets trick-or-treating; teenagers play pranks and try to frighten themselves with trips to the graveyard and scary movies; young girls may attempt by various means of divination to learn of their future husbands; and generally everyone has a good time drinking cider (or something harder), bobbing for apples, wearing costumes, and waiting for "the witching hour."  But....

it seems few people know of the origins of Halloween and its wonderful mood of magic and fright.

Among the ancient Celtic peoples of Europe, the end of October was marked by the festival of Samhain.  The Celts were a very large group of related tribes who lived throughout much of ancient Europe.  (Very many of us have Celts among our ancestors!)

Samhain (sometimes translated hesitantly as "summer's end") was one of four major yearly festivals of the Celtic calendar.  As the life of these people was embedded in and dependant upon the cycles of nature, their calendar was based on the movement of the seasons.  The festivals can be seen as recognizing and celebrating important transition point in the seasonal year.

Ancient Holiday Festivals

The four "solar" festivals, corresponding to the major seasonal transitions, were the Winter Solstice (Yule), the Spring Equinox (Eoster), the Summer Solstice, and the Autumn Equinox.  But there were also four "lunar" festivals: Imbolc or Candlemas around February 1, Beltane on May 1, Lugnasad or Lammas on August 1, and Samhain or All-Soul's on November 1.  The Celts measured time primarily by the moon, and these four festivals may be compared to the lunar stages.  Candlemas recognized the waxing (growth) of the year, Beltane the fullness, and Lammas the waning, while Samhain celebrated the new or dark moon, both the end and the beginning of the cycle.

In the Celtic calendar (as many other ancient calendars) a "day" began at sunset the day before, and holiday observations began on the "eve."  As a survival of this world view, we celebrate All Hallow's Eve and Christmas Eve!  Jewish holidays similarly begin at sunset.  

Imbolc, later Christianized as Candlemas, was thought to be the best time for predicting the weather of the coming spring -- a belief that survives today in Groundhog Day.  Beltane or May Day signified the beginning of summer, a time of warmth, abundance, and fertility.  Lughnasa, later known as Lammas, was the harvest festival in these northern lands, a time of gathering in -- of enjoying the fruits of summer and beginning preparations for the long winter ahead.

Samhain (beginning at sundown on October 31) was the Celtic new year festival, and the most powerful transition of the year.  It marked the end of one year and the beginning of another, and the entry of winter.  The waning light and warmth of the sun gives way to darkness and cold.  The harvest was completed and crops were put away for the winter.  

As the time of the death of the old year, Samhain was the appropriate time to remember the dead; their spirits were believed to return to earth on this night.  So Samhain symbolized death -- death which is not final but rather a dark incubation necessary before rebirth in the spring. 

Samhain was a pagan celebration, and although early Christian missionaries to northern Europe identified their saints and holy days with the gods and holy days of the Celts, they also portrayed the earlier religion's deities as evil and devilish.

Although it has come to us altered by time, by Christianity and eventually by modern commercialism, the essential character and wisdom of the ancient festival is reflected in the imagery & celebrations of Halloween. 

To be continued..... more to come about Halloween and Halloween customs and traditions!

 

The vintage Halloween images in this article are courtesy

 Lunagirl Images!