The Origins of Halloween, Part Two: Thanks to the Irish!

The celebration of Halloween was not widespread in the United States until the 1840s, when great waves of Irish immigrants arrived in the States, bringing their ancient Halloween traditions with them. 

The beliefs and customs that surround Halloween today, and the images associated with it in our minds, have their roots in the old Irish/Scottish Celtic festival of Samhain (see my previous post). 

The Celtic people of ancient Ireland experienced the natural and supernatural as existing in very close proximity to each other, and it can be said that on the eve of Samhain -- a potent juncture or break in normal time -- they existed within each other.  

Indeed, it was long believed that a child born on this night will have "double sight"; that is, he or she will be able to perceive and communicate with the Otherworld.  

It was believed that at each of the seasonal transitional festivals, the Otherworld was temporarily upset.  Because it was the juncture between the old and new year, Halloween brought a complete upheaval, and all the inhabitants of the other world were free for the night to work "weal or woe" on any humans they encountered! 

This was the night when the usual boundaries between the dead and the living, the dark and the light, the spiritual realm and the natural world, were transcended.  "The dead" in this case were not entirely frightening; they were simply the Ancestors.

As Christianity moved into the British Isles and Ireland, it continued its time-honored policy of incorporating pagan holidays into the Christian calendar, and Samhain, the "festival of the dead," was re-designated All Saint's Day, in memory of the blessed dead. All Saint's Day is still celebrated on November 1.

Although filtered through Christianity, the traditional customs and beliefs survived in the celebration of All Hallow's Eve, or Hallowe'en.  (The word "hallow" derives from the Middle English halve, meaning "saint.")

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

 

The vintage Halloween images in this article are courtesy

 Lunagirl Images!