Happy Samhain! (AKA Where did Hallowe'en come from?)

[Ember]

Just some history for anyone who likes this sort of thing!

In prehistoric Europe, these crucial few days (October 31 to November 2) were redolent with beginnings and endings.

By now, the crops were meant to be in, animals would have been brought down from distant pasture, and thanks given for this bounty. Here, past, present and future met to mark, not just the end of summer, but the advent of the Celtic New Year. As with many archaic societies, the Celts' day began at dusk; their year likewise commenced as darkness gathered.

Samhain (pronounced "sa-win" and meaning literally "summers end") marks one of the two great doorways of the Celtic year, for the Celts divided the year into two seasons: the light and the dark, at Beltane on May 1st and Samhain on November 1st. Some believe that Samhain was the more important festival, marking the beginning of a whole new cycle, just as the Celtic day began at night. For it was understood that in dark silence comes whisperings of new beginnings, the stirring of the seed below the ground. Whereas Beltane welcomes in the summer with joyous celebrations at dawn, the most magically potent time of this festival is November Eve, the night of October 31st, known today of course, as Halloween.

When the sun set on October 31st the old year ended. The new year did not begin until the sun rose on the 1st of November. Between sunset and sunrise the veil between this world and the next was it at its thinnest as you were "between worlds".

So as we step into the dark half of the Celtic year, and the sun sets on All Hallows Eve'n, enjoy the magic and mystery and have a HAPPY HALLOWE'EN!!

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

Blessed Samhain!!! to all those who celebrate! Happy Halloween to the rest!!!

friends of mine are having a "dumb supper" tonight and then a bonfire, I intend to accept their invitation someday - once DD is too old for ToTing!!!!

 

[clgwli]

I think you only have about half of the story. I understood it was a mix of Celtic and Roman Catholic festivals/holy days. If I have it right it is actually a mix of All Saints Day & All Souls Day with Samahin. Catholics moved the day to coincide so that they could more easily convert. If you look in South America there is a big Dia De Los Muertos as well that also has a lot of history with American type of Halloween

I do wish those who celebrate Samahin all the best!

 

[Ember]

I think you only have about half of the story. I understood it was a mix of Celtic and Roman Catholic festivals/holy days. If I have it right it is actually a mix of All Saints Day & All Souls Day with Samahin. Catholics moved the day to coincide so that they could more easily convert. If you look in South America there is a big Dia De Los Muertos as well that also has a lot of history with American type of Halloween

I do wish those who celebrate Samahin all the best!

The Roman Catholic element came later and was an effort to incorporate pagan beliefs into more acceptable ways to celebrate. To quote an article on www.canadafirst.net, which has a nice concise summary:

The Celtic inheritance is of enormous significance to North Americans because, whether or not we realize it, most of us have Celtic blood running through our veins. At its height during the 3rd century B.C., the Celtic World was enormous; ranging from southern Spain to the Caucausus from the North Sea to the Mediterranean. That great, untamed empire of individualists was unconquered and ununified by any external force (save culture) from its appearance in the 8th century B.C. until the advent of Christianity.

Most of us are vaguely aware that the early Christian church accommodated the old Celtic traditions of Yule (Christmas), Ostara (Easter), and Samhain or Hallowe'en (All Hallows Eve), but this was hardly the remarkable concession we moderns might imagine. In a world dominated by natural rhythms, the waxing and waning of sun and moon would tend to dictate division of the year the world over. Indeed, this season was sacred to the ancient Egyptians (worship of Isis), Native Americans (dances), and the Indo-European Hindus (Diwali or New Year).

In A.D. 601 Pope Gregory I issued an edict to his missionaries, instructing them to refrain from destroying local objects of worship, and consecrate them to Christ instead.

In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III decreed that All Saints' Day should be "moved" from May 13th. The day devoted to all the hallowed ones, "All Hallows" or "All Saints" Day, was now November 1, and the day following that (November 2), "Hallow Tide" or "All Souls" Day was set aside to honour those who had not been saints. Thus, the evening preceeding all this -- (October 31) -- was "All Hallow E'en". "Here we can see most clearly the way in which Christianity built on the pagan foundations it found rooted in these [British] isles. Not only does the purpose of the festival match with the earlier one, but even the unusual length of the festival is the same." Philip Carr-Gomm, "Elements of the Druid Tradition."

So you are very right that our modern day conception of Hallowe'en was indeed influenced by Christianity, the actual pagan celebrations are much older. I did skip over the later story of the holiday, though.

 

[GothTink]

Merry Samhain, everybody!!