Halloween: The Gnarled Roots of Halloween

By Julia Jablonski

The United States is a culture rich with the various global influences bestowed on us by our immigrants. Halloween similarly is a celebration that has evolved from the combination of several different traditions.

 The roots of Halloween are unearthed in the rituals of Druids and Celtic priests of pre-Christian Ireland and Scotland. November 1 was the beginning of the new year, so Halloween, or "Samhain," (pronounced "sow'an") was like New Year's Eve. It was both a time of death and new beginnings, of harvest feasting and magic. Crops were harvested and animals who were not expected to survive the winter were slaughtered. Celtics believed that any food left on the vine after October 31 was tainted by the fairies and hence inedible.

 Young people would roam the countryside and villages disguised in scary masks, carrying lanterns carved from turnips. The veil between the living and the dead was believed to be the thinnest at this time, and therefore one could most readily communicate with loved ones in spirit. Of course, other spirits also had access to the physical, hence the custom of carving scary jack-o'-lanterns to frighten off wicked or mischievous ghosts and goblins. People were intensely gearing up to survive winter, and it was feared that malevolent spirits would destroy the crops and kill farm animals. Bonfires were lighted to drive spirits away or to help to light their way back to their proper place in the spirit world.

 During this pagan new year festival, banquets were laid out for the spirits of loved ones who were thought to be visiting the houses. At the end of the feasting, villagers disguised themselves as spirits or the dead and paraded out of the villages, leading the spirits away. Villagers also set out bowls of fruit and sweets in hopes of placating the spirits. Over time, youths began to dress up as spirits and beg for treats, threatening to play tricks on those who didn't cooperate!

 The early Roman Catholic Church went to great lengths to stamp out paganism, but these traditions died hard. As Samhain and fall equinox celebrations were of great importance to pre-Christians, efforts were made to replace these rituals with Church celebrations.

 In the eighth century Pope Gregory moved All Saints Day (the day designed to recognize all the saints who didn't have their own day of celebration) from May 13 to November 1, making Halloween the eve of this celebration. November 1 became "All hallow mass," and October 31, All Hallow E'en. Pagans and "witches" who dared follow the old ways were said to ride that night, doing "evil" bidding. Many falsities about the evils of these old ways were invented by the Church to frighten its followers away from pagan practices.

 In the 1800's Halloween really took off in the United States with the influx of immigrants from Ireland and Scotland during the great famine in those countries. The Irish and Scottish traditions became influenced by Native American beliefs and Colonial religious obsession with witchcraft. As pumpkins were abundant here, they became the lanterns of choice for frightening away spirits.

 Of course, no discussion of the origins of Halloween would be complete without including the influence of Mexico's Dias De Los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. The Aztecs believed that the spirits of their dead would return as hummingbirds and butterflies. Every autumn when the Monarch butterfly returns to Mexico for the winter, they are welcomed back by the locals who believe them to be bearing the spirits of their loved ones.

 The Day of the Dead is a celebration honoring loved ones in Spirit. It is not a time of sorrow or fear, but a time of remembering those we have loved and rejoicing in our own lives. Fruits and sweets are offered to ancestors and loved ones on altars, much as is done in Asian countries. Candles burn all night to remember the departed. Families picnic at cemeteries where they clean and beautify the family plots. Flowers, fruit, bread and candles are placed on the graves. Some families spend the entire night in the cemetery.

 Many cultural influences have gone into making our modern observance of Halloween truly unique. It is a magical time, a time when many are focused on the mysteries of life and death, and therefore it is a powerful time for communing with spirit and scrying to discern one's own future or guidance from beyond. It is a time to give thanks for the blessings in our lives, for through such gratitude we will sow the seeds of future harvests.

Julia Jablonski is an ordained Spiritualist minister, medium and clairvoyant. Please Visit Julia's website here: http://www.muse-net.com/