Have We Lost The Meaning of Halloween? ( Part 1)

 

We've all done it, and continue to do it.  We dress in costumes, get the little ones dressed, and walk from door to door through our neighborhoods collecting candy. 

 

Every year, I hear people talk about remembering what Christmas is all about.  Well I thought it would be nice to remember what Halloween was all about, as it's not just about trick or treating, despite what many of us think.

               

The origins of Halloween dates back to the ancient Celtic festivals of Samhain ( pronounced sow-in), some 2000 years ago.  They celebrated the new year on November 1st. 

 

November 1st marked the end of Summer, and the harvest.  It also marked the beginning of the dark cold Winter, which was a time of year that was many times associated with human death.  

 

The Celts believed that on the night before November 1st, the boundry of the two worlds, the living and the dead, became blurred.  This day was October 31st, also would become known as All Hallow's Eve.   

 

The Samhain Festivals took place on October  31st, the day they believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to Earth.  The Celts thought that the presence of these spirits caused damage to their crops, as well as making it much easier for the Druids, and Celtic priests to make predictions about their future. 

 

Druids built huge bonfires to commemorate the festivals.  People gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic Deities.  During these celebrations the Celts dressed in costumes, which typically consisted of animal heads and skins.  These costumes were believed to keep the Celts safe from the spirits, as the spirits could be "fooled", and would not know who to go after. 

 

 When the Roman Empire had conquuered the majority of Celtic territory, they eventually combined two of their own festivals with the Samhain Festival.  The first festival which was Feralia, a day in late October, where the Romans commemorated the passing of the dead.  The second festival was a day that they would honor Pomona.  Pomona was the Roman Goddess of Fruit and trees, whose symbol is the apple.  It is believed that the combining of these festivals is where the tradition of "bobbing" for apples came to be. 

 

Some 600 years later, Pope Boniface IV had dedicated the Pantheon in Rome in honor of all Christian martyrs, and the Catholic feast of All Martyrs Day was established in the Western Church.  It was later expanded to include all saints as well as martyrs, and moved from a May observance to a November 1st observance.  Later still many Christian beliefs made their way to the Celtics, and than gradually blended.  This All Saints Day celebration was known as "All-Hallows".  The night before it, which was the traditional night of Samhain would begin to be called All-Hallows eve, and eventually Halloween.

 

Maybe after researching all of this, it has dawned on me why many of us have forgotten the meaning of Halloween.  Maybe it's because none of us, like to think about death.  

 

Stay tuned for Part 2:  Halloween Superstitions