The
Celtic Origins of Hallowe'en
Delivered by
the Worship Committee, October 30, 2005
At the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, New Bern, NC
A
year ago we had a presentation on Beltane and the Green Man, the pagan
rites of spring and renewal. Today we will explore Samhain, the pagan
rites of winter and death, and the origin of Halloween.
The
historical records we have of the Celts were written by the Romans,
enemies of the Celts, so we can assume that they were a wee bit biased.
But even without a first-hand account, we have the ingrained traditions of
the societies of the Celtic world, from Spain, Germany, France and
especially from Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England, where so many of our
American traditions started. Most of what we can say we KNOW about Celtic traditions comes from examining those that have
survived until fairly recent times, and from examining traditions that
have been wrapped up in other festivals, like Christmas, Easter, and of
course, Halloween. As these Celtic people immigrated to the US, they
brought their traditions with them, and many of their traditions merged
and mingled in the American Melting Pot.
All
agrarian peoples celebrated the harvest, and in some form, they celebrated
the New Year. The New Year could be the winter or summer solstice; it
could be the end of summer when the harvest was safely in. In
the religion of the ancient Celts, the New Year recognized both the
harvest and beginning of winter, at the first full moon of the winter
season, approximately November First. The Celts recognized only two
seasons, Summer and Winter. Growth and death.
The
Celts had three separate
harvest festivals, the harvest of the grain, the harvest of the fruit and
the harvest of the meat. It was this harvest of the meat, with its death
and bloodshed that was celebrated as Samhain. Samhain in Scots is
translated as “End of Summer.”
Samhain
traditions then naturally deal with fires, food, and death. The death of
the living world around them signified the approach of winter. The death
of their animals provided the food they would need to see them through the
winter. And it shouldn’t surprise us that in the northern latitudes, as
the dark of winter was approaching, fire would be a critical part of their
concern for the future. Fire, for preparation of food, for light and for
warmth through the long cold winter months, meant the difference between
life and death.
All
over Europe, Samhain was celebrated with huge bonfires. The term itself,
bonfire, may come from the concept of “Bone Fires” when the remains of
the harvest of slaughtered animals were tossed on the fire as a sacrifice
to the gods to assure fertility the following year.
Celtic
days went from Sundown to Sundown, so Samhain began on what we would call
the “eve,” October 31. In the evening the villagers extinguished all
hearth fires. The following morning, an ember from the bonfire was given
to each family to start a new
fire for the New Year. These
fires were intended to keep the homes light, warm and free from evil spirits.
The
blessings of fire were incorporated into the original jack ‘o lantern,
which was a turnip, carved and with a flame on the inside, set in the
window or on the doorsill to keep wandering spirits from the home. This
turnip may have been the vessel used to carry the ember home to the family
hearth.
At
Samhain the veil between the natural and the supernatural world, between
the living and the dead, was thin and permeable, so the dead could visit
the living; it was a time for communicating with those who had died. It
was a time when the mystery of death was at large in their darkening
world. Both evil and good spirits would be traveling the roads and
forests, and the trick was to encourage the good and frighten away the
evil. Food and light would encourage the good spirits to come in and bring
good fortune to one’s home.
The
British and Irish Celts remained Pagan from sometime before 500 BC until
early in the fourth century AD with the coming of Christianity.
In
601 Pope Gregory I issued an edict that the Church was to stop destroying
local traditions, and consecrate them to Christ instead, so the Church
began the process of co-opting the local religions. Mithra’s birthday,
December 25 became Christmas, Easter was taken from the pagan celebration
of spring and fertility. In the 700’s, Pope Gregory III moved the
Catholic All Saints Day from May to November First to overlay the
Christian feast of celebration of dead saints onto the old pagan celebration of dead ancestors. It
was another 500 years before Nov 2 became All Souls Day. All Souls Day was
a day of commemoration of all the dead and incorporated those Samhain
traditions which celebrated the Pagan belief that the souls of the dead
would return for a meal with the family.
Co-opting
pagan celebrations and traditions diminished but did not totally eradicate
the Pagan beliefs. Celtic belief in the supernatural persisted, while the
church tried to define it as being not merely dangerous, but
malicious.
From
the beginning, immigrants from Ireland, Scotland and England brought their
secular Halloween customs to the U.S., but the festival did not become really
popular here until the latter part of the 1800’s, after the mass
immigrations from Ireland and Germany
German
immigrants looked at the Irish celebration of Halloween and recognized
their own customs related to Carnival and Walpurgisnacht, the witches
Sabbath. At Walpurgisnacht, witches flew on broomsticks with their black
cats.
Mischief
night pranks are probably German in origin as well. In small towns in
Germany tricks and pranks are still traditional right before Mayday.
Why
is All Souls such an important concept for Unitarians?
In
1818, when one of the early Unitarian churches, the church in New York
City, was looking for a minister, they tried to get the famous Unitarian,
William Ellery Channing, to leave Boston and settle as their minister. He
declined to come to the rough port city of New York, but if the
congregation could not have Channing, they could have one of his famous
lines, "I am a living member of the great family of All Souls,” and
they became All Souls Church. The idea of celebrating the diverse family
of humanity quickly took root among Unitarians.
So
originally, the Unitarian All Souls day was not a Day of the Dead, but a
day of the living, to celebrate, in Channing's words, the living
members of the great family of All Souls.
Today
most Unitarians observe All Souls Day as a day of remembrance for friends
and loved ones who have passed away, but we do try to maintain the idea of
celebrating lives well lived rather than displaying our grief over the
loss of those departed.
|
