Okay, I’m harbouring a agenda as I write this story – go figure. Anyway, I’m at a hair salon getting my monthly haircut, when my stylist strikes up a conversation about Halloween. “What are the kids going out as?” “Are you handing out candy or going out with then?” This sort of small talk.
Before I know it, a forty-something man in the next chair curtly explains to me that I shouldn’t celebrate this holiday with my kids, and if I do, they and I, apparently along with 100,000,000 other children, would be cast into hell – fire and brimstone, torture, demons, the whole thing. By the way, in case you were wondering, he was a Christian Fundamentalist, revealing himself to be born-again – a true follower of the word – one who has been enlightened.
Enlightened. Hmm.
Now understand, I would normally ignore this sort of non-sense, but today would be different. Just this morning, I was forced to inform a dear friend of mine, one that I love and respect, that I could no longer speak to her. She happened to be a Christian Fundamentalist as well (ironically born-again), and I felt her religious doctrine was a dividing force in our relationship - one I simply couldn’t deal with. She was unyielding, willing to sacrafice everything good between us for her beliefs, some of which would appear to be misguided and destructive. Needless to say, my mood was a bit fouled, and my friend at the hair salon would pay the price. I abruptly demonstrated to him the utter depth of his ignorance regarding Halloween and Anti-Neo-Pagan ideology. I would explain the Celtic roots of Halloween and history to the modern day, whether he wanted to hear it or not. Besides, he couldn’t leave with only half his hair cut!
First some history…
A ancient festival called Samhain was the time during the year that the Western Christian calendar moved its “All Saints’ Day” to. To this day, Eastern Christians continue to celebrate All Saints’ Day in the spring, as the Roman Christians had. Samhain was the “evening” of “All Hallows.” The word ‘hallowed’ means ’holy’ or ‘saint.’ All of this verbage would eventually morph into the modern word ”Halloween.”
Samhain was also the universally accepted time between the Summer and Winter seasons. The day before Samhain was the last day of summer, and the day after Samhain was the first day of winter. Because it was ’between’ seasons, Samhain was (and is) considered a very magical time. Because Samhain was so important to the ancients, many mythological events are said to have occured on that day. It was on Samhain that the Nemedians captured the terrible Tower of Glass built by the evil Formorians, and many other events of a dramatic or prophetic nature in Celtic myth. Many of these events were seen as temporary victories over the forces of darkness by the forces of light.
There is evidence that the festival known as Samhain, was celebrated over a three day period, later trimmed to one day. Philip Carr-Gomm, speaking of Paleopagan Groups in England, is quoted as saying:
“Samhuinn (Samhain), from 31 October to 2 November was a time of no-time. Celtic society, like all early societies, was highly structured and organised, everyone knew their place. But to allow that order to be psychologically comfortable, the Celts knew that there had to be a time when order and structure were abolished, when chaos could reign. And Samhuinn, was such a time. Time was abolished for the three days of this festival and people did crazy things, men dressed as women and women as men…gates were unhinged and left in ditches, peoples’ horses were moved to different fields, and children would knock on neighbours’ doors for food and treats in a way that we still find today, in a watered-down way, in the custom of trick-or-treating on Hallowe’en.”
“But behind this apparent lunacy, lay a deeper meaning. The Druids knew that these three days had a special quality about them. The veil between this world and the World of the Ancestors was drawn aside on these nights, and for those who were prepared, journeys could be made in safety to the ’other side’. The Druid rites, therefore, were concerned with making contact with the spirits of the departed, who were seen as sources of guidance and inspiration rather than as sources of dread. The dark moon, the time when no moon can be seen in the sky, was the phase of the moon which ruled this time, because it represents a time in which our mortal sight needs to be obscured in order for us to see into the other worlds.”
“The dead are honoured and feasted, not as the dead, but as the living spirits of loved ones and of guardians who hold the root-wisdom of the tribe. With the coming of Christianity, this festival was turned into Hallowe’en (31 October), All Hallows [All Saints Day] (1 November), and All Souls Day (2 November). Here we can see most clearly the way in which Christianity built on the Pagan foundations it found rooted in these 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.”
The Church, and believe me it tried, was unable to get the people to stop celebrating Samhain. So what did they do? They poured holy water over it and gave it new name, as they did with many other Pagan holidays and customs (Easter, most of the cathedrals of Europe being built over Pagan sacred places, etc.) The church and Christians have a long history of being imperialistic. So when Fundamentalists come to your local school board and try to get Halloween removed from the public schools because “it’s a Pagan holiday,” they are perfectly correct. Of course, Valentine’s Day/Lupercalia, but more importantly, Easter/Eostre, and Christmas/Yule also have many Pagan elements associated with their dates, and symbols, yet the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Born-Again-Christians, and other Christian fundamentalists usually fail to point this out, because these holidays have been ‘Jesus-fied.’.
Moreover, Halloween has nothing at all to do with devil worship or satanism.
I always hear fundamentalist Christians saying, ”If the holiday isn’t evil why are there so many evil images associated with it” such as ghosts, skeletons, black cats, ugly witches, demons, monsters, and Jack O’Lanterns?
Answer: these images aren’t evil at all, and the ones that are were added by people opposed to the holiday, to make it look evil.
For instance, ghosts make perfect sense. Samhain was the festival where the Gates Between the Worlds were open wide and departed friends and family could cross over in either direction. People invited their ancestors to join them in celebration (celebration of the dead). The only ones who would cower in fear would be people who had wronged someone dead and who therefore feared retribution of some sort.
Samhain was the time of year when the herds were thinned or culled. This means that farmers killed old, sick or weak animals, as well as others they didn’t think would make it through the winter with that year’s available food. In those times, most people lived with death as a very common part of life. Samhain became a symbol of these annual deaths. Soooo… skeletons and skulls joined the ghosts as symbols of the holiday. Nothing evil there. Mexiacns celebrate Los dias de los Muertos, or “Days of the Dead,” (combining All Saints Day with All Souls Day) skeleton and skull toys and even candies are made and enjoyed by the millions, many by and for devout Roman Catholics.
How about black cats? Medieval Christians feared cats, particularly black cats. It’s ironic that Christians feared cats so much that they killed tens of thousands of them, leaving them exposed to flea infested rats and mice, and the Black Plague, that exterminated millions of humans. Later, the Black Death was blamed on the Diabolic Witches the Church ‘invented,’ then proceeded to murder (more Christian ignorance run amok). Of course, black cats as ‘evil’ animals, became associated with the ‘evil’ witches, and Halloween.
Conclusion: If we get rid of all Pagan aspects in all holidays like Halloween, there won’t be anything for adults or kids to enjoy. All we’ll be able to do is sit around, wringing our hands, waiting for the Lord to take us to a place that no one knows for sure exists (only in faith), and be miserable while we wait. Pardon me, but I opt to watch my two little boys laugh and be happy on Halloween night, as they collect their treats and treasures, using their imagination, while I ignore the Christian fundamentalists, and honor passed family and friends, as I seek their inspiration and guidance.
Happy Hallowe’ en…
