The evening part of the first day of the three day festival of Samhain
is now widely celebrated, more so in the US than in Europe, as
Hallowe’en. The Irish for Hallowe’en is ‘Oiche Shamhna’ (ee-uh shown-uh),
the eve of Samhain. Essentially, the modern festival is based on Christian
doctrines some elements of which are associated with, but not necessarily
identical to, the earlier Celtic ones. There were also Roman elements
added to the festival when Rome conquered Britain. A festival dedicated
toPomona; a goddess of fruit was celebrated around this date and was
grafted onto the Celtic celebrations. The tradition of ‘bobbing for apples’
came from the Roman games played during Pomona’s festival.

Samhain is the first major Celtic festival following the autumnal equinox.
The name is recorded on the Coligny Calendar, a Gaulish bronze tablet
dating from the first century AD, as Samonios. The word ‘Samhain' means
November, as well as being descriptive of the festival. The Christinisation
gave rise to the name change, it being the eve of All Hallows (holy), the
Christian festival that celebrates the dead, or more accurately, the saints
and redeemed sinners restored to Heaven now and at the day of
judgement by Christ. The festival of All Hallows, All Saints or Hallowmass
was traditionally celebrated on the 1st November. It was a catch all festival.
One of its theological tasks was the appropriate celebration of all those
souls worthy of sanctification who, through human rather than divine
fallibility, had not been named and numbered among the saints. This was
an important duty and marked by a solemn Eucharist, or communion.

An associated festival immediately followed all Saints, All Souls, on 2nd
November. This second festival, in which all the dead, redeemed or not,
were celebrated, was established. It conveniently turned the three day
Samhain festival into an instant Christian one, traditionally, by Saint Odil,
a ninth century Abbot of Cluny. According to legend, a pilgrim returning
from the Holy Land was shipwrecked on a rocky island. There he found
a gaping chasm leading down to Purgatory. Tormented by the desperate
wailing of tortured, unredeemed souls coming from the chasm, the Pilgrim
could find no rest. After his rescue by a passing ship, he found the Abbot
and begged him to intercede on behalf of all those souls still suffering
in Purgatory. Odil made the necessary petitions and All Souls' Day was
established in the church calendar. In due course the festival became very
popular among ordinary folk. Few wanted to risk losing the chance of a
presumed road to their salvation. The custom sprang up of baking 'soul
cakes', which were set out, usually accompanied by a glass of wine, for
the dead to enjoy. Candles were lit and the home made tidy. Many people
visited cemeteries and prayed bareheaded, kneeling on or close by the
gravestones. A practice still observed in New Orleans in some quarters.

Later, during the Reformation, the folk traditions had become so confused
with the earlier Pagan elements of Samhain, and with witchcraft and popular superstitions, the Christian authorities became alarmed and All Souls' was
removed from the church calendar. The feast was only restored as late
as 1928, when it was presumably felt that superstition, or the Pagan
influence no longer offered any significant danger to Christian orthodoxy.
Well into the sixteenth century many practices of the old religions were
still observed, especially in rural communities. The old religions were
agriculturally based and many of the traditions made perfect sense to the
farmers of the day.

Some of these traditions are still observed in parts of England, Well Dressing,
Morris Men, Maypoles and the Green Man are a few of the better known
ones. In many churches, carved and painted Pagan symbols are to be found
in large numbers. The Pentical, for example, was considered a minor
Christian symbol from, at least the Medieval times right up to the
Reformation. It represented the five wounds of Christ. No wonder the
Pagan traditions were corrupted and then absorbed into the Christian
church as it's own, they had very real meaning to the people of the time
who, probably, would not have embraced Christianity quite so readily without
them.

Many of the modern cultural appurtenances of Hallowe'en - the witches,
ghouls and goblins, were originally associated with All Souls'. From the
original custom of leaving fires lit in the home and setting out little gifts
of food, drink and tobacco, intended to appease the visiting souls of dead
relations, grew the idea that this was the night when all the dead roamed
the world. In time, the friendly dead was remembered less, and evil spirits, practitioners of black witchcraft and magic, became more closely linked with
the festival. Trick-or-treat is the corruption of the long established alms
gathering on the eve of All Souls. Originally it was soul cakes which were
sought, rather than sweets although there is also the tradition of giving
apples and cider, possibly from the Roman festival.

All these later developments from All Souls have coloured descriptions of the
ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, so that it is difficult to be certain which
elements were unequivocally Celtic in origin. It seems Samhain was associated
with the dead, and that the popular conception was that at the time of the
festival the dead were especially likely to appear or move through the world.
It was a time when the veil between the two worlds was at it's thinnest.
There are two fundamental and important things that need to be mentioned.
Early Celtic beliefs were, firstly, this world and the other world were closely interconnected at all times, and gods, demigods, heroes, shapeshifters and the
spirits of the dead came and went at all seasons of the year. Secondly, the
dead brought no special terrors with them but they were only as intimidating
or as threatening as they had been in life.

The last notion is especially difficult for the modern, western mind to grasp.
No matter how rationally skeptical we pretend to be, images of Hell and
Purgatory, founded on a Christian doctrine of Original Sin and necessary
redemption, are deeply ingrained in Western psyche. The dead, or their
ghosts, terrify and appall us in a manner, and for reasons, which would have
puzzled the early tribal Celts had they encountered these attitudes. Some
branches of modern Christianity deny the possibility of a spirit existing outside
of the human body, Heaven or Hell, but practitioners still have a fear of
spirits walking abroad. Where this leaves the Bible's depiction of Angels,
apparitions of Old Testament Patriarchs shown to mortal man and the
transfiguration of Christ and His appearance to his disciples on the road, I'm
not sure.

Today, ceremonial items will be placed around the home. Ideas differ
depending on personal beliefs. Two twigs of Rowan, tied with a red ribbon,
or Oak hung in the window, protect as does Rosemary and Sage. Burnt
Wormwood as well as lighting black candles stop the unwanted from entering.
Some will walk around there property carrying lighted torches or candles
and scattering rags as you go, scatters the negativity that has built over the
past year. Food is still left out for passing spirits and a chair left vacant for
those who 'drop in'. Apples are still traditional to eat and give. The herbs
of Samhain are Acorn and Oak, Apple, Corn, Dittany of Crete, Fumitory,
Hazel, Mullein, Nightshade, Pumpkin, Sage, Turnip, Wormwood and Yellow
Ceder. It is a time to bring honour and hospitality to our dead ancestors,
not fear them or mock them.

The decoration of the humble pumpkin now strongly associated with Hallowe'en
may be derived from an original Samhain practice. Pumpkins, gourds and
squashes are harder to find in the UK than the US and it is often presumed
that because Americans carve and display pumpkins with such great enthusiasm
at this time of year, that the tradition is a fairly recent American addition. Mangle-wurzels (a kind of turnip) were hollowed out and made into a
tallow lantern at Hallows Tide as early as Elizabethan times in Britain. At
Hinton St George in Somerset, these lanterns are called 'Punkies' and songs,
dances and the lighting of bonfires accompanied their lighting. It is quite likely
that the original Samhain festival also included the lighting of bonfires, and the carving of special lanterns, to symbolize the life giving energy of fire, in
particular the fire of the sun, and to celebrate and encourage solar regeneration. Fire festivals appear to have been of great significance.Fire was a very important
part of this festival, bonfires are still lit. The fire in the grate at home was extinguished prior to Samhain and rekindled from the bonfires that had been
lit by friction.

When you carve your pumpkin and light the Hallowe'en candles, remember
why and the significance of what you are celebrating.