From Whence Halloween?
HISTORY OF
HALLOWEEN
For thousands of years people have been celebrating
different holidays and festivals at the end of October. The
Celts celebrated it as Samhain (pronounced "sow-in", with
"sow" rhyming with cow). The Irish English dictionary
published by the Irish Texts Society defines the word as
follows:
"Samhain, All Hallowtide, the feast of the dead in Pagan
and Christian times, signalizing the close of harvest and
the initiation of the winter season, lasting till May,
during which troops (esp. the Fiann) were quartered.
Faeries were imagined as particularly active at this
season. From it the half year is reckoned. also called
Feile Moingfinne (Snow Goddess).(1) The Scottish Gaelis
Dictionary defines it as "Hallowtide. The Feast of All
Soula. Sam + Fuin = end of summer."(2) Contrary to the
information published by many organizations, there is no
archaeological or literary evidence to indicate that
Samhain was a deity. The Celtic Gods of the dead were Gwynn
ap Nudd for the British, and Arawn for the Welsh. The Irish
did not have a "lord of death" as such.
The information on Samhain is from Rowan Moonstone's The
Origins of Halloween.
(1) Rev. Patrick Dineen, "An Irish English Dictionary"
(Dublin, 1927), p. 937
(2) Malcolm MacLennan, "A Pronouncing and Etymological
Dictionary of the Gaelic Language" (Aberdeen, 1979), p. 279
The Celts believed that every year on the last day of
October, the souls of the dead visited the earth.
When the Romans conquered the Celts in the first century
A.D., they added parts of their festivals, Feralia and
Poloma to the tradition. Feralia was a festival to honor
the dead and Poloma was a harvest festival named after the
goddess of fruit (apples) and trees.
Around the eigth century, the Christian church made
November 1 All Saints' Day to honor all of the saints that
didn't have a special day of their own. Over the years
these festivals combined, the mass held on All Saints' Day
was called Allhallowmas (the mass of all Hallows -- saintly
people). The night before was known as All Hallows Eve.
Eventually this name became Halloween.
In the 1800s, as a lot of people emigrated to the U.S., the
holidays and traditions of different cultures merged.
Halloween was not always a happy time. October 31, or the
night before took on other names. Some called it Devil's or
Hell night, to others it was mischief night. Here in
Vermont, the night before is called cabbage night. To some
people this became a time to play tricks on others. Some of
these tricks were not fun at all. Luckily, community groups
and individuals took action and started to change Halloween
into a family event. Dressing up in costumes and going
"trick or treating", costume parades, community parties and
Fall festivals are some of the ways that Halloween is
celebrated today.
Other countries have different Fall festivals to honor the
deceased.
The Festival of the Dead is one of the most important
happenings in both Palermo and the rest of Sicily. The
second of November is a festival day for the children of
Palermo as, according to tradition,they were made to
believe that their dead relatives would return the night
before and leave them traditional sweets and cakes on the
table (Martorana fruit, which is almond paste made into the
shape of different fruit). They would also receive puppets
of boiled sugar and toys. It's one way of keeping the
memory of their dead relatives and loved ones alive. (from
the neomedia Web site)
In Mexico they celebrate El Dia de los Muertos or the Day
of the Dead.
Although celebrated in all Catholic countries as All
Saints' and All Souls' Days, surely no other peoples have
embraced the festival of The Day of the Dead to the extent
that the Mexicans have. The celebration begins on the
evening of October 31, so the name Los Dias de los Muertos
is also often used. This festival is considered by many to
be the most important holiday of the year in Mexico.