Halloween is all about dressing up in fun costumes, decorating, having parties and some trick or treating for the little ones right?Yes and no.
This is indeed how we celebrate the modern day Halloween.
But actually, that's not what Halloween is about.
Halloween is actually the Pagan Sabbat of Samhain, a festival to celebrate the life of fallen ancestors. It is the day when Pagans believe the veil between the living and the dead is at its thinnest, and the hope was that their ancestors would appear to them to share their wisdom.
November 1st is also traditionally the Pagan new year, so October 31st would have been new year's eve.
As Catholicism became more popular through the country, the Catholic church decided Samhain was another Pagan Sabbat that needed to be replaced with something of their own (along the lines of Christmas and Easter) the reasoning being it would be easier to convert Pagans if rather than remove their sacred days, they just amended them.
So, All Saints Day came to pass, to be celebrated on November 1st. From what I understand of this, it is a day to honour all the saints who aren't special enough to have their own days.
The mass which was said was the All Hallow Mass, so in effect, October 31st became known as All Hallows Eve, which in turn was shortened to Halloween.
It is said that the Catholics, worried they had offended the dead, would dress up in grotesque costumes on Samhain in the hope it would scare away the dead. I have no idea if this part is true or not, but it would certainly explain the tradition of dressing up as something scary!
Over the years, the traditional celebration has morphed into the one we know today.
I love Halloween, and I like knowing that it has kept its Pagan roots more truly than the other holidays we celebrate today. Although most of the traditional Christian holidays still have elements of the original meaning, Halloween seems to be the one that remains closest to its origins.
Come back tomorrow (and every day this month) for more traditional Halloween posts!
What do you think? Do you think Halloween has stayed true to its roots or is too commercialised? Let me know in the comments :)
I wrote a bit about Halloween here http://wp.me/p6Pnkh-8U
ReplyDeleteI've got a few more Halloween posts planned so stay tuned!
DeleteI have done research into Halloween too and I love when the History channel does Halloween specials about the origins of Halloween and the origins of monsters. I do believe the dressing up was a way to scare away the dead but I think the pumpkin is also one of the ways to scare away the dead too but I'm not positive on that. I do know that when the catholics decided to celebrate Jesus's birthday they decided on the Pagan holiday of Winter Solstice because they wanted to make it more religious. No one really knows when Jesus was actually born. I find it fascinating how Christianity adapted and changed the Pagan holidays to suit their own needs. Halloween is my favorite holiday though.
ReplyDeleteI love Halloween and somehow knowing the truth behind it just makes it better! I once read somewhere Jesus was born around February 17th but whether or not that's true is anyone's guess, but yeah, they stole pretty much all the Pagan holidays one way or another. I love Halloween but its not so big over here, I would love to be in America for it!
DeleteGood lesson in history and shame really, about the Christianization of Pagan festivals ... though I can see the basic reason why it might have been done. The reasoning being the All Hallows Eve tradition isn't Biblical; it would be interesting to find out what exactly made them think the dead were offended or that wearing scary costumes would make any difference.
ReplyDeleteI don't celebrate Halloween for a number of reasons that I'm planning to write about this week (hopefully). However, I know many celebrate and enjoy it.
I can see the logic behind it, but its not the way I think a situation should be handled! They were maybe afraid that mocking and then overriding their festival would upset them? I really enjoy Halloween, but each to their own I say! I would be interested in reading your post on why you don't like it, feel free to tweet me the link when its up :)
DeleteYou are a wealth of information. I vaguely remember learning this years ago. Thanks for the refresher. We don't get to celebrate Halloween here in Greece, we only do the Carnival (which I'm not such a fan of) too much noisy salsa music.lol
ReplyDeleteOh I would miss Halloween, but I think being in Greece would make up for it lol :) I quite like the sound of noisy salsa music!
DeleteI have never paid a lot of attention to the history of Halloween, I have heard most of it, but I just like to enjoy the fun. I think that we can have a great time and not worry about who believes what, we can all like the parts we want and everyone can have a good time. Live and let live and all that! This year we have a band competition for our daughter, at the State level on Halloween! We'll be road-tripping it instead of dressing up this year! Enjoy your holiday!
ReplyDeleteOh, a Halloween road trip sounds ace! Good luck to your daughter in her band competition :) Have a good trip!
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