Halloween derives from the Irish, French and English Celtic fire festival the night before Samhain, meaning November, which honored the dead and the turning of the wheel into darkness, or Winter. Recognizing only Winter and Summer seasons, Samhain existed in an "in-between" time for the Celts when the veil between worlds was thin and ancestral spirits came closer. A natural rather than supernatural event, Samhain paid homage to life - harvest bounty - and death - the increasing darkness - and a time of inward slowing and contemplation.

Druids presided over the Samhain fire festivities making the festival an integral part of society that renewed the relationship between the people's spirits and landscape while unifying their scattered tribes. The Druids relied soley on oral transmission for their religious instruction so we have no written documentation about their rites. As a result, speculation abounds regarding the rituals the Druids performed on Halloween. What we do know is that the Celtic religion was nature-based and as such the Celts ritualized the life-death-life cycle of rebirth in addition to honoring the seasons and agricultural cycles.

As invading cultures conquered peoples and beliefs, either banishing or absorbing spiritual ideas, Samhain morphed into Halloween, an amalgam of Celtic, Catholic Christian and Roman practices. Close attention reveals demonization of otherwise natural, necessary parts of human experience that mythologize the life-death-life rhythm of seasonal changes. Most obvious and tragic is an influx of beliefs about "evil spirits" that had no place in the original celebrations of Samhain.

The global representation from Europe to the Americas, spanning thousands of years, of a holy day that honors the dead (All Souls Day, Day of the Dead) speaks most clearly about the intention of Halloween to which our souls recognize and cling. Halloween marks a quickening and a turning inward as Winter darkness envelops the light of Summer in the Western Hemisphere. Darkness naturally invites reflection and story, a close and cozy time of respite and remembrance of those who have passed. Darkness also provides the spirit world a cover of connection to the living.

Our love for Halloween is ancient and instinctual. Our souls harken back to a time when the excitement of night was lit by fires and our ancestors revelled in the mystery and wonder of darkness. Today, when community is sub-divided and the dead are in cememtaries far from home, Halloween brings people together, forces contact where there would otherwise be none. Halloween is indeed a stoppage of time when we share the night with our children and enjoy their bounty of treats and delight. When we participate in Halloween festivities, we are performing a religious (religio - linking back ) ritual celebrating our ancestors while re-membering humanity's indigenous soul.

Origins of popular Halloween traditions include:

Halloween costumes: To date I have not been able to find any credible sources that explain the origin of Halloween costumes. An anthropological guess would be that as shaman-priests, the Druids in tandem with the Celts may have dressed in animal skins as part of their belief in human/animal spiritual shapeshifting and their reverence for nature and animal powers. Perhaps our Western love of costumes is our intrinsic need to commune with our indigenous soul.

Trick-or-treat: Candy gathering from neighbors and friends is based upon alms gathering on the Catholic Eve of All Souls.

Pumpkin carving: During Britain's Elizabethan times mangel-wurzels (turnip) were hollowed and made into lanterns. In the New World pumpkins were more plentiful so they replaced the turnip.

Apple bobbing: The Roman goddess of fruit trees, Pomona, was celebrated on or about November 1 and her festivals were added to the Celts' when the Roman troops conquered Britain. Bobbing for apples was one of the Roman games during Pomona's festivals.

Ghosts, goblins, witches and other scary associations: The frightening aspects of Halloween are perversions of Celtic spiritual practices. Ghosts refer to the once honored rather than feared dead. Halloween caricatures of ugly, wart-nosed hag-Witches are disrespectful portrayals of Warrior Priestesses and Healers who birthed babies, cured illness and helped lead their tribes. Goblins are fear incarnate - monsters of our own making. At the outset, goblins may represent the Faery.

For more information about the Celts and Druids, please visit The Celts: An Introduction to Ancient Celtic Spiritual, Psychological and Eco-Religious Belief Systems and Their Manifestation in the Legends of the Holy Grail .

To enjoy children's picture books about Halloween, visit Halloween Children's Literature at OneWomansMind.net.

Resources for further study Samhain Halloween Ancient Celts

© Copyright Paula Vaughan
Not to be reprinted without permission.