Hallowe’en by Georgina Edward

day of the dead

Hallowe’en

Many traditions associated with this celebration  are considered to be modern introductions, some  even claim American imports*. But Hallowe’en was celebrated long before the USA came into being.

Samhain (pronounced (sow’inn) has been celebrated in Britain for centuries and has its origin in Celtic traditions as the Feast of the Dead, also observed as the Celtic New Year.

It was the time of year when the veils between this world and the Otherworld were believed to be at their thinnest, when the spirits of the dead could once again most readily mingle with the living. Not only did the Celts believe the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead dissolved on this night, they thought the presence of spirits helped their priests to make predictions about the future.

To celebrate Samhain the Druids built huge, sacred bonfires. People brought harvest food, sacrificed animals and shared a celebratory meal.

During the celebration the Celts wore costumes – usually animal heads and skins. The costumes were to frighten away the ‘evil’ spirits by ‘guising’.  In this  way the evil spirits wouldn’t be able to recognise people and so couldn’t return to harm them.

They would also try to tell each other’s fortunes. After the festival they re-lit their home-fires from the sacred bonfire to help protect them, as well as keep them warm, during the winter months.

Later, when the festival was adopted by Christians,  it was celebrated as All Hallows’ Eve, followed by All Saints’ Day, though it still retained elements of remembering and honouring the dead.

To most modern Pagans, while death is still the central theme of the festival, it is not a morbid event. For Pagans, death is not be feared. Old age is valued for its wisdom and dying is accepted as a part of life, as necessary and welcome as birth. While Pagans, like people of other faiths, always honour and show respect for their dead, this is particularly marked at Samhain. Loved  ones are remembered, their spirits invited to join the living in the celebrations.

In many Christian countries people go to the cemeteries to decorate the graves and have a festive meal to celebrate the lives and love of their recently deceased. It is also a time at which those born during the past year are formally welcomed into the community.   

As well as feasting, Pagans often celebrate Samhain with traditional games such as apple-ducking.

The Celts also used the day to mark the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter, believing that this transition between the seasons was a bridge to the world of the dead.

Evolving from the ancient Celtic holiday of Samhain, modern Hallowe’en is less about literal ghosts and ghouls and more about fun.

Georgina Edward

*The American idea of ‘trick or treat seems to have crept into Britain during the 1980s.

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This section: stories and poems, Stories for Hallowe'en, Writing

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Avatar of PatByrne Publisher of Pat's Guide to Glasgow West End; the community guide to the West End of Glasgow. Fiction and non-fiction writer.

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