Pagan Origins of Halloween

The history of Halloween is steeped rich in pagan customs, traditions and rituals. While the roots of this holiday can be dated back to the 5th century BC and Celtic legends, the seed of the holiday was planted in Greek mythology through the portrayal of the goddesses invoking the Samhain. The festival of Samhain is a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture and was a time used by the ancient pagans to take stock of supplies and prepare for the harsh winter season. Samhain was seen as a liminal time, when spirits or fairies (the aos sí) could more easily cross the threshold into our world. Many scholars see the aos sí as remnants of the pagan gods and, in some cultures, nature spirits. At Samhain, it was believed that the aos sí needed to be appeased to ensure that the people, as well as their livestock, survived the harsh winter.

According to Irish mythology, Samhain was a time when a portal to the Otherworld opened, allowing spirits of the dead to enter into our world. Essentially, Samhain was a festival for the dead that involved great feasts and the drinking of alcohol. It is interesting to note that every tale associated with drunkenness is said to take place at Samhain. The Boyhood Deeds of Fionn states that the sídhe (fairy mounds or portals to the Otherworld) "were always open at Samhain".

Bonfires were commonplace among the celebration of Samhain. Most bonfires were lit on hilltops and involved certain rituals. However, by the modern era, the popular custom of bonfires was only practiced primarily in Scotland's Highland Line, on the Isle of Man, in north and mid Wales, and in parts of Ulster heavily settled by the Scots. Originally, certain types of wood was used to build the fire, but later records show that various kinds of flammable material were burnt. It is suggested by the scholars that the fires were a kind of imitative or sympathetic magic that mimicked the Sun, which aided the "powers of growth" and restrained the decay and darkness of Winter. Another theory suggests the fire served to symbolically "burn up and destroy all harmful influences".  Certain accounts from the 18th and 19th centuries imply that the fires (as well as their ashes and smoke) were deemed to have protective and cleansing powers.
                                 

Wiccans (those who belong to a cult or practice witchcraft) celebrate a variation of Samhain as one of the Sabbats of the Wheel of the Year. There are a total of four Sabbats and most Wiccans believe the most important of them all. During this festival the Wiccans celebrate the lives of those who have died and passed on into the next realm. It often entails paying respect to ancestors, family members, elders of the faith, pets and other loved ones who have died. There are some rituals where the spirits of the dead are invited to join the festivities. Some scholars see this as a festival of darkness, which is balanced at the opposite point of the wheel [by the Spring festival of Beltane; the festival of light and fertility]. Wiccans believe that when Samhain occurs the veil between this world and the afterlife is at its thinnest point, which makes it easier to communicate with those who have passed on from this world.  

              

Samhain influenced the Roman Catholic holy day of All Saints (also known as All Hallows Day) which was introduced in 609 A.D. and was first celebrated on May 13. There is some controversy as to why November 1 officially became the date of this festival of saints. Some believe Louis the Pious switched the date to November 1 at the directive from Pope Gregory IV; Pseudo-Bede testified that All Saints Day was being celebrated in November long before the turn of the 8th century. James G. Frazer suggests that November 1 was chosen because it was the date of the Celtic festival of the dead (Samhain); however, Ronald Hutton argued that according to Óengus of Tallaght the Catholic Church in Ireland celebrated All Saints on April 20 and points out that the November 1 date was most likely a Germanic idea. Regardless, it is believed by many scholars that Samhain influenced All Hallows Eve and the two eventually morphed into the secular holiday known as Halloween.



Today, Halloween is mainly recognized by Western Christians, but is celebrated worldwide by many non-Christians as well. From trick or treating to eerie adult activities, Halloween - which is relatively new to America, becoming popular in the early 1900's -  is commonly the most celebrated holiday, next to Christmas. This holiday, which received its beginnings from paganistic ideals, has been converted into a day filled with pranks, satisfying the sweet tooth and a fun-filled expectation of celebrating in disguise.

For more information about Samhain, please visit:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samhain

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/paganism/holydays/samhain.shtml

http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/samhainoctober31/p/Samhain_History.htm