Samhain, Saints and Souls

This weekend, and into Monday, we have a triad of days, the last two of which in the past were highly celebrated.  In current culture, the first of the three dominates, which is of course Halloween, The other two are All Saints Day and All Souls Day.  In today's popular culture Halloween is second only in expenditure to Christmas.  That means it beats out Easter.  While both Halloween and Easter have candy associated with current tradition, Halloween has other things--like costumes.  Yet, all three are intertwined.

Halloween is celebrated on the last day of October.  Yet, it derives its name from its association with All Saints Day, which is the first day of November.  Halloween essentially describes All Hallows Eve, or the evening before celebration of the Hallows.  One definition of hallow is a saint or holy person.  However, what is celebrated goes back to pre-Christian times.  Some say it goes back to the founding of Rome (Romulus and Remus) and what is termed the festival of Lemuria.  However, this festival was celebrated on three different days in the middle of May--May 9, 11 and 13.  Interesting how they are not only all odd numbered days, but that it concluded on the 13th. Perhaps this helped set the superstition associated with the number 13. This Roman festival was celebration of those who had passed this earth of which they recognized there were some good and some bad.  Today Halloween is generally associated with what people term bad "spirits."  After all, the persons who are in need of exorcism are not in the hands of a good spirits.

Celtic Tribes 

However, Rome was not the only culture to recognize their dead and what was often thought to be their associated spirits.  So too did the Celts.  Today, we often think of the Celts as only coming from Ireland, and perhaps parts of Scotland.  However, Celtic settlements had been more widespread.  Let me quote from a 2010 I wrote:

The name Bohemia derives from a Celtic tribe known as Boii.  The Celtic name originates from the ancient Greeks who referred to the people of central Europe as Keltoi.  The Celts were not an empire ruled by one government but were a broad cultural linguistic group.  The boundaries of where they lived were ever changing.  This is likely due to the fact that they did not form communities and settlements as defined today, but rather formed tribes that moved their settlements to adjust to the wide variety of factors that effect a population—warfare, famine, disease, and inter-tribal rivalry.  The term Celtic is today more often related to the people of Ireland, and while they too were of origin from the Celtic tribes of early history, the name Celt was adopted by Irish and Scots to distinguish themselves from the invading and conquering British.   Some scholars have identified twelve, others seven and some as few as two main tribes.  [Thomas] Cahill (78-79) notes that there were two main groups one making its way to Gaul and the island to be known as England, and the other settling on the Iberian Peninsula.  The Iberian group would be the primary group to migrate to the island we know today as Ireland.  

The Celts were present in Europe at the time of Julius Caesar as he referred to persons on the north side of the Alps as Celts.  Celts divided the year by use of four major holidays.  One of which would correspond to our November 1--the feast of Samhain (pronounced as Sah-ween).  This was the first day of their year and it would mark the beginning of winter.  This was a time when crops were harvested and animals if not housed inside were brought to pastures closer to the home.  As one writer notes:  "The Celts believed that, at the time of Samhain, more so than any other time of the year, the ghosts of the dead were able to mingle with the living."  This was the time, they thought, that the souls of the dead would pass into the great beyond.  Hence living residents would gather and sacrifice varied foods and light bonfires to honor and assist the dead on their journey to the world beyond.  

Pumpkin carving another Halloween tradtion

The world beyond would be given a name with the advance of Christianity--heaven.  Christian missionaries at first would attempted to change the practices of the cultures in which they came in contact, but later, Pope Gregory I suggested that the missionaries use native customs and beliefs to help spread Christianity.  This proved successful for the advancement of Christianity.  Some pagan holidays were transformed into the holy days of the Christian era. Transformation in some ways was abrupt and in others gradual.  Christians would refer to the pagan supernatural deities as evil, or demonic and spirits setting forth references not uncommon to the current celebration of Halloween. However, it would take time for the population to begin to divest themselves of ancient custom and practice.  In fact, with Halloween, we find that this ancient practice is still with us, at least in some sense.  The celebration of Halloween was not common in the United States until the mid 19th century when customs of Souling and Guising were brought to the U.S. by immigrants from Ireland and Scotland.  The common kid-friendly custom we know today costumes and trick or treating, as reported in History.com is in fact not that old, and started in the 1950's.  Baby boomers were probably bugging their parents for candy, so the custom advanced to that we know today.  One trend on the rise is the number of adults who celebrate Halloween--likely adding to its high dollar value.

Medieval painting of All Saints Day

While All Hallows Day, more commonly known as All Saints Day, was first promulgated in the eighth century by Pope Gregory III, it is actually thought to have its origins in the action of Pope Boniface IV when he consecrated the Pantheon on Rome on May 13 (notice the connection to the Roman pagan festival of Lemuria) to the Virgin Mary and all martyrs.  Rome was an epicenter for the production of martyrs. With Pope Gregory's action, the feast of All Saints has now become primary to that of May 13.  Of course, some medieval historians say the tradition of All Saints day goes back to the conversion of Constantine and was celebrated jointly with Pentecost. All Hallows day, however, still did not put an end to customary practice associated with Samhain.  The church then turned to create All Souls day on November 2.  On this day the living pray for the dead.  What is interesting is that in the area of medieval Britain, including Scotland and Ireland, the practice of Souling developed.  Soul cakes were provided to the poor and in exchange the poor would pray for the souls of the deceased who showed kindness. But, also on All Souls day, children dressed in costume and went what is referred to as guising.  They would visit homes, and in exchange for food, candy or beverage, the child (or children) would sing a song, recite a poem or perhaps tell a tale.  Guising would appear to be the best precursor to the trick-or-treating practice of today.  These traditions were brought to the U.S. by Scot and Irish immigrants and adoption of those practices by other cultural groups would pave the way for the custom of today.

Remembering the dead on All Souls Day

This triad of fall days recognizes the impact of one culture on another.  It occurs at a time of the year, in the northern hemisphere, when days are markedly shorter than a few weeks earlier.  We are near the half way point between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice.  Yet, the travels of the dead recognized by Samhain are parts of varied cultures world wide.  Even us Christians talk of a journey to heaven. The journey of the dead is is a belief common to, and separately created by, a variety of cultures--showing the pull that remembrance of our deceased relatives had to past cultures, and continues to have in present time.  Some of the old Celtic deities have been termed fairies or leprechauns (moving from witches and demons) in a lexicon we tend to recognize today.  While we may be a modern world, we have a pull to ancient customs that have been ingrained by our ancestors over thousands of years, through varied but related practices.  This may even date to before Romulus and Reamus. While Halloween seems to take center stage to the All Hallows Day and All Souls Day, the other two are no less important.  Like Halloween, even All Saints Day has changed from recognition of martyrs, to people of good will who have allowed grace to enter their lives.  many cultures remember their dead.  Remembrance instills a level of hope in our own lives.  Pope Francis has said that "hope is like a bit of leaven that enlarges your soul."  Remembrance is the pull our friends and families have on us.  That is the pull that remembering our dead has for us.  That is the pull that drew the Celts to create Samhain, and the church to create All Saints Day, and All Souls Day.

 Note:  Images found on Google