The American Halloween customs of dressing up in costumes and begging door to door for treats may have it’s roots in ancient culture, but is today celebrated as a purely secular holiday. Culturally it makes sense to have a day or two where spirits of the high sort can be indulged before succumbing to the torpor of the cold coming winter.

Our European ancestors recognized only two basic seasons: the growing season of the light half of the year and the dead season of the dark half of the year. Winter was the dead time of the year where fields lay fallow and the weather made travel difficult. They had to be self reliant to survive the rigors of the time. In the Celtic culture, between these two halves fell Samhain, a day and a night which was literally between time.

Samhain is actually Irish for Summer’s End, and was the traditional Celtic New Year celebrated on November 1. On the evening before, the time between the old year and the new one, it was believed that the spirits of the dead could cross over to visit the living. The ancestors were honored at this time with food and drink left out for their consumption and appeasement. But there were other spirits who could also pass through the veils during this time, spirits who would cause havoc and destroy crops. Animals were culled for feasting and to preserve meat for the coming dark half of the year. It was a time to confront the fears of death and indulge the frightening prospect of what really lay beyond.

Most cultures have some sort of festival where the spirits of their departed are remembered and honored and the ancient Romans were no exception. By 43 CE, the majority of Celtic territory in Europe and Britain had been occupied by Rome. The Romans were famously adaptable and assimilated many of the customs of the lands they conquered. Over the 400 years of occupation Roman festivals of the dead were combined with the traditional Samhain celebrations. One of these was the feast of Pomona, whose sacred symbol was the apple, which goes far to explain the origins of many of the apple customs which survive into modern times.

Eventually Rome converted to Christianity and the symbolism of the old festivals were imbued with more Christian symbolism. The Feast of All Souls replaced Samhain, and the old customs were relegated to the realm of children’s fancy and fantasy games.

Brought to America by Irish immigrants this "Hallowed Evening" of children’s games and fortune telling has undergone many transformations in the ensuing centuries. Today it is celebrated in the US as a purely secular holiday dedicated to monsters, princesses and the overindulgence in all things sweet..

Today Samhain, with it’s roots in ancient Celtic lore, is celebrated by modern Witches, Wiccans and other Neopagan denominations as a day of reverence for the honored dead. It is believed that during this time divinations are more clear and the dead may communicate with the living easily. It is a time when human mortality is confronted in ways both frightening and droll. Some will hold dumb suppers where the dead are invited to sit with the living over a meal in silence. Others will call out to loved ones in midnight rituals. It is a time of endings and beginnings, for ridding oneself of damaging practices and making room for new and more healthful behavior. It is a time to remember those who have passed on during the year and to call their names to the Samhain Fire.

One thing in certain, that for all the differences we humans face and all the clashes of culture, in the end the one thing we inevitably have in common is that we will pass beyond this mortal coil to whatever fate there may be beyond. We can only hope that our passage through life will in some small way be remembered by those who remain.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

and a Blessed Samhain!