For me, it's time to get out the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and Hocus Pocus DVDs, because Halloween is nearly upon us.I love everything about the holiday--well, except the little bastards who throw eggs--the trick-or-treating, roasted pumpkin seeds and all the spooky trappings. I love the smell and color of autumn leaves and the way they crackle under your feet. The day and night of All Hallows’ Eve just feels different somehow, shivery, magical. It’s a time to believe in the unseen, release your inhibitions and create new traditions. But where did Halloween come from?
The ancient Celts believed that on October 31st the boundary between the living and the dead vanished. Halloween, in fact, began with the Celts, as a celebration of the end of harvest known as Samhain (pronounced “sow-wen” in the ancient Gaelic, but, according to Wiccan dictionaries, the pronunciations vary, such as “SAM-hayne”, meaning “End of Summer”). It was sometimes known as the Celtic New Year, and a time for Celtic pagans to take stock of supplies for the coming winter. Costumes and masks harkens back to a tradition of trying to copy or placate evil spirits. In Scotland, young men impersonated the dead by blackening their faces or wearing masks or veils, while dressing in white.
Halloween is a shortened form of All Hallows’ Even (Eve), or the night before the Christian-adopted All Saints Day (though originally these both occurred on the same day. Some have All Saints Day as November 7, as well) On All Hallows’ eve, the ancient Celts placed a lantern carved from a turnip on a window sill, believing the head to be the most powerful part of the body, containing the spirit and the knowledge. Welsh, Irish and English myth are full of legends of the brazen head, which is said by some scholars to go back to the widespread ancient Celtic practice of headhunting, and nailing the noggin to a door lintel or placing it by the fireside to speak their wisdom (I don’t know about you, but I don’t want any talking heads by my fireplace, wise or not). The name jack-o'-lantern can be possibly traced back to the Irish legend of Stingy Jack, a greedy, gambling, hard-drinking old farmer who tricked the devil into climbing a tree, then trapped him by carving a cross into its trunk (though there is some debate over the story). Pissed off, the devil put a curse on Jack, condemning him to forever wander the earth at night, his only light a candle inside of a hollowed turnip. Pumpkin carving is associated with Halloween in North America, since pumpkins are plentiful and larger--I for one would not want to try carving a turnip! The US tradition of pumpkin carving did not become specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-to-late 1800s.Much of the other symbolism of Halloween in America comes from horror movies and gothic literature. Some Fundamental and non-denominational churches along other religions actually ban Halloween in favor of harvest parties, or make, pardon the pun, no bones about it being evil. Wicca traditions for Samhain include: black cats, besoms, gourds, Jack-o-Lanterns, all black stones, and foods such as apples, turnips, nuts, mulled wine, beef, pork and poultry. It is also generally considered the witches’ New Year.
Pagan and religious origins and connotations aside, I think Halloween should be a night of fun, a time to let loose and enjoy being with your friends and family and to experience the stress release of a good healthy scare! Whether your own traditions involve the ancient origins or more modern spooky observances, I think, especially in hard economic times, it is doubly important to just enjoy the occasion.
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