Halloween: The Origins of Celtic Samhain
Many people associate Halloween with pagan rituals. But the truth is that it’s not pagan. Some historians from the West would say this is true, and that Halloween came from All Hallow Even, the day before All Saint’s Day. All Saint’s Day usually happens on the first day of November.
What’s your Halloween like?
In many regions of the world, Halloween was the time for people to remember the souls in Purgatory. The souls in Purgatory were the souls in limbo; those who are awaiting final judgment by performing acts of cleansing.
According to Dante Alighieri, souls found in Purgatory are trapped between Paradise and Inferno. In modern times, this passage deals with the day after All Hallowed Even, which is All Soul’s Day (November 2).
Samhain Origins
Experts say that Halloween started as a Roman celebration in Pomona, associated with the Roman goddess of harvest. Another version of this is a Roman celebration called Parentilia, which might explain how Halloween is celebrated. Basically, this event is a celebration for the dead.
When it comes to Halloween’s Celtic origins, scholars suggest that the Samhain celebration started everything. This celebration took place at the end of summer, and was paired with the feast of Beltane — a celebration of life.
It can be clearly seen that even Celtic tradition is founded on binaries, much like Indian Ayurvedic tradition and Chinese medicine. There exists a balance between life and death that needs to be maintained. Life exists when everything is in balance, while imbalance breeds famine and disease.
Samhain Origins
Why did Celts celebrate Samhain? During the summer months, people were able to harvest ample amounts of food. But on winter months, food becomes very limited and Nature becomes more prominent. During this time of the year, humans are at the mercy of the forces of wind, ice and bitter cold.
Halloween’s Bad Rap
In the past decades, there has been a negative reaction to the celebration of Halloween. Because the celebration is not completely Christian, many parents and school administrators think that the celebration should be banned completely in schools.
Although the ancient Celts did not likely worship the Christian Lucifer, a fallen angel, Samhain traditions are largely not acceptable in modern times.
Records & strange, modern depictions
In certain movies, such as those featuring the character of Michael Myers (The “Halloween” movie series), the Samhain celebration was the focus of the movie, covering a person’s sacrifice to negate the forces between life and death. The main character of this movie advocated traditional ceremonies wherein an image of the Samhain (which reeks of evil) was built.
It’s ironic that there are actually very few records about how Druids really did carry out their rituals. Only Pliny the Elder provided a good look into the rituals, but even his writings didn’t contain any records of humans being sacrificed on pointed sticks. Instead, the Druids used two white bulls — a rather ordinary offering for fertility.
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