By Renata
Autumn has arrived, the days are starting to get shorter, everywhere we begin to see the turning of the season: the glorious colors, the falling leaves, the beautiful mushrooms. We notice the need to wear scarves, warmer clothes and drink some Pumpkin Spice Lattes (love it or leave it). Autumn is also the time when our attention turns to the holidays that mark the end of the year, especially the first one: the Hallowe’en.
Hallowe’en, a day when many plan a horror movie marathon with friends, or organize a party with decoration and scary-themed delicacies, or even dress up as their favorite character and go out with their kids for some trick or treats.
But did you know that Hallowe’en has roots at the old Celtic Festival called Samhain?
Samhain is a pre-Christian festival, celebrated on the night of October 31st and marks the end of the old year and the beginning of the new year in the Celtic Calendar. It also marks the division between the light and dark (summer and winter). It is believed that on this day the veil that divides the world of the living and the otherworld becomes thinner, allowing the passage of spirits. It is the time to honor the ancestors, to invite them to the table and share with them the delicacies prepared for the occasion. According to some authors, people used to dress up as evil spirits and lit bonfires to scare the real (mean) spirits that could pass through the veil to cause some harm. It was also time for prophecies and divination.
“At Samhain, when the dead come back to feast with the living and the Goddess completes her half-year of rule and transfers sovereignty to the God, the people of Britannia went in procession from village to village, singing and cavorting in costumes of straw. The folk of the marshes traveled in boats with torches whose light ran across the water like liquid flame. On the Christian isle, the monks sang to repel the evil powers that walked on this night, when the doorways opened between the worlds.” Lady of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
Over time, with the predominance of Christianity, many pagan festivals were incorporated into the Christian calendar and Samhain became All Hallows Eve (later on, Hallowe’en), celebrated on November first. The use of costumes was not left behind, and when the Irish immigrated to America, this tradition was taken with them and mixed with local traditions such as carving pumpkins, which was a way to celebrate the harvest (also at the end of September, beginning of October).
Nowadays this tradition is gaining more and more enthusiasts in the Netherlands due to the influence of expats that came to live or work here.
Whatever your reason to celebrate Halloween, and even if you, like me, still celebrates Samhain, I wish you a nice Halloween. Enjoy this night with your friends and family!
