Halloween - The Festival of the Dead

Many of us will be out celebrating halloween this weekend and I wonder how many people really know the true meaning of All Hallows' eve?

Halloween has origins in the ancient celtic festival known as Samhain (pronounced sow-in or sau-an). The celebration also has some elements of a festival of the dead. The ancient Celts believed that the border between this world and the next became thin on Samhain, allowing spirits, both good and bad to pass through. The family's ancestors were honoured and invited home whilst harmful spirits were warded off. It was believed that in order to ward off harmful spirits, costumes and masks were worn to confuse the spirits  into believing that they themselves were harmful spirits and thus would avoid harm, bonfires also played a large part in the festivities, all other fires were put out, then every home lit their hearth from the bonfire.

On All Hallows’ eve, many Irish and Scottish people have traditionally placed a candle on their western window sill to honor the departed. Other traditions include carving lanterns from turnips or swedes, sometimes with faces on them, as is done in the modern tradition of carving pumpkins. Welsh, Irish and British myth are full of legends of the Brazen Head, which may be a folk memory of the ancient Celtic practice of headhunting. The heads of enemies may have decorated shrines, and there are tales of the heads of honored warriors continuing to speak their wisdom after death. The name jack-o'-lantern can be traced back to the Irish legend of Stingy Jack, a greedy, gambling, hard-drinking old farmer. He tricked the devil into climbing a tree and trapped him by carving a cross into the tree trunk. In revenge, the devil placed a curse on Jack, condemning him to forever wander the earth at night with the only light he had: a candle inside of a hollowed turnip. The carving of pumpkins is associated with Halloween in North America where pumpkins are both readily available and much larger- making them easier to carve than turnips. Many families that celebrate Halloween carve a pumpkin into a frightening or comical face and place it on their doorstep after dark. The American tradition of carving pumpkins preceded the Great Famine period of Irish immigration and was originally associated with harvest time in general, not becoming specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-to-late 1800s.

So while you are out celebrating on Saturday evening be wary of the walking dead...

Happy Halloween!