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Who doesn’t love Halloween - well, ME for one! That could be because I am in the (err umm) slightly older age bracket and simply don’t get what amounts to the Americanisation of the day…I mean, giving kids carte blanche to knock on doors and expect sweeties cannot be a good idea - surely?! But taking a step back from the sugar fuelled fest of today, who knows the real reason we mark the 31st of October?
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The origins of what we now know as Halloween are very ancient indeed, dating back to the pre-Christian Celtic peoples of Britain (and Northern Europe). The feast of Samhain (which is actually pronounce ‘sowain’) marked the end of their year - sensible really as it’s the end of the growing and harvesting season and the beginning of the winter months. It was seen as the most important one of the four quarterly “fire festivals”. At that time of year it was thought the veil between the living and the dead thinned, and the souls of the dead would return to visit their homes and families. As evil spirits and otherworldly beings could also breach “the veil” at this time, people would dress up in animal and monster costumes to confuse the potential visitors and avoid kidnap. Individual hearth fires would be allowed to die down and communal bonfires would be lit for roasting sacrificial cattle, the people would feast (whilst ensuring a share was left for the spirits, ancestors, and faery folk!) and a flame from the bonfire would be used to re-light their hearth fires. When the Roman’s invaded Celtic lands they incorporated their own gods, Feralia, commemorating the passing of the dead, and Pomona, the goddess of the harvest. The advent of Christianity saw attempts to transmute Samhain into a Christian celebration, and in the 5th century A.D. Pope Boniface moved the festival to May 13th as a day to commemorate saints and martyrs. Funnily enough, this didn’t stop the fire festivals and so in the 9th century Pope Gregory moved the festival back to the original time of year, calling the day (1 November) All Saints Day. The day before became known as holy, or hallowed eve, which eventually became Halloween (een being another word for eve). Some of the traditions we see today can be traced back to the original Celtic Samhain, dressing up for example, whilst “trick or treating” may have derived from early Scottish and Irish traditions of going from door to door singing songs for the dead in return for “soul cakes”. Hollowed out and carved turnips with candles inside, known as Jack O’ Lanterns (after a legendary character) originated in Ireland and were taken to the US by immigrants who switched to using readily available (and easier to carve) pumpkins. Would Halloween be such a feature in UK life, particularly for children, without the influence of the US? Personally, I think not - it certainly wasn’t prominent in my childhood… although that was many moons ago!
These articles are researched and written by Laura Billingham, a local content writer and author. Laura moved to the Peak District several years ago to pursue her passion for writing.
