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 Halloween For You?
For many people around the world, Halloween is a time of remembering the souls in Purgatory. These souls are those caught between Heaven and Hell, and undergo rigorous cleansing before being granted entry to Heaven.
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.
As for the Celtic origin of Halloween, researchers point to Samhain or Samuin (sow-an), which is carried out when the summer days finally end. The celebration of Samhain is often paired with another celebration known as the feast of Beltane. The feast of Beltane is a celebration of the powers 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.
More about the Samhain
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.
Negative reaction to Halloween
For the past several years, many people have perceived Halloween negatively. Owing to the fact that this celebration is not completely Christian, many parents and school officials believe that this kind of celebration should not be allowed on school grounds.
Although the ancient Celts did not likely worship the Christian Lucifer, a fallen angel, Samhain traditions are largely not acceptable in modern times.
Strange Depictions Of Halloween
In movies like those that feature the character Michael Myers (the Halloween series of movies), the Samhain was used as a central category that encompassed how a person can sacrifice to oppose the forces of life and death. The ritualistic ceremonies that the main character espoused built an image of the Samhain that stank of ‘evil’ in the most modern (yet ironically, comic) sense.
More ironically, there are very few extant records of how the Druids really carried about their ritualistic festivities. Only a known personage, Pliny the Elder was able to provide a hint. However, there were no humans being sacrificed on a pointed stick. Rather, two white bulls were used, in a ceremony that appeared to be a run-the-mill offering for better fertility.
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