The Odyssey of Origins • Halloween

I think Halloween (also known as Samhain) is a fascinating time of year, mostly because in Western culture it’s become a kaleidoscope of celebrations from other holidays that also happen to take place at this time of year. This is partially due to globalisation meaning that Halloween celebrations now  incorporate things such as sugar skulls, normally found during Dios De Los Muertos in Mexico, Trick or Treating from the United States and the Irish idea of Turnip Carving (although we now carve pumpkins). This article is going to give some enlightenment to the origins of Halloween within the UK and what our original traditions were!

Most people believe that Halloween’s roots within the UK can be traced back to the Celtics who celebrated Samhain over 2,000 years ago, however there are suggestions that it comes from other festivals celebrated at the same time and potentially even further back! We’ll be looking into the festival of Samhain as it was the festival that took place across the UK at that time. Samhain was a way of marking the end of harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter thus most of the celebrations for this period of time revolve around asking for protection and bringing light into the home. Bonfires would be lit in order to keep evil spirits away and bring light to the home during the dark winter nights.

The people back then believed that on October 31st(the night Samhain was usually celebrated) the veil between worlds was incredibly thin and that the people who had passed on would come back to roam the earth. At this time, the Greek goddess Hecate (brought to the UK by the Romans) and the welsh goddess Cerridwan were celebrated and prayed too as they represented the idea of rebirth. Both were depicted using the idea of maiden, mother and crone and thus were seen as appropriate to ask for guidance and protection. However, it was this idea of the crone that spawned the image of the ‘traditional’ witch as O’Gaea (p. 30, 2004) describes it as‘…the crooked, warty features, the nasty white hair, the humped back and knobby fingers, toothless and cackling.’ in her book Celebrating the Seasons of Life: Samhain to Ostara. Even to this day, witchcraft and witches have not quite shaken this image with children across the world dressing up like this for Halloween.

Hecate is still one of the most relevant goddesses when it comes to Halloween/Samhain as in Greek theology she was deity that the dead would turn to for purification thus giving her the name of goddess of the graveyard. This connection to the dead ties in very well to one of the common traditions of the time. The belief that the dead would visit in spirit on that one night of the year meant that often people would set an extra place at the table in order to placate them so they didn’t destroy harvest or kill cattle and to also show reverence to their memory.

As time moved on, the idea of the veil between worlds being thin was used in a different way and activities of the time became more to do with fortune telling and divination. People would use apples as a way of divining future loves, as W. H. Davenport Adams (p. unknown, 1902) describes in his book Curiosities of Superstition:

[The apples] are thrown into a tub of water, and you endeavour to catch one in your mouth as they bob round and round in provoking fashion. When you have caught one, you peel it carefully, and pass the long strip of peel thrice, sunwise, round your head; after which you throw it over your shoulder, and it falls to the ground in the shape of the initial letter of your true love’s name.

This has now translated into apple bobbing however we usually miss out the divination part of the ritual.

With the introduction of Christianity into the country, Samhain began to be diluted, if not actively protested against, and it is actually from this that Samhain got its name change! Johnson (unknown) suggests that it was when Pope Gregory changed the date of All Hallows Day (also known as All Saints Day) from spring to November 1stthat the name change began to happen. From All-Hallows-Even to Hallows Eve to then Hallowe’en and then what we now know it as… Halloween. But this wasn’t the only thing that Christianity brought to UK Halloween.

Souling (or as we now might know it, trick or treating) began with Christian origins as poor individuals would go around the neighbour receiving ‘soul cakes’ in exchange for offering prayers for those that had passed. Eventually this too changed with the idea that devil’s and demons roamed the streets meaning that those who ventured out would dress up in order to protect their identity from these ghouls. All this continued for many, many years in the UK and once the mass colonisation began of the States, the UK traditions of Halloween went too. However it was in a Canadian Newspaper, the Blackie Herald, in 1927 that trick or treating was first referenced in print thus meaning that Trick or Treating as we see it today, was made popular in the states and then came back here!

Although a lot of traditions died out when Christianity became the predominant religion of the country, a lot of the remnants of the UK’s original traditions still linger, even if they are watered down. No longer do we carve pumpkins and place candles in them in order to scare away the devil or to bring light into our lives - we do it for fun; to make spooky faces in the dark, to welcome trick or treaters to our doors. We may not lay extra places for the dead in order to appease them, but we do still try and contact our loved ones even if through Ouija boards for fun.

Halloween has become a joyful celebration of all things spooky and it certainly has become my favourite time of year. Personally, I don’t think there’s anything better than seeing all the little kids and their costumes knocking on my door for sweets and treats. However, I always try to spend some time thinking of those I’ve lost and commemorating them in some way. Whatever you get up to today, I hope it brings you lots of joy and none of the spook! Have a great Halloween/Samhain everyone!