Halloween, October 31, "hallowed" or "holy evening." More properly, All Hallows Eve, the day before All Hallows Day on November 1, and All Saints Day on November 2. Thus today is the first of a trio of Christian holy days which were once recognized collectively as Hallowmas or Hallowtide, three successive days of feast and celebration—holy days of obligation—and the time in the liturgical year dedicated to honoring the dead…recognized saints (hallows), martyrs, and departed believers.
Of course our modern Halloween bears little resemblance to this ancient observance, having during its many-centuries-long metamorphosis picked up traditions and influences from various sources—particularly those found throughout Scotland and Ireland—especially encompassing aspects of the old Celtic harvest festivals and the Gaelic Samhain. Over the last half-century the media—Hollywood, the movies and T.V.—have so reinvented and transformed Halloween that there's scarcely a single original recognizable aspect remaining.
Ahh-h, well…
Trick or treat.
4 comments:
Though Halloween has become a commercial bonanza, in countries like Latvia that were cut off from western money grubbing during their communist occupation, the true traditions still persist and people light candles on the graves of their dear departed and sit in the freezing night air to honour and remember them. It is quite a moving sight to see a little country graveyard by candle light.
Arija...
I'll bet that is quite a moving sight. We have Memorial Day here, which is also called Decoration Day...a day for placing flowers on the graves. But most folks don't spend that much time at it--not to really contemplate and remember as you could if you made the night of it. We would be better for such an experience I think.
A couple of thoughts. I am one of those stubborn sorts who insists on writing it as "Hallowe'en"--the apostrophe denoting the missing V. My daughter thinks it pretentious; I think it accurate.
Second, I was musing this year and it suddenly occurred to me that Hallowe'en has become the second most celebrated Christian holiday. But most people are unaware of what they are doing. True, they are probably more closely following Samhain, which is of course pagan in its origins. But, then, that's why the early church leaders picked October 31 and November 1--to displace the old ways by inserting a new Christian holiday--or holy day.
KGMom…
First off, sorry to be so very slow in getting your comment posted and replied to—but we had an out-of-town family wedding to deal with over the weekend, visiting family, etc., and between the rehearsal and dinner last Thursday, until just now I've not been to my desk or computer. (The blog was schedule-posted; and the one comment answer above was done via iPhone, which is really pushing it for my texting capabilities. I knew I couldn't endure the frustration needed to adequately answer your comment using that method.)
Re. the business of "Halloween" or "Hallowe'en" I'm not sure there's a clear win case to be made for either. The Scottish for "eve" is "even," and the contraction for "evening" is can be made either way…"e'en" or "een" (the latter when tagged onto the end of a noun). But nowadays, many dictionaries list "e'en" as a contraction for "even" as related numerically to "odd and even." That said, I also personally prefer to write the word "Hallowe'en" in spite of not doing so for this post. But I like the look of the word that way, because it somehow better harkens back—in my mind, anyway—to it's ancient Scottish/Gaelic roots.
Halloween has become the second most decorated-for and celebrated holiday in the U.S. However, Hallowe'en's origins are not as clearcut as many assume. While Samhain (one of the Celtic cross-quarter day celebrations, in this case celebrating the end of summer's second half and the start of dark time/winter) is likely fairly contributory to several of today's customs (more so than the Latin All Souls Day, which came, in part, out of Aztec ritual) many scholars insist the Christian celebration of Hallowmas or Hallowtide came about on this date independently—with All Saints Day being moved from May to October and placed before All Souls Day, and the evening before vigil thus falling on the 31st. My guess is that both schools of thought are somewhat—though not entirely—right. And over the years, our modern Halloween/Hallowe'en has picked up bits and pieces from at least a dozen cultures to form the mishmash holiday which celebrates nothing.
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