October 27, 2011: All Hallows' Eve

 
  Judy presented some information about our upcoming Holiday -- Halloween. The name derives from the even before All Saints Day, or as the eve was sometimes called -- All Hallowed Eve. A celebration of the occult, magical, and yes to some degree the macabre goes way back to ancient Celtic times. It is thought the holiday got its earliest start in the ancient holiday of Samhein which combined elements of celebrating the Day of the Dead and also elements of the harvest festivals. When Chritianity spread, as so often happens, the Christian leadership took advantage of the existing holidays and combined many of the pagan traditions with All Saints Day Eve. All Saint's Day was the day to consider your dead loved ones and pray to help them move out of Purgatory and on to Salvation. These beliefs were characteristic of the Catholic Church and the English Anglican church. But when Protestantism developed, the Sunday nearest Halloween became Reformation Day, to teach about and celebrate the Reformation.
     The habit of dressing up or disguising oneself originated in the idea that all those Dead people waiting around for Salvation would be roaming around and looking for those they hadn't liked when living or those from whom they wanted revenge. Therefore folks decided to disguise themselves on this eve so that the Ghosts couldn't find them. All of the wicked personae such as horrid witches, ghosts, skeletons, Draculas, etc developed because it was thought they would scare away the all those wandering souls. The night often had bonfires to scare away the ghouls, and then various harvest elements such as apple bobbing, hayrides, carving pumpkins (turnips originally in Celtic lands).
     Trick or treating is a major practice for the young. We all remember that practice as an (empty) threat of a trick or prank to be played on the homeowner if treats are not given to the children. But another related practice in some countries is called guising. In this form, the children ringing the doorbell must perform a trick or performance in order to get a treat.
     In the United States, Halloween has become the holiday in which the most money is spent on the paraphernalia such as costumes, decorations, and food stuffs.
     Our group discussed various memories of Halloweens past. Why do we love this holiday so and why do even small children relish the macabre? There must be something fairly primoridal -- a deepseated fear or concern perhaps simply seated in the fear of death -- that we can face directly on this night with tools that help us have power over our fear. Even small children perhaps sense this subconsciously. Anyway, clearly our society enjoys this Holiday and invests a lot of time, money and craftmanship in its celebration.