"The Haunted History of Halloween" - by Lesley Michelle Patterson
The night of October 31 is a time of ghosts, witches, goblins, devils, demons, Jack-o'-lanterns, and cats. It is also a night for fortune-telling, trick-or-treating, and telling ghost stories that send chills up your spine.
The Celtic People and Samhain- Before Halloween
The Celtic people who lived more than two thousand years ago in what is now called the British Isles, as well as the people in France, feared the evening of October 31 more than any other night of the year. It was the night of the festival of Samhain, Lord of the Dead. Samhain was a ruthless god. It was said that evil spirits would be everywhere until he was pleased. To satisfy Samhain, the Celtic priests, known as Druids, held cruel fire rites. Prisoners of war, criminals, or animals were burned alive in oddly shaped baskets.
By observing the way, the Druids saw omens of the future, both good and bad, Charm spells and predictions of the future were believed to have more power on the eve of Samhain when so many spirits were around. If due honor was paid to them, the spirits might help with the magic. If ignored, they might hinder or punish the person performing it. Samhain was a joyous harvest festival as well as a day of the dead. It marked the death of the old year and the beginning of a new one. The day itself was a time for paying homage to the Sun God Baal, who had given the ripened grains now safely stored away. Speaking of the old year ending and the new one beginning, let’s talk about the first century.
The First Century, the Romans, Their Gods and Goddesses, and the New Religion: Christianity
In the first century before Christ, Roman armies invaded Britain and Gaul (as France was called ) and made them part of the Roman Empire. Many Roman soldiers stayed in this new territory. The Romans had a festival for the dead in late October. The Feralia in November honored Pomona, Goddess of Orchards. These two festivals gradually blended with the Druids. Some Roman soldiers adopted the beliefs of the Druid’s religion, to the point where Romans were converting to it. This disturbed Roman Emperor and they banned the Druid religion from Rome. They ordered that the Druids be hunted down and be killed . Many were murdered , and the rest who escaped went into hiding. Their priests were all gone, yet the Celts held firmly to their Druid customs and ways. Year after year on the eve of Samhain, they built bonfires and prepared for the arrival of the spirits. In the meantime, a new religion called Christianity had been born. A weak cult at first with a few followers, day after day it grew stronger. In the fourth century after Christ, the Roman Emperor Constantine declared Christianity lawful in all parts of the Roman Empire. The Christian priests, called Fathers, did their utmost to stomp out everything Pagan, as they branded the older religions. Now we will explore more into how and why they did it.
The Forceful Christians in the Seventh Century and Before
It was hard to persuade the conquered Celts that the gods they had known for centuries were evil. It was harder still to wipe out their rites and symbols, so the Christian church gave them all new meanings and new names. Celtic people who became Christian were told that the fire rites that they had held for the Lord of the Dead on October 31 would now protect them against the Devil, the enemy of God and the Christian church. In the seventh century, the church set aside All Saints Day in memory of the early Christians who had died for their beliefs. All Saints Day was first celebrated in May, but in the year 900, the date had been changed to November 1. With it, the church festival for the Pagan Lord of the Dead had become a festival of Christian death. Speaking of Pagans, let’s talk about the witches in the days of old.
The Witch, Wicca, Sorcerers, and Magic
The Halloween Witch is the main central symbol of Halloween and the one with the most substantial history. The word “Witch” comes from the Saxon word “Wicca,” which means “wise one.” Witchcraft began with magic, and a step toward more excellent knowledge. Early magicians were something like scientists, trying to understand the forces of nature and how to control them. Cave paintings made by magicians or sorcerers of Europe twenty thousand years ago may still be seen today. The sorcerers believed that by painting a picture of something happening, they could make it happen. This is known as imitative magic. To cast a spell on an enemy, the Witch would steal a piece of clothing, a lock of hair, or a bit of fingernail. When the enemy found out, he or she would be sick with fear and might even die. This was called contagious magic. Sometimes, to bewitch or to kill, the sorcerer used sympathetic magic, burning or sticking pins into a tiny model of a person or their greatest enemy.
Witches had knowledge of plant and animal products that they used to mix medicines as well as poisons. Their knowledge of magic and medicine gave the witches an extraordinary power over the people around them . To retain this power, they kept this magic “occult,” meaning “hidden.” When people began to farm, rain and sunshine became more vital to them. Now they looked to the sorcerers to end dry spells, periods of cloudiness, or of too much rain. But as often as not, the magic failed. Helpless before the forces of nature, people made them into gods. A human being could appeal to the Nature Gods, honor, flatter, or even threaten them, but never confronted them.
Whatever happened was the will of the gods, and to interpret it, priests came into being. Magicians and witches dropped into the background. They lived on the fringes of societies, they told fortunes, prepared charms, and brewed mixtures for various ailments. Soon, witches were banished in many cultures, but some remained, living undercover. When Christianity became the official Roman religion, using magic to blight a crop, raise a storm, or predict the death of an Emperor, was a severe crime. However, harmless magic such as healing the sick, or preparing love potions was accepted . Most magicians and witches were Pagans. Yet many people, especially those in remote places in Europe, still held fast to their old beliefs, including their belief in magic, witches, and witchcraft. The Horned God that many witches worshiped is also a critical Halloween symbol that we’ll delve into next.
The Horned God
In the seventh century, the Archbishop of Canterbury, England, set punishments for those who worshiped a horned god. Usually, this was a bull, ram, or goat, but sometimes it was a man or a woman wearing skins and the head of an animal. This horned god is a deity called Pan, and he is still worshiped by some Pagans to this very day. The followers of the Horned God held rites and ceremonies that expressed their closeness to animal life, and their desire to help increase it. The worshipers were members of a religion handed down from the Stone Age. Living in the Stone Age had depended on the hunting and the raising of animals. Animal life was, therefore, sacred and God-like. Now, since we have talked a bit about the Horned God, let’s talk about the rituals they did to honor him and much more related to magic.
Rituals, Sabbaths, and Magick
In the tenth century, King Edgar of England admitted the religion of the Horned God was more popular than Christianity. According to some, its followers came to be known as witches. Witches of a village would gather weekly for meetings known as Esbats, which they attended for instruction in magic. Magical rites and ceremonies were performed by a coven, which is a group of men and women from a district under the rule of a grand-master . Several times a year, at witches’ Sabbaths, groups of witches from all over a region or country gathered at a sacred spot. Examples of such places were: the Blocula in Sweden, the Payde Dome in France, and the Hartz mountain region of Germany, just to name a few.
One of the most essential Sabbaths was Halloween, which recalled the date of early hunting ceremonies when witches had acted out the capture of animals. The Sabbaths were joyful, and people looked forward to them. Sometimes thousands attended. Among them were members of noble or royal families, their faces concealed by masks. At these Sabbaths, the witches would vow to obey their God, paid homage to them, pledged their children to God, and thanked him or her as the source of food and life itself. At Halloween Sabbaths witches did dances to make animals fertile, dressing up like animals themselves. To encourage fertility in human beings, they danced naked, in robes, or in their regular clothes. In some of the dances, they would run about straddling branches or broomsticks. Soon people who were not witches began to fear what they did not understand, and the great witch hunts began.
The Great Witch Hunts
In the thirteenth century, a war on the Devil began by churchmen who labeled witches as heretics, enemies of Christianity. Courts of Inquisition were set up, and thousands of people were tried . Popular execution methods included being hanged or being burned at the stake. No witch could be put to death without confessing, but under torture, many who were not witches at all confessed, and real witches often confessed to deeds they had never done. No one is sure how many were burned or hanged, but some say it was nine million. Sadly though, the American witch-hunting continued as late as 1730. Many scholars believed that the actual reasoning behind the witch hunt was that the Christian church did not want such a strong rival to come up against. In recent years, in England and the United States, people have come out in the open as witches, stepping out of the broom closet. Among them are parents, students, housewives, businessmen, and people of all types, maybe even your neighbor. Now, let’s examine how the Witch is depicted on Halloween nowadays.
The Witch as a Halloween Symbol
Meanwhile, in legends, stories, poems, and pictures, an image of the Witch as we know her now took shape. The real witches of olden times had included men as well as women, children, and young people as well as old. Sadly, this was forgotten . The storybook Witch is always a woman, seen as evil, and is depicted as an older, haggish woman with a wart and a pointy hat. As such, she takes the leading role in Halloween in this form. She is depicted so scary and ugly looking with her broomstick and familiar cat for the company because she has become the symbol of the evil spirits thought to emerge at this time of year. When children are asked to draw Halloween pictures, almost all of them will draw a witch, a Jack-O’-Lantern , or a black cat, the most famous symbols of the holiday.
The Black Cat as a Halloween Symbol
Long before there was a Halloween, cats were thought to have magical powers. The Egyptians worshiped a cat-headed goddess named Phast (modern Pagans now call her Bast). Throughout history, many cultures revered the cat, including the ancient Greeks, the Phoenicians, and the Norse, to name a few. Among the Druids, cats were said to be human beings who changed into animals by evil powers. The reason the Halloween cat is always shown as being black is that after dark, with everything dim and shadowy, all cats looked black. And so, as time went on, a witches’ cat was always thought of as being black. Never knowing if a cat was really a witch in disguise, people suspected them all, especially on Halloween. Linked with the Druids, Samhain, and later, with witches, the cat found a permanent place in Halloween and stands for evil spirits. Speaking of spirits, there were things people did to please them on Halloween, and that tradition still carries on into our modern day.
The Chilling Story of the Ghost, and How We, the Living, Are Their Host
At Halloween parties nowadays, it is fun to listen to scary and thrilling stories of demons, monsters, and ghosts. There was nothing make-believe about the fears of the Scotch, Irish, and English on this same evening years ago. This was the night when ghosts, the spirits of disembodied souls of the dead, were thought to return to their former homes, looking for warmth and cheer. To displease, the ghosts were dangerous, for they could punish you. By now, the harvest was in. On Samhain eve, a fire was kept burning, and tables were heaped with food. Otherwise, an angry or envious ghost might steal the newly harvested food, destroy animals, or kidnap children. Throughout Gaul and Britain, massive Samhain fire lighted the skies above hilltops. Their bright flames were meant to guide kindly spirits on their journey home and to frighten evil ones away. Ghosts were not thought of like all good or bad. Like the living, they were a mixture.
Hundreds of years after All Hallows’ Eve had replaced Samhain, people still built up their fires and piled their tables with tempting foods. Then, leaving the door unlocked, they went to church. Usually, when they came back, the food was gone . If it remained, they thought that they had displeased their relatives’ ghosts. When beggars and tramps begin to steal from unlocked homes, the custom died out. Children born on Halloween were said to be able to see ghosts and even talk with them. It was believed that on Halloween night, these ghosts might also reveal themselves to ordinary people, too, and give warnings or advice.
Halloween became the best night for divining the future. Older people tried to find out how long they would live, while younger people wanted to know who they would marry. People of all religions have special days dedicated to the dead. American Halloween ghosts may seem to have little to do with the spirits of our ancestors, but they came here with people who did think of them in that way, the Scotch and Irish, ancestors of many Americans. Let’s look into other popular symbols of Halloween now, like the ever-popular Jack-O’-Lantern .
The Tale of the Jack-O’-Lantern and the Festival of Harvest for the Living and the Dead
At Halloween, we all enjoy the festivities like carving out pumpkins, but many do not know how this tradition began. At Halloween, Scottish children took large turnips, hollowed them out, carved faces on them, and put a candle inside. They call them “bogies” and carry them to scare away witches. Irish children use turnips or potatoes. In England, they use large beets known as “mangle-wurzel’s ,” but called “punkies.” When Scotch and Irish people came to the United States, they discovered pumpkins, which made perfect Jack-O’-Lanterns and still do to this very day. The black of a witches’ cloak and the orange of a Jack-O’-Lantern reminds us that Halloween was once a harvest festival as well as a festival of the dead.
A Costume or Mask Will Do the Task and Trick-Or-Treating’s Beginnings
From the earliest times, people all over the world have worn masks, some for serious reasons. When droughts, epidemics, or other disasters struck, primitive people donned their most hideous masks. They hoped the demons that brought disaster would think that they are demons, too, and be frightened off. Among the witches of the Middle Ages, it was not only the person representing the Horned God who wore masks. The witches would also smear their faces with soot and paint or put on masks. People of the nobility who attended the Sabbaths always came masked. Long after Samhain merged with
Halloween, people of Europe, continued to feel uneasy at this time of year. To keep from being recognized, and also used if you went out after dark, people wore costumes and masks. Until a few decades ago, boys and girls put on masks and dressed up as ghosts or witches to “scare” the neighbors, but no one went out trick-or-treating at Halloween just yet. Then about seventy years ago, people begin to offer candy or other treats to their costumed visitors. Soon children began to knock on doors and yell, “trick or treat!” Halloween has been around for centuries, and it remains active to this very day.
Halloween Then and Now
Halloween, with more ancient beginnings than any other holiday, no longer held any serious meaning to most, except for modern-day Pagans who still celebrate some old traditions of honoring the dead. Mostly though, it’s children who have kept the holiday alive because they love it. Dressed as ghosts, witches, skeletons, monsters, or anything else, they stand for the ghosts or spirits that frightened people on this same evening long ago. Just as people once offered gifts and food to the spirits, people today offer treats to the children who represent them. The lighted Jack-o'- lanterns are an echo of the fires of the ancient Samhain. The most sacred of Druid festivals, Samhain linked people with the dead and the past. It also expressed joy in the present and the life-giving harvest that ensured our future. So children today, acting out remnants of ideas that people once lived by, link us with those who came before us and with those who will follow.
By Lesley Patterson from WritingBeautifully .com
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