Halloween Curiosities

 Taking advantage of the arrival of Halloween, what better time to review a few curiosities about it.

Background

Midway between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice, at the end of the harvest, the Gaels celebrated Samhain, one of the four seasonal Gaelic festivals along with Imbolc, Bealtaine and Lunghnasadh. Bealtaine (now known as Walpurgis Night) and Samhain were liminal seasons, times when the passage between worlds was believed to be easier. The Welsh celebrated Calan Gaeaf with similar customs. In their calendar, it marked the beginning of the year.

On Samhain, the Aos Sí, that is, fairies or spirits, and the souls of the dead crossed over into our world. However, while Bealtaine was a festival for the living, during Sanhaim, the Aos Sí provided for the survival of people and livestock during the winter. In return they received offerings of food and drink outside. Since Samhaim has pagan origins, the Aos Sí were probably ancient gods or nature spirits. The dead would return to their homes seeking hospitality. Banquets were even held for them to attend. From at least the 16th century, people also staged and went in costume from door to door, reciting verses in exchange for food. The costumes were intended to imitate the Aos Sí.

In addition, games and divination rituals were performed with apples and nuts, worrying about issues such as marriage and death. For the same purpose they would look in the mirror (similar to calling Veronica or Bloody Mary), pour molten lead (molybdomancy) or egg whites (oomancy) into water, as well as interpret dreams. Purifying bonfires used for divination were also lit.

In some places, torches were lit with this fire and the path of the sun was followed, helping "the powers of growth" and slowing the deterioration of winter. In ancient times it was the Druids who used these fires for divination, where people offered crops and animals. The Celts also wore costumes with animal skins and heads and tried to tell each other's fortunes. In the morning they would relight the bonfires that had gone out at night to protect them from the winter. In Scotland these bonfires were banned in some parishes. Their purpose was changing. In Wales they were lit to prevent the dead from falling to earth. Later, their mission was to keep the devil away.

Before the arrival of Christianity, the Roman conquest of much of the Celtic territory in 43 A.D. influenced the festival, which was combined with Feralia (February 21), when the Manes, family and domestic chthonic gods, and the day of Pomona, Roman goddess of fruits and trees whose symbol is the apple, were celebrated.

The custom of pranks began from at least the 17th century in Ireland and the Scottish Highlands. They used turnips and beets with carved faces as lanterns, representing spirits or as a tool to ward them off.

Name and history

The day and month names in Irish, Gaelic Scots and Manx Gaelic derive from the Old Irish name for November 1, meaning "end of summer". However, a proto-Celtic origin has also been suggested, which would place the "end of summer" in July.

Contrary to what one might think, All Saints' Day was celebrated, as early as 609, on May 13. This occurred when the bones of the dead Christians in the catacombs were transferred to the Roman Pantheon, being consecrated this day by Pope Boniface IV. However, in 835, Louis I, the pious changed it in the Carolingian Empire at the request of Pope Gregory IV to November 1. Although according to pseudo-Beda, this day was already celebrated in Ireland at the beginning of the 8th century, so this only made it official. Actually, there are doubts about the choice of this day. Although on the one hand it is suggested that the day of the celebration of Samhain was chosen, the Irish bishop Óengus of Tallaght pointed out that the Irish church during the VII-VIII centuries celebrated it on April 20, so the chosen date would have been a Germanic idea, not Celtic. It is also noted that it was the day on which Gregory III founded an oratory in St. Peter's Basilica of "the holy apostles and all saints, martyrs and confessors" and Gregory IV extended it to the whole church. It is also suggested that Rome could not accommodate in summer the number of pilgrims who came to the feast, perhaps taking into account the "Roman fever" (Malaria) that struck during the summer. All Souls' Day would not be established until the 11th century.

Although they were not the same holiday, the customs of Samhain were maintained in Halloween, also known as Hallowe'en (contraction of Hallows' Evening, "night of the saints"), Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve or All Saints' Eve, which has exactly the same meaning. Halloween would be celebrated on October 31, while Hallowmas, a contraction of "Mass of the Saints", would be celebrated on November 1. The three days from October 31 to November 2 formed a triduum known as Allhallowtide.

Samhain myth and legends

Many Celtic legends follow one another on this day. In The Childish Exploits of Fionn (Macgnímartha Finn), the supreme king of Ireland annually held a great gathering on this date at Tara, at which time Aillen emerged from the other world to put them to sleep and set the palace of Tara ablaze with his fiery breath. Fionn mac Cumhaill stays awake and kills Aillen with his magic spear, becoming the leader of the fianna.

Similarly, in Colloquy with the Ancients (Acallam na Senórach), three wolf-women emerge from a Cruachan cave (another portal to the otherworld) on Samhain to kill the cattle, but Cas Corach plays his harp transforming them into humans, at which point the fian warrior Caílte mac Rónáin kills them with his spear.

According to the Dindsenchas and the Annals of the Four Masters, ancient Ireland was associated with Crom Cruach, to whom, according to these Christian texts, the firstborn son was offered in effigy at Magh Slécht. They also say that the supreme king Tigernmas lost three-quarters of his people while worshipping him on the eve of Samhain. These are not the only legends that relate Samhain to offerings or sacrifices. In the Book of Invasions (Lebor Gabála Érenn), the people of Nemed were to give two-thirds of their children, corn and milk to the Fomorians, personifications of chaos and the destructive powers of nature.

The pumpkin

The pumpkin was used by Irish immigrants to the United States, but traditionally it was the rutabagas or rutabicol (Brassica x napobrassica) that were carved. These are associated with fatuous fires on peat bogs.

An Irish legend from the mid-18th century tells of Stingy Jack, a lazy but shrewd blacksmith, known as a manipulator and liar. Incredulous and envious of the rumors, the devil wanted to check them out in person.

Drunk as usual, he was wandering at night in the countryside when he came across a body on his pebbled path. The body was Satan's. Jack realized it was the end of him and made one last wish: to drink beer before he went to hell. Seeing no reason why he would not accept the proposal, the devil took him to a bar where he drank all kinds of beverages. Satisfied, Jack told Satan to pay the bill, convincing him to become a silver coin. At that point, Jack put the coin in his pocket, where he had a crucifix, which prevented Satan from regaining his form.

In another version, Jack was running away from some villagers he had robbed. Encountering Satan, Jack tempted the devil to torment his pursuers. Jack told him to turn himself into a coin to pay his pursuers and that, when it disappeared, they would be accused of stealing it. Satan agreed and was still trapped next to the cross, which Jack had stolen here.

In exchange for freeing him, Satan would have to wait 10 years to obtain his soul. Satan agreed and waited a decade. When he returned for his soul, Jack asked for an apple to satisfy his hunger. Satan agreed and brought up an apple tree, but Jack surrounded its base with crucifixes and carved a cross into its trunk. In exchange for releasing him again, Satan agreed never to take his soul.

When Jack died due to drink, his sinful life barred his entry into heaven, but his deal with Satan also barred him from hell. With nowhere to go and unable to see, since he had no light, Satan mockingly threw a red-hot coal at him. Jack carved one of his rutabagas, which were his favorite food, placing the coal inside. Thus he wandered eternally searching for a resting place and serving as a warning to others. From then on he became known as Jack o' Lantern.

This name (Jack o' Lantern) has been in use since at least the 1660s, especially in the East of England.

Recovering customs

Up to this point we have pointed out several myths:

• The holiday does not have an American origin.
• All Saints' Day used to be on November 1.
• Halloween and All Saints' Day refer to different holidays.
• Pumpkins were always used.

In addition, dressing up in costumes and going door to door begging for food on this day was also a European custom. It was believed that disguises protected the identity of the targets from vengeful ghosts. In poor churches that did not have relics of saints, parishioners would dress up as saints, and this may have been the Christianization of an earlier pagan custom. In continental Europe, especially France, it was believed that on this day the dead emerged from the cemeteries in a macabre dance. This was performed in village pageants, where corpses from all strata of society were disguised as corpses.

During the Anglican Reformation these customs were attacked by the Protestants, since they did not agree with the idea of the souls crossing the purgatory on their way to heaven, considering it "papist" and seeing it as incompatible with their notion of predestination. Other Protestants maintained the tradition by appealing to the idea of the intermediate state known as Hades or limbo of the patriarchs, continuing with candlelight processions and the ringing of bells. The popularity of Halloween declined. The popularity of Guy Fawkes night moved some of the Halloween customs to November 5. Only Scotland and Ireland maintained the scope of the holiday.

Arrival in America

Due to the rigid Protestant belief system, the celebration of Halloween in New England was limited, being more common in Maryland and the southern colonies. As the beliefs and traditions of the various European and Indian ethnic groups blended, a distinctly American Halloween emerged, with stories of the dead being told, fortune telling, dancing and singing.

It would be during the second half of the 19th century, with the arrival of Irish immigrants due to the great famine, when the holiday would become popular throughout the country. During the third and fourth decades of the 20th century, the celebration became secularized, but in many communities vandalism spread. During the second half of the century, the holiday focused on the youngest due to the baby boom. In these decades, vandalism was controlled and confined to neighborhoods.

Modern alternatives

If Christmas seems too far away for you, perhaps you should try the Switch Witch, a party that involves a good witch who takes, while the children sleep, the collected candy and replaces it with a gift.

Sources:Wikipedia (Samhain, Brassica napobrassica, Halloween, Jack-o'-lantern), BBC, She knows, History