The non-religious reference book The American Book of Days states the contradiction of Halloween practices and Christianity: “Few holidays have a stranger or more paradoxical history than Halloween… it is the vigil of All Saint’s Day, observed by Roman Catholics…However, some of the customs traditional to Halloween hark back to matter that Christianity for centuries has adamantly opposed: black magic, fortune-telling, ghosts, witches, goblins, fairies, and so on….It is generally accepted that Halloween in its more popular or folk aspects represents a combination of druidic practices and classical Roman religious beliefs. Halloween has clear connections with the rites of the druidic priest in the pre-Roman, pre-Christian Celtic communities…especially in Ireland and Scotland.”21 3 How did the Celtic practices of Halloween become so widespread in America? In colonial American, the Protestant majority were not celebrators of either All Saints Day or Halloween. 22 It was during the Irish potato famine of the 1840’s which resulted in a large Irish migration to America. It was soon after their migration that the “folklore remnants of the eve of Samhain” were largely introduced in the U.S. 23 October 31 does have important historical Christian value. Even though everyone in the church is well aware that day is Halloween, very few are aware of the great historical event of the church that occurred on October 31, 1517. It was on that date that Martin Luther nailed his 95 point thesis on the Castle Church in Wittenberg. The thesis confronted un- Biblical practices of the Catholic Church. For those who wish to redeem Halloween, I would suggest that on October 31 the Church remember “Reformation Day” as much more significant than traditional Halloween. Halloween Traditions Below are a few of the traditions of the Druids on Samhain (Halloween night). Bon-Fires : The Celtics had different traditions regarding bon-fires. One tradition in Wales required that each family have their own bon-fire, and then each member of the family would make an identifying mark on a stone and then throw it in the fire. In the morning they would go out to where the fire was and if your stone was not there, it was assumed that you would die during the next year.24 (Now doesn’t that sound like a sweet tradition?). Druids also believed spirits would be in animals. They believed that if they made sacrifices to the lord of death, things would go well for them and their crops. 25 They made both human and animal sacrifices in the bon-fire. History also tells of wicker cages containing several people being burned alive in hopes of bettering the yield of crops. 26 In the morning there would be no evidence that anything happened apart from the ashes of the fire and some bones , thus the name bone-fire or bon-fire. If you look up the definition of bon-fire in the Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary: it states “bon-fire- [ME bonefire a fire of bones..]” Trick or Treat : It was believed that the veil between life and death was so thin on this day that the spirits would come back to their homes on earth. “The ghosts that were thought to throng about the houses of the living were greeted with a banquet-laden table. At the end of the feast, masked and costumed villagers representing the souls of the dead paraded to the outskirts of town leading the ghosts away.” 27 The masks were to hide your identity so they would not know who was trying to lead them away. If you did not leave food for the spirits it was thought that the spirits would do something to you (i.e. trick or treat). It must be remembered that this is an old pagan ritual. In Ireland farmers used to go about asking for food for their “Halloween festivities in the name of the ancient god, Muck Olla.” 28 Those who gave were promised with good luck and those who did not give were threatened with bad luck. Jack-o-lanterns : The Celts believed that Jack-o lanterns represented a damned soul “condemned to walk the earth, or the souls of men who had been lost at sea.”29 Jack-O- Lantern was a folk figure who “..was the spirit of a blacksmith name Jack who was too evil to get into heaven but who was not allowed into hell because he had outwitted the devil. Doomed to wander the earth forever, he scooped up a glowing ember with the vegetable he happened to be eating at the time and used it as a lantern to light his way.”30 (See ft. nt. 29 for more details regarding the legend). Instead of pumpkins, in Scotland they would put a light in a turnip. Then the Druids would carve faces in the vegetable and call them Jack-o-lanterns. They were to be the faces of demons and evil spirits. 31 If you put a carved jack-o-lantern out in front of your home with a candle in it is “symbolic of death and the spirit world.” 32 Black Cats : The druids believed that the black cats were “human beings who had been changed into animals by evil powers.” 33 They were often sacrificed in fire. Black cats were symbolic of the spirit of evil. Bobbing for Apples : The Celts believed that apples were helpful in predicting the future. They also used them as a fertility symbol. Bobbing for apples was a divining ritual to make predictions regarding love and luck. 34
Posted on: Wed, 30 Oct 2013 14:39:05 +0000
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