Halloween

Halloween is celebrated each year on October 31st. It's become associated with dressing up, going to parties, eating lots of sweets, lighting carved pumpkins, and watching horror films. I believe in all of these modern day celebrations, the true reason for the day has become lost to most who partake in the celebrations, and so this post will detail the history or the day, and the two days which follow. It won't say every single detail of Halloween's history, but will provide all of the main points. I will answer any questions in the comments, or update the post if I or anyone else feels something significant has been missed. 

Samhain

Samhain, pronounced 'Sow-in' or 'Sah-win', is the original form of Halloween and is an ancient Celtic festival which existed around 2000 years ago. The Celts resided in Western Europe, particularly in north Western Europe; so England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and the north of France. The festival took place on the 31st of October because the Celts classed November the 1st as the start of the new year. It was the end of summer, and so the harvest, and it was the start of a long period of darkness and cold weather. These conditions meant the time, and the festival, was associated with death.

It was believed that on the night before the new year began, the night of the 31st of October, the boundary between the worlds of the living and dead became blurred and that this allowed for the ghosts of the dead to return. It was also believed they would cause trouble and damage crops, along with making it easier for Druids, who were the Celtic priests, to predict the future. 

The fires in peoples homes were extinguished, and bonfires were lit by the Druids who sacrificed crops and animals to the gods. They would wear costumes and tell fortunes through the festival. Upon the festival ending, the fire from the sacred bonfire would be used to relight the fires in the homes in order to provide protection in the following days of darkness. 

All Saints Day and All Souls Day

During the 8th Century, pope Gregory III moved the preexisting All Martyrs Day to November the 1st and renamed it to All Saints Day. He did this to honour all saints along with all martyrs. In AD 1000, November the 2nd became known as All Souls Day and was a day to honour the dead, although it is believed this day was created by the church to replace the preexisting non Christian holiday of Samhain. Both Samhain and All Souls Day are similar in celebrations and are ways of honouring the dead. Over time, due to the churches influence, Samhain became known as All Hallows Eve due to All Saints Day being known at the time as All Hallows, or All Hallowsmas. All Hallows eve then evolved to what we know today as Halloween. 

Other customs for Halloween include dressing up which is believed to help ward off spirits as they will mistake you for one of them, leaving bowls of food outside your house to please the spirits and prevent them from entering the house, and also to set a dinner table for any deceased relatives. Candles are also placed along the road to help the spirits find their way back to the spirit world, a custom which is similar to that which happens during the festival of Diwali where oil lamps are lit to guide Rama, his brother Lakshmana, Sita, and the monkey king Hanuman back home after defeating a demon in battle. 

The Day of The Dead: El Dia De Los Muertos

Across the world from Europe, in Mexico, The Day of The Dead is celebrated between October the 31st and November the 2nd, with the day itself occurring on the 2nd. This festival dates back roughly 3000 years to the time of the Aztecs and other Nahua people. In this culture it is believed when a person dies, they travel to the land of the dead and here they have to pass through nine challenging levels which occur over the course of years and it is only after completing these levels that they can reach the final resting place. Due to this belief, food and other offerings are left on graves or on alters in peoples homes to help aid the spirits in their journey, something which dates back to Nahua rituals which honoured the dead and were traditionally held in August. 

One belief of this festival is that the gates of heaven open on October the 31st and when they do, the spirits of children may reunite with their loved ones and spend 24 hours with them. This repeats on the 2nd of November, but on this day it is the spirits of adults who may reunite with their loved ones. The dead are treated as honoured guests during the celebrations and so there is a large focus on dancing and music. 

My thoughts

I really enjoy Halloween, and I really appreciate that there is a time to honour the dead. I don't like how much the festival has become about partying without a single thought for the dead, but I find it interesting and especially as cultures from all over the world have similar festivals which fall on similar dates. I also find it interesting that even though these festivals were around thousands of years ago, they've lasted to today. 

I will be conducting an investigation tonight (October the 31st) and hopefully one on November the 2nd, to test if there is any truth to the theory of spirits being more prevalent, and as a result more powerful, during this time. I would expect to see a decrease in time it takes for the Spirit Talker app to say words, and for more activity to occur with the cat balls and bear. I will post the results on here, but I don't know when. If I feel I get significant results then I will post them tomorrow, but if not then it will be posted once I've caught up with my investigations. 

Please feel free to comment if I've missed anything out, or if I've gotten anything wrong, and I will reply and adjust as soon as I can. I hope you've enjoyed reading this post, its been interesting learning about Samhain and touching briefly on the Day of The Dead celebrations.