Hallowe’en falls on 31 October each year > The origins of Hallowe’en date back over 2000 years to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).

This festival, which means the end of summer, celebrated the end of harvest and the beginning of the Celtic new year on November 1st.

Roman Britain > By 43 CE the Roman Empire had conquered most of the Celtic regions. In the following 400 years two Roman festivals became incorporated with Samhain. The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans commemorated the passing of the dead, and the second was a day to honour Pomona the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. An apple is the symbol of Pomona, so perhaps this is the origin of the tradition of bobbing for apples: whoever bit into an apple first would be married first the next year. By the 800s Christianity had spread into Celtic lands.

Christianity > In the early 7th century Pope Boniface IV consecrated the Pantheon in Rome, formerly a temple to all the gods, as a Roman Catholic church dedicated to Saint Mary and the Martyrs, and ordered that that date (May 13) should be celebrated every year. It became All Saints’ Day, a day to honour all the saints, and later, at the behest of Pope Urban IV (d. 1264), a day specially to honour those saints who didn’t have a festival day of their own.

In the 8th century Pope Gregory III moved the date to November 1 when he dedicated a chapel to all the saints in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Gregory IV made the festival universal throughout the Church. November 1 coincided with the Pagan festival of Samhain. Encyclopaedia Britannica says this date may perhaps have been chosen ‘in an effort to supplant the Pagan holiday with a Christian observance’, and this would have been in line with the policy, suggested by Pope Gregory I of adopting Pagan buildings like the Pantheon and festivals like Samhain to serve a Christian purpose. See http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/greg1-mellitus.txt 

Over the years these festivals combined. The mass held on All Saints’ Day was called Allhallowmass, the mass of the Hallows. In the Old English language hallow means to bless, consecrate or sanctify. The night before was known as All Hallows’ Eve, which eventually became known as Hallowe’en. All Saints’ Day is said to be the day when souls walked the Earth. In early Christian tradition souls were released from purgatory on All Hallow’s Eve for 48 hours.

There was a clear parallel to the Pagan belief that the spirits of the dead could affect the land of the living on this night. It was celebrated much like Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the Eve of All Saints, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day were called Hallowmass.

Modern meaning > With their pumpkin-lanterns and witch costumes there’s many a child who’ll have great fun this evening celebrating Hallowe’en. It was derived originally from an ancient Pagan festival, it has become part of our culture and generally it’s an innocent excuse for people to have a good time.

Literally, of course, it is the eve of All Hallows, a preparation for the observance tomorrow of the Feast of All Hallows or All Saints. That feast gives the assurance that there is a state of being that stretches beyond our life here on this earth, an affirmation of the essential spiritual nature of human life. People are made for more than can be experienced over our lifetime spent in this world.

The Apostle Paul underscores that when he writes to the Ephesians, that the highest role reserved for human beings is, as he puts it, “to rule with Christ in the heavenly world. And God has done this to demonstrate for all time the extraordinary greatness of his grace in the love he showed us in Christ Jesus”.

So this Christian season brings us a comforting reminder that there is a destiny designed for us humans that assures us of a continuing existence, and it’s a promise endorsed by Jesus when he spoke of the many mansions that he has prepared for us. Hallowe’en assures us that God’s love stretches far beyond death.

Related Links
Samhain > http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/paganism/holydays/samhain.shtml
All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day > http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/holydays/allsaints_1.shtml
How to carve a pumpkin > http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A462188
Halloween games > http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/autumn/halloween/index.shtml
Halloween ghost stories > http://www.halloweenghoststories.com

Source and Copyright by > BBC