The Christian Views of Halloween

Modern Christian writers have conjured up a Druidical belief that on the eve of this festival a 'Samhain, lord of death' (a modern invention), called together the wicked spirits that within the past 12 months had been condemned to inhabit the bodies of animals (a most un-Celtic transmigration of souls). During the night the great shield of Skathach was lowered, allowing the barriers between the worlds to fade and the forces of evil to invade the realms of order, the material world conjoining with the world of the dead.

At this time ghosts, witches, hobgoblins, black cats, fairies and demons of all kinds roamed amongst the living. The dead could return to the places where they had lived and food and entertainment were provided to exorcize them. If food and shelter were not provided, these spirits would cast spells and cause havoc towards those failing to fulfill their requests.





Christianizing the Celtic Samhain

When Christianity eventually reached Ireland in 432 (and later the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in England), conversion began among the local people, including Christianization of the old Celtic traditions. This included a celebration of All Saints in the 20th of April, according to earliest Irish sources, like the Martyrology of Tallacht and the Felire of Oengus. There was no attempt on the part of missionaries in Ireland to "Christianize" a "Samhain" festival, or at least no direct documentation of any such claims has ever been discovered. Pope Gregory III (731-741) consecrated a chapel in the Basilica of St. Peter to all the saints and fixed the anniversary, not by chance, for 1 November. In 835, Pope Gregory IV extended the celebration for all the martyrs (later all saints) on November 1 to include all the churches. The Christian establishment successful co-opted the Samhain season by shifting the emphasis. When November 1 became the new date for the feast of All Saints, all the Saints and Martyrs being called upon to sanctify the season, the pagan Celtic Samhain became merely 'Hallows Eve' It turned into a vigil of preparation for the morrow, which was made a day of obligation, when Christians were obliged to attend mass.

Even later, in the 11th century, the church would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor all the dead: all the Christian souls in the half-world of Purgatory. Catholic doctrine most clearly reveals the liminal or threshold connection between the two worlds: "that the souls which, on departing from the body, are not perfectly cleansed from venial sins, or have not fully atoned for past transgressions, are debarred from the Beatific Vision, and that the faithful on earth can help them by prayers, almsdeeds and especially by the sacrifice of the Mass." (Catholic Encyclopedia, 1910: 'All Soul's Day').

Pope Gregory III (731-741) consecrated a chapel in the Basilica of St. Peter to all the saints and fixed the anniversary for 1 November, in accordance with German practices, not Irish. In 835, Pope Gregory IV extended the celebration for all the martyrs (later all saints) on November 1 to include all the churches.

All Soul's Day was accepted and Christianized by Odilo (died 1048) in the Cluniac monasteries, and its observance spread through the Celtic north before it was introduced into Italy.

Later, in the 19th century, James Frazer and John Rhys claimed that the Christian establishment had successfully "co-opted" (not their word) the Samhain season, although neither of them had any written record available of any such "Samhain" festival, beyond the existence of a month in the old Irish calendar with that name. The truth of the matter is that in the very lands where Samhain might have been celebrated, there was no co-optation until it coincidentally occurred due to a regularization of a feast that had been celebrated at several different dates--including the month of April in Ireland. It should also be noted that Christians often denigrate suggestions of any mythic or pre-Christian content in Christian observances.

Halloween Customs Pre 1900 (Part 4)



This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Halloween".