What is Halloween?….
I think for most people this is an American festival for kids to dress up in funny scary costumes and knock on doors asking that question …
’Trick or Treat’
Clearly a fun evening for families in the US but surely nothing to do with the rest of the world!
Like many other Australians I found myself frustrated that American customs were becoming the norm in Australia and had nothing to do with our culture…
I remember making rather snide remarks that this was just the result of marketing by international companies making money from just about everything that they could.
I felt rather superior that I didn’t engage in the Americanisation of Australia!
But was I wrong?
A few years ago I found myself in Cornwall England and on the 31st of October I happened to doing what I love best in the world – visiting another castle….no surprises for my readers!
I was in Cornwall at Pendennis Castle. Henry VIII built this particular castle around 1540 to help protect England from potential invasion from France and Spain and when you stand in the grounds you can see why he chose this particular spot.
So there I was, late afternoon and with sun setting…it was resplendent …!
As I walked up to the castle there he was …on bended knee, all dressed up in black, including the top hat, telling tales of witches and ghosts to a couple of incredulous kids.
I just looked at him …didn’t bother listening too much and off I went into the castle proper …
….and all around I found cobwebs…clearly fake and I was puzzled …
Halloween…in England?
Seriously WTF?
Cornwall, England, infected with that American disease !!!
As I left the castle he was still standing there …kids had moved on and I just couldn’t help myself…
“So when did England decide to partake in American commercial traditions” , I asked pompously.
‘Oh’ said he…
“…how little you know of England and our Celtic past …
Halloween is just the modern name for ‘All Hallow’s Eve’ ..the night that comes from the pagan holiday honouring the dead…”
“oh” said I…my face turning a faint shade of pink…
I knew that ….all of a sudden I really did know but then I got whole history lesson….
“It was part of the ancient Celtic religion in Britain…
Druids …
It was the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter or the “darker half” of the year.
and…
at the end of summer, the Celts thought the barrier between our world and the world of ghosts and spirits got really thin.
It was believed that ghosts came back to the earthly world and people thought that they would encounter ghosts if they left their homes. To avoid being recognised by these ghosts, people would wear masks when they left their homes after dark so that the ghosts would mistake them for fellow spirits…
Later …much later …
Christianity was becoming a major force in the world and in an effort to absorb Celtic or Pagan festivals into the new belief system, Pope Gregory the First (601 A.D.), decided that this day would be a special day for
All Saints
…that is for those Christian saints that did not have a special day devoted to them.
As for trick or treating ..back in the day … that is the middle ages … this was called ‘guising’,(from the word disguising), when children and poor adults would dress up in costumes and go around the village begging for food or money in exchange for songs or prayers.”
My face was now the colour of beetroot and I mumbled something like
“mmm oh so sorry …don’t mind me …know nothing about history…as I shuffled off…
So Halloween is not American…it is an ancient Celtic tradition!
This year I am in am back in the UK for Halloween and this time I am just enjoying the festival …a little humbled…
Happy Pagan Bumbering!
